Tomb of Kikuchi Takeshige

Kikuchi Takeshige (1307–1341) led the Kikuchi clan at a critical juncture in the clan’s history and laid the foundations for its greatest period of prosperity.

Takeshige was made leader in 1333 under dramatic circumstances. After centuries of rule by the warrior class, tensions were brewing between the imperial court and the warrior-led Kamakura shogunate. The Kikuchi sided with the court. Seeking to push back against the power of the shogunate in Kyushu, Takeshige’s father, Taketoki (1292–1333), assembled an alliance of local warrior groups and launched an assault on forces in Hakata (present-day Fukuoka) loyal to the shogunate. But just as the two sides were about to clash, several warlords in the alliance betrayed the Kikuchi.

Hopelessly outnumbered and facing certain death, Taketoki decided to go ahead with the attack, but sent his son home to rebuild the clan in his stead. The Kamakura shogunate was toppled only months later, and the victorious Emperor Godaigo (1288–1339) recognized Taketoki’s bravery and loyalty posthumously by making Takeshige governor of Higo Province (present-day Kumamoto Prefecture).

While Takeshige remained in Kyoto to protect the emperor, he introduced reforms at home, including decision-making by consensus on key matters concerning the Kikuchi clan. This policy helped to unite the clan. Takeshige’s decision to alter the clan’s battlefield tactics by having warriors armed with spears attack in tight groups allowed the Kikuchi to fight several successful battles against enemies of the court.

Takeshige died of illness at 34, soon after the Kikuchi had been forced to submit to the rule of a new warrior-led government, the Ashikaga shogunate. The reforms carried out during Takeshige’s leadership, however, later allowed his younger brother Takemitsu (1319–1373) to transform the clan into the most powerful warrior group in Kyushu.

Takeshige’s tomb, rebuilt in 1816, stands in a small grove surrounded by rice fields between the hillside where Tofukuji Temple is located and the Kikuchi River. The base of the headstone is in the shape of a creature with the features of a turtle and a snake that was considered auspicious in Chinese mythology.

※About the Kikuchi clan.（菊池一族とは）

※Other cultural property explanatory boards are also multilingual.（この他の文化財説明板も多言語化しています。）

菊池武重の墓

　菊池武重は１２代武時の嫡子で、元弘３年（１３３３）、父と共に博多の九州探題北条英時の館に討ち入る際、武時は武重に故郷に帰り、菊池家を再興するように命じました。これが、「袖ヶ浦の別れ」と呼ばれるエピソードです。

　父の死により１３代惣領となった武重は、寺尾野城で旗揚げし菊池氏の巻き返しに尽力しました。京都から刀工一族（延寿派）を招き、以降の戦術に大きな影響を与えることとなる「菊池千本槍」を考案し、箱根竹ノ下の戦いで勝利し、また菊池家憲「よりあひしゅうのないたんの事」を制定して一族の団結を図りました。

　墓は輪足山東福寺の歓喜院跡にあり、１５代武光の墓を模して文化１３年（１８１６）に造られました。