原城 ( Hara Castle ) 島原の乱 【 Nagasaki , Japan 】

Remains of Hara castle...

Musashi Miyamoto was here...

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Ruroni Kenshin : Battlefield of Shimabara

http://youtu.be/M0F3Dc4GT9Y

Shimabara No Ran

http://youtu.be/k4P0yQeQIT4

The Shimabara Rebellion Part 1

http://youtu.be/6J1peYpgsc0

The Shimabara Rebelion Part 2

http://youtu.be/xSAMk1qky_c

♪ Samurai Champloo OST ♪

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Hara Castle (原城 ) was a Japanese castle in Minamishimabara, Nagasaki. During the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638), rebellious peasants were besieged there. As a result of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637, the Shogunate decided to expel the Portuguese from Japan. The Dutch, meanwhile, gained the trust of the authorities after they bombarded Hara Castle, where the insurgents had taken refuge, and thus gained a monopoly on European trade with Japan.

原城（はらじょう）は、長崎県南島原市南有馬町乙にあった日本の城である。島原半島の南部に位置し、明応5年（1496年）、日野江城の支城として有馬貴純によって築かれた。有明海に張り出した丘陵にあり、本の丸、二の丸、三の丸、天草丸、出丸などで構成されていた。有馬氏が日向国延岡城に転封となった後の、元和2年（1616年）に松倉重政が日野江城に入城するが、一国一城令の影響もあり不便な日野江城を放棄し島原城を築城した。この際に原城も廃城となり、石垣や構築物も転用されたとされる。島原の乱後、幕府は原城跡に残存する石塁などの破却を行っている。昭和13年（1938年）、原城跡は国の史跡に指定された。発掘調査の際には、惨殺された一揆軍の遺骨や鉛の弾丸、クルスの他、万人坑が出土している。

Remains of Hara castle, as seen from the ocean.

【 Shimabara Rebellion 】

The Shimabara Rebellion was a peasant revolt against Matsukura Katsuie of the Shimabara Domain and Terasawa Katataka of the Karatsu Domain. Fought between December 17, 1637 and April 15, 1638, the Shimabara Rebellion lasted four months.

Armies & Commanders:

Shimabara Rebels

• Amakusa Shiro
• 27,000-37,000 men

Tokugawa Shogunate

• Itakura Shigemasa
• Matsudaira Nobutsuna
• 125,000-200,000 men
  
  Originally the lands of the Christian Arima family, the Shimabara Peninsula was given to the Matsukura clan in 1614. As a result of their former lord's religious affiliation, many of the inhabitants of the peninsula were Christian as well. The first of the new lords, Matsukura Shigemasa, sought advancement within the ranks of the Tokugawa Shogunate and aided in the construction of Edo Castle and a planned invasion of the Philippines. He also pursued a strict policy of persecution against local Christians.
  
  While Christians were persecuted in other areas of Japan, the degree of Matsukura's repression was considered particularly extreme by outsiders such as local Dutch traders. After taking over his new lands, Matsukura constructed a new castle at Shimabara and saw that the Arima clan's old seat, Hara Castle, was dismantled. To finance these projects, Matsukura levied heavy taxes on his people. These policies were continued by his son, Matsukura Katsuie. A similar situation developed on the adjacent Amakusa Islands where the Konishi family had been displaced in favor of the Terasawas.

In the fall of 1637, the discontented populace as well as local, masterless samurai began to meet in secret to plan an uprising. This broke out in Shimabara and the Amakusa Islands on December 17, following the assassination of the local daikan (tax official) Hayashi Hyôzaemon. In the revolt's early days, the region's governor and more than thirty noblemen were killed. The ranks of the rebellion quickly swelled as all those living in Shimabara and Amakusa were forced to join the rebel army's ranks. The charismatic 14/16-year old Amakusa Shiro was selected to lead the rebellion.

In an effort to snuff out the revolt, the governor of Nagasaki, Terazawa Katataka, dispatched a force of 3,000 samurai to Shimabara. This force was defeated by the rebels on December 27, 1637, with the governor losing all but 200 of his men. Taking the initiative, the rebels laid siege to the Terazawa clan's castles at Tomioka and Hondo. These proved unsuccessful as they were forced to abandon both sieges in the face of advancing shogunate armies .Crossing the Ariake Sea to Shimabara, the rebel army laid siege to Shimabara Castle but were unable to take it.

Withdrawing to the ruins of Hara Castle, they re-fortified the site using wood taken from their ships. Provisioning Hara with food and ammunition seized from Matsukura's storehouses at Shimabara, the 27,000-37,000 rebels prepared to receive the shogunate armies that were arriving in the area. Led by Itakura Shigemasa, shogunate forces laid siege to Hara Castle in January 1638. Surveying the situation, Itakura requested aid from the Dutch. In response, Nicolas Koekebakker, the head of the trading station at Hirado, sent gunpowder and cannon.

Itakura next requested that Koekebakker send a ship to bombard the seaward side of Hara Castle. Arriving in de Ryp (20), Koekebakker and Itakura began an ineffective 15-day bombardment of the rebel position. After being taunted by the rebels, Itakura sent de Ryp back to Hirado. He was later killed in a failed attack on the castle and replaced by Matsudaira Nobutsuna. Seeking to regain the initiative, the rebels launched a major night raid on February 3, which killed 2,000 soldiers from Hizen. Despite this minor victory, the rebel's situation worsened as provisions dwindled and more shogunate troops arrived.

By April, the 27,000 remaining rebels were facing over 125,000 shogunate warriors. With little choice left, they attempted a break out on April 4, but were unable to get through Matsudaira's lines. Prisoners taken during the battle revealed that the rebel's food and ammunition were nearly exhausted. Moving forward, shogunate troops attacked on April 12, and succeeded in taking Hara's outer defenses. Pushing on, they finally managed to take the castle and end the rebellion three days later.

Aftermath

Having taken the castle, the shogunate troops executed all those rebels who were still alive. This coupled with those who committed suicide prior to the castle's fall, meant that the entire 27,000-man garrison (men, women, & children) died as a result of the battle. All told, approximately 37,000 rebels and sympathizers were put to death. As the rebellion's leader, Amakusa Shiro was beheaded and his head taken back to Nagasaki for display.

As the Shimabara Peninsula and the Amakusa Islands were essentially depopulated by the rebellion, new immigrants were brought in from other parts of Japan and the lands divided among a new set of lords. Ignoring the role that over-taxation played in causing the revolt, the shogunate opted to blame it on the Christians. Officially banning the faith, Japanese Christians were forced underground where they remained until the 19th century. In addition, Japan closed itself to the outside world, only allowing a few Dutch merchants to remain.

【 島原の乱】

島原藩主の松倉重政・勝家父子は島原城建設による出費などの財政逼迫により苛政を敷き、また、過酷なキリシタン弾圧を行ったことにより農民一揆を引き起こした。この一揆は島原半島のみならず天草にも飛び火し、島原城・富岡城が襲撃された。しかし、一揆の攻城はうまく行かず、やがて一揆の群衆は天草の一揆群衆と合流し約3万7千人が廃城となっていた原城に立て籠もった。 小西行長の家臣の子孫といわれる天草四郎を総大将とし、組織立った籠城戦を展開して幕府軍と戦闘を繰り広げた。

一揆側は3か月に及ぶ籠城には兵站の補給もなく、弾薬・兵糧が尽き果ててきた。対する幕府軍も1千人の戦死者を出しながらも新手を投入し、ついに1638年4月11日から12日（寛永15年2月27日から28日）にかけての総攻撃で一揆軍を壊滅させた。一揆軍は（幕府に内通していた一名を除いて）老人や女子供に至るまで一人残らず皆殺しにされたという。この時の様子を、幕府軍の総大将であった松平信綱の子・松平輝綱（武蔵川越藩の第2代藩主）は『島原天草日記』の中において「（前略）剰つさえ童女の輩に至りては、喜びて斬罪を蒙むりて死なんとす、是れ平生人心の致すところに非らず、彼宗門に浸々のゆえ也」などと記し、一揆軍は殉教を重んずるキリシタンの信仰ゆえに全員が喜んで死を受け入れたとする旨を語っている。

乱の終結後、幕府軍は原城を徹底的に破壊し、殺された一揆軍3万7千人の遺体は廃墟となった原城の敷地内にまとめて埋められた。その一方で、島原藩主の松倉勝家は苛政により乱を引き起こした責任から、大名としては前例のない罪人としての扱いである斬首に処せられたと伝えられる。

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