The True Story of Toda Mariko | Akechi Tama (Hosokawa Gracia)

TOA Mariko as referred to in the Shogun TV show is based of the real life of the noble woman AI Tama now remembered to history as hosokawa Gracia she was born during the tumultuous era of the soku period a period in Japanese history in which Civil Wars took place Contin ously throughout the 15th and 16th centuries during this time the power of the Ashi kaga shogunate and the emperor were both greatly diminished with both unable to unify or control the dios in the country so dire was the situation that the Shogun the de facto ruler of the country held no influence and was reduced to the puppet of various Warlords at the same time Christian missionaries had arrived in Japan and by the 1540s over a 100,000 people had converted including many daos and also the noble lady at Kiama would also convert however Christianity would soon represent a threat to the National Unity of Japan many daos converted to Christianity to gain access to gun powder and various weapons which the Christians had brought over from Europe the first Dao to convert to Christianity was omura Sumit the first ever Roman Catholic Japanese lord in the year 1562 he began a scorched Earth campaign against local Buddhists destroying their temples this example of fanaticism or religious devotion and added to the Japanese suspicion against the new religion nevertheless AI tama's Faith would not waver even though there were edicts by the emperor himself to ban the religion she was one of the only upper class women in Japanese history to convert to Catholicism during this era this is her story AI Tama was born in the year 1563 being the daughter of Aki mitsuhide a Japanese Samurai General who was in the service of OD Nobunaga one of the most powerful daos in Japan her mother was named daki hiroko and was a noble woman not much is known about Aki tama's early life but after the siege of Mount hay Tam's father mitsuhide would receive much land from OD Nobunaga and would would build a fortress named Sakamoto Castle due to tas's Father's prowess in battle she would grow up in a castle receiving all of the benefits a Japanese Noble woman would when Tama was 16 years old she married hosokawa daoki a samurai warrior and the head of the hosokawa clan the couple would have five or six children together Tama was described as a beautiful and intelligent woman who loved to learn she was also said to have a melancholic nature in the year of 1582 tama's father mitsu hide found himself embroiled in a tumultuous series of events initially tasked by a Nobunaga to lend Aid to hashiba hoshi's campaign against the Mori Clan mitsu HED however ignored these orders he must mustered an impressive force of 13,000 Valiant soldiers defying Noble naga's commands as he marched towards the sacred hono G Temple mitsuhide's Army encircled the temple and in a blaze of passion or perhaps Madness set it a light amidst the engulfing Flames mitsu hide's blade fell across all who crossed his path leaving in its wake a scene of chaos and sorrow the once Untouchable powerful OD Nobunaga found himself compelled to embrace the ritual of zuku bested and betrayed by his most trusted General he would surrender himself to his blade to safeguard his honor in the aftermath of nobunaga's death nobunaga's son OD nobutada fled the scene but was surrounded at nio Castle and was killed mitsu hide's betrayal of the OD Clan shocked the capital and he would move quickly to secure his position mitsuhide then looted azuchi Castle in order to reward his men and maintain their loyalty he then attempted to establish himself as the Shogun but just 13 days later toyot Tomi hioshi the most powerful Dao in the country would meet him at the Battle of yamazi where mitsu hide Was Defeated and was eventually killed by a gang of Bandits after fleeing the battle since mitsu hide betrayed and murdered his Lord OD Nobunaga this made the teenage AI Tama the daughter of a disgraced traitor her husband hosokawa tadaoki did not wish to divorce her and sent her into Exile she would go to the mountains of the Tango pen peninsula in order to keep herself hidden Tama would remain there for 2 years until the year 1584 where toyotomi hioshi requested that tadaoki bring Tama to the hosokawa mansion in Osaka tadaoki would finally reunite with his wife Tama but was unsure of their stay in Osaka hoshi's reputation as a womanizer instilled fear in tadaoki who dreaded any potential advances towards his wife on one occasion she was summoned to meet hioshi but a dagger coincidentally slipped from her person as she bowed serving as a clear signal recognizing this subtle gesture hidoshi refrained from extending further invitations however this incident prompted tadaoki to impose strict confinement upon his wife once again tamama was a prisoner Tama would receive some Solace through the tales of her maid who told her many stories from the Bible tama's maid was from a Catholic Family and her husband had told her about conversations he had had with his Christian Ally justo takayama Ukon a Catholic Dao and Samurai the maid would in turn repeat these stories to tamama who was entranced by by the foreign religion and way of life in the year 1587 tamama somehow snuck out of the Manion in Osaka and managed to visit the Osaka Church however a few months later toyot Tomi hioshi banned Christian missionaries from kushu and issued a proclamation against Christianity when Tama heard the news she was determined to be baptized at once due to her being a captive she would be baptized by her maid and received the Christian name graia during this time she is reported to have studied both Latin and Portuguese she would spend her time reading the imitation of Christ a handbook for spiritual life written by Thomas Aus the book and Christian way of life would Fascinate Tama as she fully embraced her new religion Tama however would soon be in grave danger yet again her husband tadaoki was close friends with toyotomi hugu the nephew and heir of toyotomi hioshi the unifier and de facto ruler of Japan despite being hide Yoshi's closest adult male relative hugu was accused of atrocities and attempting to Stage a coup who after the birth of hide Yoshi's son he was ordered to commit suicide hid suu's entire family including his children were also executed on hide Yoshi's orders due to T's friendship with the now dead hugu he feared he was next and ordered that his wife Tama must kill herself should he be executed Tama would ask Catholic priests about the plan however they informed her that suicide was one of the gravest of sins Tama was conflicted she could choose whether to retain her honor according to Japanese customs and burn in hell or live out the rest of her life disgraced but according to the Lord's word luckily for Tama and her husband the danger would pass and the couple were not accused of treason in the year 1598 toyot Tomi hioshi would die while on his deathbed his son toyot Tomi hiori was but 5 years old due to this hioshi created the Council of five Elders to ensure his Heir would be able to succeed him after his Coming of Age after the death of hidoshi friction would generate between the council members over the next 2 years Tokugawa easu a power powerful warlord made alliances with various Dao especially those who had no love for hidoshi later the oldest and most respected of the Council of five Elders Maeda Toshi died after just one year in the year 1599 yasu LED an army to Fushimi and took over Osaka Castle the residents of hidori this angered the three remaining Council elders and plans were made on all sides for war two of hide yosi's top generals Kato kiyomasa the Lord of Kumamoto and Fukushima masanori the Lord of Hiroshima had fought bravely for him during the Japanese invasions of Korea but the two returned home to find the toyotomi clan in a state of disarray the clan was being led by shida mitsunari who would hold the generals in contempt this resulted in them siding with the ambitious stawa yasu due to toyot Tomi hioshi killing most of his male family members after the birth of his son there was now no one to lead the clan as his Heir was just 5 years old this significantly weakened the toyotomi regime nevertheless two factions were forming around Japan one led by Tokugawa yasu and the other was led by Ishida mitsunari tama's husband tadaoki would Ally himself with tokogawa yasu and together they departed from the city of Osaka heading Eastward meanwhile Ishida quickly seized control of Osaka castle where the families of numerous generals loyal to hide Yosi were residing ishida's strategy involved holding these family members as hostages thereby compelling the opposing generals to either join forces with him or refrain from launching assaults against him in the year 1600 ishida's forces overran nosaka and he was able to take Tama hostage her family retainer killed her to protect her honor and prevent her the humiliation of capture the retainer then committed seppuku after lighting the Mansion on fire both corpses were then engulfed By Flames the outcry following the demise of Tama was profound compelling Ishida to relinquish his schemes while many Japanese narratives attribute the decision to end her life to tamama herself it's important to note that these accounts emerged several decades after her death the initial ual Jesuit recount scribed shortly after her demise presents a different perspective according to this version tadaoki had instructed his household attendants to ensure tama's honor remained intact even if it meant taking her life in dire circumstances perceiving the attempted kidnapping as such a threat the servants acted upon T's order and killed Tama is shinda mitsunari would soon meet his end he was defeated by tokuga yasu at the Battle of SEI gahara and easu would Ascend and become the next official Shogun ending the sangoku period the Shogun easu would eventually ban the practice of Christianity from Japan in the year 1614 and expelled All Foreign missionaries due to this town was one of the only upper class women in Japanese history to convert to Catholicism during this era making her story Legend I hope you all enjoyed the video if you did make sure to like subscribe and share and I'll see you all soon for another history profile

Channel: History Profiles

Views: 279,781

Keywords: History Profiles, Lost History, Forgotten History, Interesting History, Toda Mariko, Akechi Tama, Hosokawa Gracia, Japanese Catholic Woman, Akechi Mitsuhide, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Lord Yoshii Toranaga, John Blackthorne, William Adams, Anna Sawai, Hono Ji Incident, Hosakawa Tadaoki, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Ishinda Mitsunari, Shogun, Battle of Sekigahara, The True Story of Toda Mariko, Was Toda Mirako real?, Council of Regents, Council of 5 elders, seppuku

Id: kxYzBt4p9CY

Length: 14min 51sec (891 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 14 2024