Chapter 50: Governance of Japanese Overseas Provinces in the 1630s
After the Treaty of Gapan, Kanbe Tomoyoshi was appointed the governor of the new Japanese province of Luson (Ruson-no-kuni//呂宋国) by his older brother. Following in his late uncle’s footsteps in his dealing with Bireitou’s indigenous peoples, he proceeded to offer vassal status to the mountain tribes that had allied with Japan during the war and permitted religious freedom excluding the Catholic faith. This last detail was largely irrelevant as the mountain tribes had either never converted to Catholicism or were forcibly converted and therefore happy to throw off the faith. The ban on Catholicism, however, did cause issues in the newly acquired lowlands, especially in the former Spanish province of Pangasinan, where many natives were devout Catholics and harbored sympathies towards the Spanish Crown. As a result, Tomoyoshi dealt with small-scale revolts in the lowlands and suppressed the Catholic faith throughout 1634. The suppressions along with the logistics of controlling the new lands led to a large portion of Japanese forces staying in the new province through the year, with an army of 10,000 maintained beyond 1634 alongside levies from vassalized tribes and subjugated lowlands. Many of these remaining samurai formed the core of Luson’s new feudal structure, ruling over the natives in the lowlands. Mōri Mototomo (毛利元倶), a grandson of the legendary Mōri Motonari (毛利元就), and Tsuda Masazumi (津田昌澄), head of the Oda cadet branch descended from the infamous Oda Nobuyuki, were among the new prominent samurai lords in Luson province.
Unlike what occurred in Bireitou in its beginning stages as a Japanese possession, Luson saw an immediate influx of samurai households, laborers, and settlers into the province within the decade. The swift establishment of a sizeable Japanese presence in Luson, especially in the upper rungs of the new social structure and in the new provincial capital of Awari (鮑里, Aparri renamed), initially created a clear divide between the Japanese and the natives, particularly in the lowlands. However, like those who succumbed before them, the new rulers of northern Luzon displayed vulnerability to the tropical climate and diseases. Thus, after a while, many lower-ranking samurai began to seek wives among the indigenous population, often de-Christianized ones. Nevertheless, the interethnic relations that developed on Bireitou never truly manifested in Luson province. Additionally, Catholicism persisted as a marginalized but inextinguishable faith, efforts by the Church of Yamato to integrate them into their fold largely unsuccessful despite their fervor and determination. As a result, the maintenance of Japanese presence on the island proved to be costly, especially in the early years as the conquered lands recovered from wartime devastation and the home islands became mired in its own affairs.
Back in Bireitou, upon the passing of Tadataka, the island was split into two provinces: Bireigo in the south (美麗後) and Bireizen (美麗前) in the north. Tadataka’s senior heir Oda Tadahide was given control of Bireizen while his junior heir Norishige became the governor of Bireigo, with the vassal Kingdom of Tatuturo sandwiched between the two provinces. These developments did not affect the governance of the coastal Shimazu holdings in northeastern Bireitou, which continued to be governed directly by Shimazu Norihisa. Throughout northern and central Bireitou, minor samurai clans of mixed Japanese, Bireitoan, and in some cases Chinese descent began to emerge, and while the top positions of power were occupied by members of prominent samurai clans from the home islands, native tribal leaders began to become more integrated into the feudal structure. Towards the south, particularly in the areas previously in the Spanish sphere of influence, the situation mirrored that of Luson more closely due to the similar circumstances under which the lands came under Japanese control, although Zheng Zhilong’s landholdings in the south as well as his wealth and influence as the newly appointed commander of the Iriebashi naval squadron ensured Chinese power in Bireigo. Despite Japanese claims over the entire island, however, the tribes in the mountainous interior remained relatively independent of Japanese authority and it would be a while before the entire island would come under de facto Japanese control, although these tribes nevertheless felt the impact of Japanese commercial activity and settlement.
Portraits of Oda Tadahide and Norishige (left to right)
Although not affected by the events of the war, the governance of Ezo began to display parallels to those seen in Bireitou and Luson. Despite being located in the remote north, the strategic location of the Hakodate navy and growing demand for Ainu products and furs made the island important to Azuchi and desirable for those looking to start a new path, though Ezo did not attract as many newcomers from Honshu as Bireitou did. What ultimately drove the expansion of Japanese influence and territorial expanse was the Kakizaki clan. Both Suehiro and Yoshihiro sired many sons, and some of them were encouraged by both Yoshihiro and Kinhiro to cleave out a domain for themselves and their entourages from the unincorporated valleys and forests in Ezo, particularly on the Ishikari Plain (石狩平野). This incentive, further spurred by a brief lack of oversight during the tyranny of Inspector-General Saito Yoshioki, led to control over all of Ezo west of the Ishikari Plains by the 1630s, the region made up of Ainu vassals and direct Kakizaki territories. Japanese cultural and economic influence, meanwhile, disseminated throughout all of Ezo, with the Isikar-un-kur and Sum-un-kur groups particularly affected by the Japanese presence. It was around this time that the entirety of Ezo would be sailed around successfully, with the Chishima Islands even discovered in 1623.
Map of Ezo in the 1630s, salmon=Kakizaki clan and Ainu vassals
Treatment of Ainu vassals by Japan was noticeably less accommodating and forgiving compared to the situation on Bireitou due to pervading attitudes of the former’s barbaric and primitive nature, although these sentiments did not affect trade and other commercial interactions or the autonomy of the Ainu vassal chieftains and villages. These prejudices would be challenged, however, by their emergence as a formidable foe in the Iberian-Japanese War. Atuy Upash, a high ranking naval officer in the Hakodate squadron of the Azuchi navy, was unusually taken in by the late Oda Nobunaga after the two first met during the latter’s circumnavigation of his realm and was subsequently able to prove his talent. He recruited and personally commanded a special unit of Ainu sailors, nicknamed the “Ainu Three Hundred” for their famous “interactions” with the Spanish during the many naval battles during the war. Thereafter, the Ainu, who were referred by the Spanish as the “Norsemen of Zipangu” for their ferocious combat when boarding enemy ships, would raise their peoples’ profile as potentially promising mercenaries and gain some respect from the Japanese.