Kumamoto’s Tatsuda Nature Park is a little-known treasure; an off-the-beaten-track destination. It is a pleasant green space with well-groomed paths, yet the lack of crowds and its various remnants of the past leave visitors with a sense that they have entered a lost world. And, in a way, they have.
The park was originally the grounds of Taishoji, a Buddhist temple established here in 1636 by Tadatoshi Hosokawa (1586-1641), the first Hosokawa feudal lord (daimyo) of Kumamoto Castle. The temple had responsibility for looking after the graves of Tadatoshi’s parents and grandparents, in whose honor Tadatoshi had constructed mausoleums on the temple grounds.
Tadatoshi’s mother is a particularly interesting historical figure. Gracia Hosokawa (1563-1600) was the inspiration for Lady Mariko Toda in James Clavell’s 1975 novel, "Shogun," and the 1980 and 2024 Emmy award-winning TV miniseries made based on the novel.
Clavell’s storytelling style often wove a fictional story from an actual historical person or incident. "Shogun" used the life in Japan of William Adams (1564-1620), the English navigator on a Dutch vessel, De Liefde, that reached Japan in 1600. The novel’s central character, known as Blackthorne in the novel, relied on, and was mystified by, the character of Lady Mariko (played in the most recent TV version by Anna Sawai), the wife of a feudal lord who, because of her Christian learning, was able to serve as his interpreter. Clavell borrowed many aspects of Gracia’s life for his character, but in reality, Gracia Hosokawa and William Adams never actually met.
Gracia Hosokawa was born Tama Akechi in Echizen (modern day Fukui Prefecture). She was the daughter of Mitsuhide Akechi (1528-1582), a samurai general serving Nobunaga Oda (1634-1582), one of the three great warlords of the Warring States Period (1450s-1603). But Mitsuhide rebelled against his lord and forced Nobunaga to commit seppuku, triggering a chain of events that led to Mitsuhide’s own death in battle against Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537-1598), and eventually to the emergence of Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616) as shogun.
For Mitsuhide’s daughter, married in 1578 to Tadaoki Hosokawa, a samurai lord from nearby Tango, her father’s betrayal of Nobunaga had a substantial impact. She became the daughter of a traitor. Since her husband sided with Hideyoshi, he should have divorced her. But instead he hid her away for two years and then brought her back into his Osaka residence, just south of Osaka Castle, where she lived effectively under house arrest. Her son, Tadatoshi, was born during this time. It was also during this time that she converted to Christianity, in spite of the fact that Hideyoshi had banned the religion. Gracia was the name she took upon being baptized.
After Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, Ieyasu Tokugawa sought to become shogun, but had first to defeat those loyal to the Toyotomi clan and Hideyoshi’s young son. The leader of the Toyotomi side, Mitsunari Ishida (1559-1600), thought he could force various samurai lords to remain loyal to the Toyotomi by taking hostage their wives and children, left in Osaka while the two sides prepared for battle to the east.
Tadaoki Hosokawa had already chosen to side with Ieyasu Tokugawa and so Gracia foiled Mitsunari’s plan by giving up her life. Because of her Christian faith, she could not take her own life, as was traditional for a samurai lady in such a situation, but instead one of the warriors serving the Hosokawa family killed her and then took his own life in August 1600. It is unclear whether Lady Gracia ordered her own death or whether the order was issued by her husband to protect her honor.
However it came about, her death (seen as provoked by the planned hostage-taking) caused such outrage among samurai lords that many turned against Mitsunari and sided with Ieyasu instead. This contributed to turning the tide of the war in Ieyasu’s favor in the Battle of Sekigahara just two months later, ending the long civil war and setting the course of Japanese history for the next two and a half centuries.
Thus Gracia Hosokawa became a pivotal character in Japanese history.
Gracia’s original grave is at Sozenji temple in Osaka, near where she died. But Tadatoshi established second graves for her and his father, Tadaoki, as well as his paternal grandparents, to ensure that he could properly honor them, especially as travel, even for a daimyo, was severely restricted during the Edo Period (1603-1867). Multiple graves is not an unusual situation for notable Japanese across history (even William Adams has two graves).
There is no evidence that Gracia ever even visited Kyushu; her husband and son were given charge of domains there years after her death. Yet it is easy in this sylvan glade to feel a calm determination like that which she must have possessed. Is that the samurai spirit of the Hosokawa clan one is sensing?
Another significant historical figure with a grave at Tatsuda Nature Park is the famed swordsman Musashi Miyamoto (1584-1645). This grave, marked by a gorinto, a five-layered stone tower, is one of five graves attributed to Musashi, who spent his final years in and around Kumamoto at the invitation of Tadatoshi as his patron. Whether this is Musashi’s grave or just a memorial tower to honor him, the atmosphere of the wooded park enables visitors to sense his spirit here as well.
Tadatoshi was a great master of tea ceremony and also had a tea house called Koshoken built on the temple grounds. Although the original Koshoken did not survive the ravages of time, a new Koshoken was built in 1923 in accordance with Tadatoshi’s original plans. Tucked deep in the woodland of the park, the fully restored and well-maintained wooden tea house is a charming feature of the park, which also has paths around a small pond popular with waterfowl, and stands of various types of trees.
After Tadatoshi, another fourteen generations of Hosokawas served as the daimyo of Kumamoto Castle until 1871 when feudal lordship was abolished. Four of the last five Hosokawa daimyo also have graves in the park.
Taishoji was closed in the late nineteenth century, based on a law of the time that favored Shintoism over Buddhism. While the wooden buildings of the temple are long gone, foundation stones and stone stairways allow visitors to imagine the temple, or just imagine themselves as explorers in a lost world.
For a time the Hosokawa family maintained a villa on the site but since 1955 the city of Kumamoto has maintained the site as a nature park. Because of the Hosokawa family graves, the park is also designated as a national historic site.
One might choose to visit the Tatsuda Nature Park just to wander its paths and relax in the greenery of its deep woods, but it can be much more interesting to wander the paths, visit the various grave sites, and imagine the spirits of those long-dead men and women wandering with you. No ghosts; just spirited spirits.
Tatsuda Nature Park is located at 4-610 Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto. It is open daily (except from December 29 to 31) from 8:30 a.m., with last entry at 4:30 p.m. Admission is 200 yen.
Vicki L. Beyer, a regular Japan Today contributor, is a freelance travel writer who also blogs about experiencing Japan. Follow her blog at jigsaw-japan.com
© Japan Today
No Comment
Login to comment