Ōtomo

The Ōtomo were a Kyūshū warrior family whose leaders governed Bungo and Buzen for generations. They helped resist the Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281 and supported Ashikaga Takauji in the wars of the 1330s.

Under Ōtomo Sōrin, the family extended its power across much of Kyūshū. Sōrin met the Jesuit Francis Xavier in 1551 and was baptized in 1578, the year Ōtomo forces suffered a major defeat at Mimikawa. Facing the Shimazu, he appealed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, whose 1587 campaign restored the family's lands.