Akizuki

The Akizuki were a warrior house of Chikuzen province in northern Kyushu, seated at Akizuki. Their original surname was Ōkura; they took the name Harada after Ōkura no Haruzane received an estate for helping suppress the Fujiwara no Sumitomo revolt. Harada Taneo settled at Akizuki around 1203 and took that name.

After the Kamakura collapse they fought Ashikaga Takauji at Tatarahama for the imperial court. In 1557 the lord Fumitaka turned to the Mōri and was killed with his heir by an Ōtomo army; his second son Tanezane restored the house under Mōri protection and allied with the Shimazu.

In 1587 Tanezane submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, surrendering his lands for Takanabe in Hyūga. After Akizuki Tanenaga changed to the eastern side at Sekigahara in 1600, the family survived as daimyo of Takanabe.