The Ouchi Clan and their Smuggling (15)

     The missions to Ming in 1540 and in 1549 brought a lot of returns to Ouchi Clan.  However, the profit was not monopolized by the clan and Hakata merchants.  For example, in the mission in 1540, along with those Hakata merchants, some Sakai merchants were on the ship No. 3; Ikenaga Soha, Ikenaga Shinbe, Katayama Yosaemon, Ishida Yosagoro, Iwai Shichizaemon, and etc.  In the mission in 1549, Hibiya Sukegoro, Kinuya Sogoro, Konishi Yosaemon were on the ship No. 2. and Morita Shinzaemon was on the ship No.3, who were all Sakai merchants.  On the ship No. 4, a vassal of the Shimazu Clan, Tanaka Buzen-no-kami was on board.  It is quite natural we assume those Sakai merchants and the Shimazu Clan shared certain profit.

     We have another piece of corroboration to assume that vassals of other clans were on board.

     The Ueno Family, which used to be a member of the Wakabayashi Clan, in the Saga-seki Port, Oita Prefecture, has been passed down their genealogy.  The Ueno Family used to be a vassal of the Otomo Clan in the 15th century.

     According to the genealogy, Ueno Munetomo (?-1600) accompanied the mission in 1549 as a soldier at the age of 11, relying on Ouchi Yoshitaka (1507-1551), whose sister was a wife of Otomo Yoshishige (1530-1587).  Later, in the late 16th century, he was commended by the Otomo Clan for guarding their coast.  These 2 deeds of Munetomo suggest his, that is, his family’s, maritime skills including the skills of maritime fighting.

     In the late 15th century, Ueno Totomi-no-kami was given the approval of governing the Shiu village along the coast, and was appointed as the local administrator of Seki-miya Shrine’s estate in Saga County by Otomo Masachika (1444-1496).  In the next century, Ueno Akitoshi (?-?) was ordered by Otomo Yoshishige to arrest pirate boats along the coast of Ueno’s territory in a letter dated June the 18th, 1562.

     The Ueno Family was samurais who governed the territory from Saga-seki, Amabe County, to the Usuki estate along the Usuki Bay, and who were good at navigating ships and arresting pirate boats.