"A work in commemoration of the Site of Tanaka Castle, a National Historic Site Produced by the town of Mikawa in Kumamoto
'The history is said to be a resurrection. It could also be said to be a review.
"No matter what kind of man or incident it's about, the history loses its shadow if forgotten by the modern man.
"It is the modern man's power of imagination that awakens the soul that sleeps quietly beneath the source of a spring.
"One incident about to be inducted into the modern history's hall of fame is 'The Revolt of the Clans" in Higo.
"It was a war waged against the Lord of Province, Narimasa Sassa, led by the local clans in power in the northeastern Higo at the end of the 16th Century.
"It shook up the Toyotomi administration then in power, and served as the axis for the Middle Ages to change into the Modern Age."
Toshiya Hirano
Kitano-Tenmangu Palace
A fine work!
Indeed, the world is vast, isn't it?
Mitsunari, there exists someone who revolts against me still.
Sir Hideyoshi!
Cancel the tea party.
What about Narimasa?
What is Narimasa Sassa doing?
Quiet the rebels right now.
Kill them all!
It was June of Tensho 15, or 1587.
Narimasa Sassa, appointed as the Lord of Higo Province by Hideyoshi Toyotomi after he had unified the island of Kyushu...
...ordered the 52 local clans to receive a land value inspection of their territories.
It was an unreasonable order that would cut down their territories guaranteed them by the official agreement signed by Hideyoshi.
It also broke the promise that there would be no inspection for a period of 3 years.
What this meant to the clans was for the central government to interfere with the order they had already established...
...and their autonomy taken away.
Chikanaga Kumabe, the head of Waifu Castle in the country of Kikuchi, was angered and refused the order.
He raised his army against Narimasa Sassa.
Other clans like the Wani, the Uchi-Koga and the Kai, followed suit one after another, bringing Higo into a storm of hot winds.
This was the beginning of the so-called "Revolt of the Clans."
Lady Nigatsu, a war is on again.
It reminds me of when I was young every time it happens.
Indeed.
We used to prepare for the worst all the time.
If anything had happened to Sir Toshiie, the Maeda clan would cease to be.
So, I was always in readiness to kill myself and my children to follow Sir Toshiie.
Indeed.
It's not just men who must fight in a war.
Yes.
Women suffer more than anyone else.
It breaks my heart to think about the women in Higo in the midst of the turmoil.
They must be suffering very much.
Lady Kitano-Mandokoro!
A WOMAN IN THE REVOLT OF THE CLANS
Damn the Wani clan!
How long will they go on fighting against us?
It's a matter of time before the castle will fall.
There's no prospect of victory for them.
Yet it's taking us a long time to make it fall.
We're having a difficult time.
It's been two months already since they shut themselves up in the castle.
Who would have thought the country folks of Higo would endure for so long?
Right, Sir Sassa?
The Revolt of the Country Families in Higo was settled by Hideyoshi's army of 2O. OOO in less than six months.
Chikanaga Kumabe was put in custody of the Tachibanas, his heir Chikayasu Kumabe in the hands of the Mouri clan...
...both dying heroic deaths.
The last ones among them to hold out and fought hard were the armies of Chikazane Wani and Chikayuki Ebaru...
...who shut themselves up in the impregnable Tanaka Castle.
According to the Ebaru-Wani Castle Encamping Map that remains today...
...the troop appointed to capture Tanaka Castle consisted of Hidekane Kobayakawa as the General Commander, with Ekei Ankokuji...
...the military man most trusted by Hideyoshi as the Chief Advisor, and many reputed military men including Tachibana and Mouri...
and their men totaling 1O. OOO.
In contrast, the Wani-Ebaru alliance counted only 9OO.
Yet they chose never to surrender and was fighting for over two months now.
We have this great army...
Tanaka Castle is the last stronghold of the clans...
We could claim our victory if we only captured it!
Well, well. At this rate, I'm not sure if my army will last long enough.
Sir Ankokuji, what nonsense!
I don't think it would happen.
But, Sir Sassa, isn't it true we underestimated the clans?
Mother! Mother!
Yori!
Brother!
Yori! Why did you come? Why didn't you leave?
I am the wife of ChikaYuki Ebaru.
I will perish with this castle. That's my wish.
Yori!
To see You here!
Sir Chikazane, the supply in our rice storage is almost gone.
Two more days, I say.
Sir Ebaru, so what do you suggest we do?
Are you saying we should kowtow to the great army and beg for food?
Brother...
Let's hold out until the very end against Hideyoshi's wish and perish as the brave Higo clan, show them what we're made of!
We can't do that!
None of us would survive.
We're ready to die anyway!
Stop it, Chikanori!
I agree with Sir Ebaru. We're not fighting to perish!
Brother.
So, do You think we can win?
Do You think we can discourage Hideyoshi's army into retreat?
Where have you been, Chikamune?
To take a peek at the idiotic face of Narimasa Sassa.
They're pretty agitated.
We don't have much food in our castle, but their army is great and they suffer from hunger, too.
It's down to which of us lasts longer.
While this war is on, the peasants and farmers in this area are sure to be affected.
We're not the only ones suffering.
You are so kind-hearted, brother.
Why don't we just turn ourselves in to Hideyoshi so that we can save the peasants and farmers?
Of course, we'll bring Sassa's head as a special gift, too.
I'm in.
I'll take Ankokuji's head with me.
Sir Chikamune!
Sister, please don't be mad.
These are my true feelings. I'm not fooling around.
We'll be born into this world again.
If in our next life there'll be peace in this land, what do we care?
Father!
Maki...
If the time comes, then, with my own hand, I will.
I will end our lives in an honorable way as the wife of Chikazane Wani.
I, Taromaru, will follow you, father.
Oh, come over here.
Don't worry. Father will be with You.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
I, Nana, am hungry.
I, Chacha, too.
Ah, Your father, too.
Shall we ask Koume to make sweet rice dumplings?
When?
Let me see...
Three more.
After three nights, let's have some.
Dumplings get my clothes dirty.
Koume, will You not get mad please?
I won't be mad.
Lady Nana, Lady Chacha, let's make a lot of dumplings.
That's good.
Hey! Oh, Sir Sakyo.
It's a wasted effort.
You should tell them so.
I can't.
Don't worry.
I will defend the castle for you, too.
Kamio Castle fell at last.
I wonder if we've been wrong?
I wonder if we should have swallowed our pride even if Hide Yoshi were to take away much of our territories...
...rather than to lose many of our subordinates and seeing our people suffer.
I don't know which course is more meaningful.
But this is our land, that's for sure.
So, are you telling me to escape from the castle?
That's right.
We hear Hideyoshi's army will launch an assault on this castle as soon as tomorrow.
Yori, you're the only person who can help transfer the women and little children to a safe place.
Once you're at the foot of the mountain, there's help from our allies secretly waiting there to guide you to a safe place.
Sir Ebaru has arranged for everything you need.
But why me? Do you want me alone to survive?
Yori!
I will fight to the end along with Sir Chikayuki and you, brothers.
You are not a Wani to begin with.
Yori, brother wants you to take care of Lady Maki and her daughters.
He wants his children to be safe so that they can keep the blood line going.
If you're with them, we can relax and fight without worrying about them.
Yori, I want you to live, too.
If you live, you will be able to return to this land one day.
Sister, please do not be concerned about what our brother said.
You are undoubtedly a daughter of the Wanis.
I think he just wanted you to live, too.
Both brother and I were born too late.
If at least we were born about the time Hideyoshi was, we wouldn't have had to give our land away so easily.
If we were born 2O years earlier, the Wani clan would have ruled the land of Higo.
Our Brother who leads us could have been the Shimazu of Higo.
Then we'd conquer the east and defend against Hideyoshi and Nobunaga Oda.
I too would have been a lord of a castle ruling a country.
If that ever happened, sister, you would have regretted being a woman, being such a strong-willed person.
Really.
For the first time in my life, I'm glad that you are a woman.
I feel the same way brother does. Please survive.
I can walk!
All right.
Keep the fire going.
Draw Hideyoshi's attention to us, so that the women and the children will safely escape.
Sir Chikanori!
Sir Ebaru!
What's the matter?
What's that?
Looks like some kind of a sign.
Let's return to the castle!
Take the women!
Don't worry!
Now, quick! Now!
There's the sign. Sir KobaYakawa, looks like Ebaru did it.
But what a long battle it was!
Indeed, it was a castle almost too precious to lose.
Proceed!
Yori...
Sir Ebaru... betrayed us.
This may be the end of the Wani clan.
It's all right now.
The war is over.
Koume...
...take care of my daughters.
You can't!
Get off me!
I'm the wife of Chikazane Wani.
I don't wish to be captured and put into shame!
You can't!
Lady Maki!
If you and your daughters die right here, the clan is finished.
Don't you have the guts to survive like the wife of Sir Chikazane?
If the Wani's die right here...
...who's going to tell the generations to come about the men who stayed at the castle and fought?
If it's men's pride to fight and die, women's pride is to live and fight.
Lady Maki, You should survive, by all means.
The battle for the Wani's women is just beginning.
Never should you cut off the Wani blood line.
Sir Chikamune!
Koume.
Yes.
Take good care of the Lady...
...and her daughters.
No one's got the will to get up any more.
The war is over.
Sir Chikazane!
Curse me if You want.
I won't curse you.
The soldiers will survive.
They shouldn't punish those of us who won't resist.
Are you sure that our three heads will bring this war to an end?
I would have liked to knock Hideyoshi on his ass one more time.
It was an impossible war from the beginning.
What are you laughing about?
They led an army 1O times larger than ours and the only way to capture our castle was by betrayal.
If Sir Ebaru weren't involved, Hideyoshi might have lost.
Why is Chikamune here?
Why!?
Chikamune!
No help is necessary.
I'll get him alone.
Sir Chikayuki...
Sir Chikayuki!
Why?
Why did you betray us?
I'm just like you.
I wanted to protect the people of this land.
That's all.
The Wanis and the Ebarus lost the war!
You can abandon this castle and join the Eastern army.
Or you can fight with Sir Chikazane again.
Do as you wish.
Sir Taromaru!
Why are you here?
What happened to mother and everyone else?
I came to get you.
To escape with you.
No. We will perish here with father.
No! Please escape.
No!
You should not throw your life away for nothing!
Come quickly!
I won't!
Why did you come back!?
Leave the castle right now!
Get off this mountain!
No, I won't.
The soldiers rose up again for me and for Sir Chikamune.
For their sake, and for Chikamune's sake, I cannot leave the castle.
Brother, I wish to return you a favor for having saved me back then.
Brother, I...
I was happy to have lived as a daughter of the Wanis.
Come on!
Hurry!
Brother, no time to lose, direct us. Narimasa's army is on their way.
Yori!
You have been too good a daughter for me.
Let's do whatever we can to hold up until we safely escape. Agreed?
Taromaru?
We will stay at the castle.
You go ahead.
Why?
If You stay, I, Ichikura, will stay, too.
I am the son of Chikazane Wani.
I cannot abandon the fort.
We won't, either.
Ichikura, live for me, too.
Take care of mother and my sisters.
Sir Taromaru.
Go on now!
Go!
Let's go.
They're here! They're here!
Taromaru!
Father!
Taromaru!
Thus, Tanaka Castle, the last fort in the Revolt of the Clans, finally fell.
Are you a Wani?
I'm the wife of Chikayuki Ebaru.
Of Sir Ebaru?
I see...
Sir Ebaru was had, too.
Had Ebaru followed me from the beginning, he wouldn't have had to die with Chikazane Wani.
Sir Sassa.
What is it?
This is the pride of the clans of Higo...
Witness it!
Narimasa Sassa, the Lord of Higo Province, lost his position after this.
After being harshly accused by Hideyoshi, he committed harakiri.
Appointed anew for joint lordship for Higo were Kiyomasa Kato and Yukinaga Konishi.
The era of land owned by clans had come to an end, and Higo experienced a transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age.
After the fall of Tanaka Castle, Hideyoshi Toyotomi thoroughly searched out those who were involved in the revolt...
...and the number of those who he had executed is said to have been 57OO.
In the following year, to prevent any such uprising from happening again...
...he put in effect the orders of the Taiko Land Value Inspection and the Sword Hunt.
The Revolt of the Clans was a significant historic event in that it helped establish a new order of the separation...
...of highly-paid soldiers from the peasants and farmers, and that it put an end to the era of wars.
Translated by: Akiko
Subtitled and Mastered by: Cannibal King
a GöTTERSTURM rip thanks for downloading