Footprints of Gracia Hosokawa (seven episodes)
About 400 years ago, during Japan's Warring StatesPeriod,
there was a Christian woman who loved Jesus Christ
with all her heart and followed Him with absolute trust.
2. Happy Life
in 1563 during Japan's Warring States Period when local warlords struggled
with one another, Tama Hosokawa (subsequently called Gracia) was born as
the third daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide, a chief retainer of Oda Nobunaga,
who aimed to unify Japan. It was only 14 years since Francis Xavier had
arrived at Nagasaki and started missionary work. She lived in Sakamoto
Castle (Otsu in Shiga Prefecture) by Lake Biwa until she was 16 years old.
It is said that Gracia (Tama) was "talented and full of the spirit of inquiry by nature" (a letter written by Luis Frois) and "of matchless beauty, spiritually active, keen, bold, sophisticated and intelligent"(Nihon Seikyoshi). It seems that she inherited many of the traits of her father, Mitsuhide,
who was intelligent and highly educated.
In 1578, when Tama was 16 years old, she married Tadaoki, the eldest son of Hosokawa Fujitaka, lord of Shoryuji Castle (now Nagaokakyo in Kyoto Prefecture). At that time, Kiyohara Maria, who had been a Christian since she was a child, became Tama's lady-in-waiting and served her from then on. Tadaoki's father Fujitaka built a new castle for the newly-weds. They moved to Miyazu Castle (now Miyazu in Kyoto Prefecture) from which there is a view of Amano-Hashidate. Tama was loved by her husband, had two children and spent a happy life as the wife of a Japanese military commander.
[Sakamoto Castle]
(Esther Atsuji is responsible for the wording of this article.)
