Ginchiyo Tachibana (23 September 1560 – 30 November 1602) was a female samurai who was the wife of Muneshige Tachibana. She fought along with her husband as an ally of the Mori clan and later became a Toyotomi vassal, fighting with the Western Army at the Ishigaki Plains.
Biography[]
The daughter of Dosetsu Tachibana, she married Muneshige Tachibana, the son of Joun Takahashi who had been taken in by Dosetsu at a young age. Despite being arrogant and selfish on the outside, she was also a tactician and loyal to Muneshige. Ginchiyo and Muneshige fought together since the ages of sixteen, in which they fought in the Battle of Chugoku against the Mori clan.
When they were defeated, they became vassals of Motonari Mori, who treated them with respect and friendship. Together, they defeated the Oda clan at the First Battle of Kizugawa and the Battle of Kozuke Castle. But after the defeat of the Mori in 1579 their clan was on the brink of defeat and they made peace with the Oda.
From 1579 to 1587 they fought against their southern neighbors, the Shimazu, who posed a threat to the rest of the island of Kyushu. Ginchiyo and Muneshige's parents both died fighting Yoshihiro Shimazu in 1586, and in 1587 they allied with the Toyotomi and were able to conquer Kyushu. As Toyotomi vassals, they were forced to fight alongside Yoshihiro and had an uneasy alliance.
Ginchiyo and her allies fought together in the Fall of Odawara and after the death of Hideyoshi sided with the pro-Toyotomi Western Army. They fought together in the Battle of Fushimi Castle, Battle of Kuzegawa, and Battle of Ishigaki Plains, and in the last battle Ginchiyo rescued Muneshige from encirclement and they escaped the defeat of the Western Army. She died two years later.