Sōrin Ōtomo was a military leader of the late Muromachi period.
Background
Sōrin Ōtomo was born on 31 January 1520 into the Otomo family, which from Kamakura times on held control of the province of Bungo. His father, Yoshiaki, enlarged the domain until it embraced the provinces of Buzen, Bungo, Chikugo, and Higo—that is, almost half of the island of Kyushu—and traded with the Europeans who came to Japan. (In 1545 a disabled Portuguese ship drifted ashore at Tanegashima off southern Kyushu, and for the first time the exact location of Japan became known abroad.)
In 1550 Yoshiaki became involved in a family dispute and was killed.
Career
In 1550 Sorin, at that time called Yoshishige, succeeded him as head of the family. He, like his father, engaged in constant battles with the rulers of neighboring provinces to enlarge the territory under his command.
His power began to decline, and when in 1586 the Shimazu family reopened attacks on him, he appealed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi for assistance. This provided Hideyoshi with a convenient opportunity to attack the Shi- mazus and, after forcing their surrender, to bring all of Kyushu under his control. Sorin died in 1587.
Religion
In 1578 he was baptized and took the Christian name Francisco, and in 1582-.he joined with the other Christian daimyo Ômura Sumitada and Arima Harunobu in sending a delegation to the Pope in Rome. His embracing of the Christian faith, however, was probably at least in part a strategy to insure that he could buy arms and other goods from the Europeans. After being baptized, he engaged Shimazu Yoshihisa, lord of the Satsuma, Ôkuma, and Hyüga domains, in battle and was defeated at Mimikawa in Hyuga.