Lady Nata (d. 1587) wielded considerable religious and political power. When Christian missionaries arrived in her lands, she fought fiercely to preserve traditional Japanese beliefs.
Daughter of the Nata clan
Lady Nata was the wife of Ōtomo Sōrin, the daimyō who ruled the province of Bungo. Her personal name and date of birth were not recorded. Her father was the head priest of the Nata Hachiman Shrine, a cult of national importance in Japan. The Hachiman faith had a long tradition of powerful and influential priestesses, and Lady Nata was no exception.
As such, Lady Nata was a powerful woman in her own right. She owned and administered vast tracts of land and enjoyed the strong backing of her father’s family. She also patronized religious practitioners, including women such as shrine priestesses (miko) and Buddhist nuns (bikuni).
Lady Nata soon rose in defense of her faith. In 1553, Ōtomo Sōrin allowed the Jesuits to preach in his province. In 1557, Bungo became the headquarters of the Jesuit mission in Japan. Lady Nata emerged as the Church’s most determined adversary.
The Jesuits gave her another name. They called her “Jezebel,” in reference to the Bible’s pagan queen, an idol worshipper and enemy of the prophets.
Defender of the faith
Lady Nata saw Christianity as a threat to Bungo’s unity and identity. The preservation of traditional beliefs was therefore of paramount importance to her. She also perceived the colonial ambitions behind the Jesuit mission and their efforts to spread Christianity.
In keeping with the Hachiman tradition, Lady Nata viewed herself as a shamanic leader who conveyed oracles to her people. Deeply patriotic, she was wary of the militancy, iconoclasm, and rebelliousness that the Jesuits inspired among their Japanese converts. She was also concerned for the fate of the female religious practitioners she supported, women who assisted the vulnerable and the wronged, and whose role the foreign missionaries failed to understand.
Lady Nata became the leader of an anti-Christian faction at court. She fought, with varying degrees of success, to prevent conversions within her family. She advised her son, Yoshimune, to take firm measures against the new converts. When she encountered people wearing rosaries, she would tear them from their necks.
A woman wronged
After thirty years of marriage, Ōtomo Sōrin sought to divorce Lady Nata. He converted to Christianity and married his concubine in a Christian ceremony. Lady Nata was outraged and deeply distressed and attempted to take her own life with a dagger. She then spent long periods performing rituals meant to curse Sōrin.
Japanese sources, however, never recognized Ōtomo Sōrin’s Christian marriage, and Lady Nata was never stripped of her status as queen mother. Her influence and authority remained intact.
When her son Yoshimune showed signs of wanting to be baptized, she prevented him by threatening to shave her head and take her daughters with her to wander in the wilderness.
