Matsukura Shigemasa

Matsukura Shigemasa (松倉 重政, 1574 – December 19, 1630) was a Japanese feudal lord of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods.

He held the title of Bingo no Kami and the Imperial court rank of junior 5th, lower grade (ju-go i no ge).

For his meritorious actions in the Tokugawa army at the Domyoji front of the Osaka Summer Campaign, he was awarded an increase in stipend and was transferred in 1616 to Hinoe in Hizen Province, a 43,000 koku domain formerly belonging to Arima Harunobu.

In 1621, persecutions of Christians began, with mutilation and branding being practices ordered by the ever-tightening restrictions of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu.

In Shimabara, the Matsukura clan tortured Christians by boiling them alive in the infamous Unzen Volcanic Springs, beginning in 1627.