was a woman from the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

to the

Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nobuna ...

. Her real name was .Akitakata City Museum of Local History 2018, p. 11. She was the second daughter of

Mōri Motonari was a prominent ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) in the western Chūgoku region of Japan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century. The Mōri clan claimed descent from Ōe no Hiromoto (大江広元), an adviser to Minamoto no Yoritomo. Motonari w ...

, and the wife of Shishido Takaie.

Life

In 1529, Lady Goryū was born in

Tajihi-Sarugake Castle was a Japanese castle located in Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture. Its ruins have been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site together with Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle since 1940. Overview The year of construction of Ta ...

, the second daughter of

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

of the

Chūgoku region The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In 2010, it had a population of 7,563,428. History '' ...

. Her mother was Motonari's wife, Myōkyū. She was the younger sister of

Mōri Takamoto was a ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of Aki Province during Japan's Sengoku period. He was the eldest legitimate son of Mōri Motonari. Biography Born in the Tajihi-Sarugake Castle in 1523. Takamoto was sent to Suō Province as a hostage of Ōuchi Y ...

and the older sister of

Kikkawa Motoharu was the second son of Mōri Motonari, and featured prominently in all the wars of the Mōri clan. He became an active commander of the Mōri army and he with his brother Kobayakawa Takakage became known as the “Mōri Ryōkawa", or “Mōri's ...

. Takamoto had an older sister, but in infancy, she was adopted by the Takahashi clan (as a hostage) and later killed following their demise. Lady Goryū was loved by her parents. In 1534, she married Shishido Takaie, the head of the Shishido clan in

Aki Province or Geishū () was a province in the Chūgoku Region of western Honshū, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture. History When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist prie ...

. Their marriage was part of the reconciliation between Shishido and Motonari. In 1547, Takaie's eldest son, Shishido Motohide, was born. Among the children Lady Goryū had with him, her eldest daughter was married to Kōno Michinobu of

Iyo Province was a province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa to the east, and Tosa to the south. Its abbreviated form name was . In term ...

, her second daughter married Motonaga (the eldest son of Kikkawa Motoharu), and her third daughter, Seikōin, married

Mōri Terumoto Mōri Terumoto (毛利輝元, January 22, 1553 – June 2, 1625) was a Japanese ''daimyō''. The son of Mōri Takamoto, and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, he fought against Oda Nobunaga but was eventually overco ...

; each marriage contributed to solidifying the unity of the Mōri family. There seems to have been a terrible ambiance between Lady Goryū and Lady Shinjō, Motoharu's wife, according to Motonari's '' Sanshi Kyokunjo''. Lady Goryū died on August 2, 1574, at the age of 46. It is believed the cause of death was a stroke. Her posthumous Buddhist name is Hōkōinden Eishitsu Myōjudaishi (法光院殿栄室妙寿大姉). The location of her grave is unknown, although there are four possible locations – two in Kōdachō Asatsuka,

Akitakata, Hiroshima is a Cities of Japan, city located in north-central Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of April 1, 2011, the city has a population of 31,565, with 13,223 households and a population density of 59 persons per km². of The total area is 538.17 ...

, one in Kōdachō Sukumoji, Akitakata, Hiroshima, and one in Ibara Shirakicho,

Asakita-ku, Hiroshima is one of the eight wards of the city of Hiroshima. The northern portion contains what was Asa-gun and southern Takata-gun, now defunct districts (see Takata District, Hiroshima). Asa-gun consisted of Kabe-cho, Kōyō-cho, Asa-cho. Takata ...

.Akitakata City Museum of Local History 2012, p. 27. Takaie was buried along with his second wife.

In popular culture

Lady Goryū is portrayed in the 1997

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

Taiga drama ''Mōri Motonari'' as "Eno". She is portrayed by Takahashi Yumiko, and her younger incarnation is portrayed by Itō Asuka.

References

1574 deaths 16th-century Japanese women People of Sengoku-period Japan Mōri clan 1529 births {{Japan-bio-stub