was a lady of 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 ...

and the wife 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 ...

. "Myōkyū" is her Dharma name; her real name is unknown. Her father was Kikkawa Kunitsune, her mother was Takahashi Naonobu's daughter, and her brothers were Kikkawa Mototsune and Kikkawa Tsuneyo. Her children consisted of the eldest daughter (hostage of Takahashi clan; premature death),

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 ...

Lady Goryū was a woman from the Sengoku period to the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Her real name was .Akitakata City Museum of Local History 2018, p. 11. She was the second daughter of Mōri Motonari, and the wife of Shishido Takaie. Life In 1529, Lady Gor ...

, Kikkawa Motoharu, and

Kobayakawa Takakage was a samurai and daimyō (feudal lord) during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the third son of Mōri Motonari who was adopted by the Kobayakawa clan and became its 14th clan head. He merged the two branches of the Koba ...

Life

Born in 1499 in Ogurayama Castle, Myōkyū was the daughter of Kikkawa Kunitsune, a lord in Aki Province. Reaching adulthood, Myōkyū was married out of convenience to Mōri Motonari, a prominent warlord of Aki Province from the Mōri clan. With Motonari, she had a daughter (hostage of Takahashi clan; premature death caused by Takahashi following their downfall), Takamoto in 1523, Lady Goryū around 1525, Motoharu in 1530, and Takakage in 1533. January 2, 1546, Myōkyū died in Koriyama Castle. She was 47. Her Dharma name is Myōkyūshiten Seishitsu Kyūkōtashi. Her grave's location is unknown.

Note

*Although it was a political marriage, it is said that the relationship between Motonari and Myōkyū was good. For as long as Myōkyū was alive, Motonari took up no concubines. *Though her real name is unknown, it is speculated to be Tama (玉) or Hisa (久).

In popular culture

Myōkyū is portrayed in the 1997 NHK Taiga drama ''Mōri Motonari'' by Tomita Yasuko.

Life

Note

In popular culture

See also