was one of the most powerful and important families in Western Japan during the reign of the

Ashikaga shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establi ...

in the 12th to 14th centuries. Their domains, ruled from the castle town of Yamaguchi, comprised six

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

at their height, and the Ōuchi played a major role in supporting the Ashikaga in the Nanboku-cho Wars against the Imperial Court. The Ōuchi remained powerful up until the 1560s, when they were eclipsed by their vassals, the

Mōri clan The Mōri clan (毛利氏 ''Mōri-shi'') was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power ...

History

Local legend in modern Yamaguchi City has it that the Ōuchi clan were of Korean origins, specifically descended from a prince of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder J ...

. The ''Ōuchi-shi Jitsruroku'' (大内氏実録), a work of the historian Kondō Kiyoshi (近藤清石, 1833–1916), is one of the books which adopt this legend. However, some scholars are in dispute, and even traditions are contradictory to each other. Modern day members of the Ouchi clan think that there is no dispute, and they strongly identify with Baekje. According to the ''Ō uchi Tatarashi fuch ō'' and the ''Ōuchi-shi Jitsruroku'', Prince Imseong is the first ancestor of them. Based in

Suō Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Suō bordered on Aki, Iwami, and Nagato Provinces. The ancient provincial capital was in Hōfu. Suō was ruled for much ...

, towards the western end of

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island sepa ...

, the Ōuchi were among the primary families to be involved in foreign trade and relations, particularly with China. Following the

Ōnin War The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. '' Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era during which the war started; the war ended during the Bun ...

(1467–1477), a strong rivalry developed between the Ōuchi and the Hosokawa family, who were then in power. The two clashed at Ningbo in 1523, and as a result the Chinese closed

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

to Japanese traders. After the incident, the Ōuchi ships were only allowed to trade in China in 1540 and 1549. The Ōuchi also housed the Portuguese

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

for a time in 1551. As a result of their wealth and trading contacts, the Ōuchi gained renown in the worlds of art and culture as well. They possessed countless items of cultural and artistic significance and beauty, from Japan and China, as well as from further abroad. Particularly famous was the invitation by

Ōuchi Masahiro was a member of the Ōuchi clan and general in the Ōnin War, serving Yamana Sōzen. He battled numerous times with Yamana's rival, Hosokawa Katsumoto, at one point commanding 20,000 men and 2,000 boats, moving his troops by land as well as by s ...

of the famous painter Sesshū to Yamaguchi in 1486. In 1551, the ''

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

Ōuchi Yoshitaka was the ''daimyō'' of Suō Province and the head of the Ōuchi clan, succeeding Ōuchi Yoshioki. In 1522, he fought the Amago clan along with his father, Yoshioki, to win the control of Aki Province. Upon Yoshioki's death in 1528, Yoshitaka b ...

tried to move Emperor Go-Nara and his court from war-torn

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

to Yamaguchi. But the Ōuchi's chief military vassals opposed this plan, fearing that imperial courtiers would displace them. This led to the

Tainei-ji incident The was a coup in September 1551 by Sue Takafusa (later known as Sue Harukata) against Ōuchi Yoshitaka, hegemon ''daimyō'' of western Japan, which ended in the latter's forced suicide in Tainei-ji, a temple in Nagato Province. The coup put an ...

, in which Yoshitaka was forced to commit suicide.

Sue Harukata was a samurai who served as a senior retainer of the Ōuchi clan in the Sengoku period in Japan. He was the second son of Sue Okifusa, a senior retainer of the Ōuchi clan. His childhood name was Goro, and previously had the name Takafusa (). ...

, the leader of the rebellion, installed

Ōuchi Yoshinaga , formerly Ōtomo Haruhide (大友晴英), was a 16th-century Kyushu warrior who was invited by Sue Harukata, who had just taken control of the Ōuchi clan, to serve as the official head of the Ōuchi while Sue pulled the strings from behind. Yosh ...

as a puppet clan chief, but Yoshinaga was actually the younger brother of long-time Ōuchi rival

Ōtomo Sōrin , also known as Fujiwara no Yoshishige (藤原義鎮) and Ōtomo Yoshishige (大友義鎮), was a Japanese feudal lord (''daimyō'') of the Ōtomo clan, one of the few to have converted to Roman Catholicism (Christianity). The eldest son of , he ...

. This ended the Ōuchi line proper. In 1555,

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 ...

, another former vassal of Yoshitaka, defeated Sue Harukata in the Battle of Miyajima. Two years later, Yoshinaga committed suicide, ending the Ōuchi clan.

Clan heads

# Ōuchi Morifusa (大内盛房) # Ōuchi Hiromori (大内弘盛) # Ōuchi Mitsumori (大内満盛) # Ōuchi Hironari (大内弘成, ? –1244) # Ōuchi Hirosada (大内弘貞, ? –1286) # Ōuchi Hiroie (大内弘家, 1274?–1300) # Ōuchi Shigehiro (大内重弘, ? –1320) # Ōuchi Hiroyuki (大内弘幸, ? –1352) # Ōuchi Hiroyo (大内弘世, 1325–1380) #

Ōuchi Yoshihiro , also known as Ouchi ''Sakyo-no-Tayu,'' was a Muromachi period samurai clan head and military leader. Yoshirio was the second son of Ōuchi Hiroyo, and a member of the Ōuchi clan which served under Ashikaga Takauji. The Ōuchi became known a ...

(大内義弘, 1356–1400) – Led a revolt against Shogun

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was the third '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate, ruling from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was Ashikaga Yoshiakira's third son but the oldest son to survive, his childhood name being Haruō (). Yoshimitsu ...

. # Ōuchi Moriharu (大内盛見, 1377–1431) # Ōuchi Mochiyo (大内持世, 1394–1441) # Ōuchi Norihiro (大内教弘, 1420–1465) #

(大内政弘, 1446–1495) – one of

Yamana Sōzen was originally before becoming a monk. Due to his red complexion, he was sometimes known as ''Aka-nyūdō'', "the Red Monk". He was one of the ''daimyōs'' who fought against Hosokawa Katsumoto during the Ōnin War in Heian-kyō. Biography Yam ...

's chief generals in the

. #

Ōuchi Yoshioki became a ''sengoku daimyō'' of Suō Province and served as the 15th head of the Ōuchi clan. Yoshioki was born early in the Sengoku period, the son of Ōuchi Masahiro, ''shugo'' of Suō Province and the 14th head of the Ōuchi clan. The fir ...

(大内義興, 1477–1529) – Restored the shogun

Ashikaga Yoshitane , also known as , was the 10th ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who headed the shogunate first from 1490 to 1493 and then again from 1508 to 1521 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshitane was the son of Ashikaga Yoshimi and grandson ...

to power after a fifteen-year absence in 1508. #

(大内義隆, 1507–1551) – The lord who oversaw the height of Ōuchi power and saw it end abruptly. #

(大内義長, 1532?–1557) – The last Ōuchi lord, he was the son of Sengoku ''

'', Ōtomo Yoshiaki, and thus not of Ōuchi blood.

Notable retainers

* Sue Nagafusa *

Hironaka Takakane was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the Sengoku period. Hironaka clan was one of the most Important retainers of the Ōuchi clan for generations. Hironaka clan led the naval forces . Takakane was appointed as a shugodai of the Aki P ...

Iida Okihide Iida or IIDA may refer to: * Iida, Nagano, Japan * Iida (surname) *International Interior Design Association International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Intern ...

Prominent castles

* Ōuchi-shi Yakata : Ōuchi clan's main bastion * Kōnomine Castle : Supporting castle of Ōuchi-shi Yakata * Wakayama Castle : Sue clan's main bastion * Katsuyama Castle * Tsuwano Castle * Tsuchiyama Castle

Notes

References

*Sansom, George (1961). ''A History of Japan: 1334–1615''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. *Sansom, George Bailey (1962). ''Japan: A Short Cultural History''. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. *Turnbull, Stephen (1998). ''The Samurai Sourcebook''. London: Cassell & Co. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ouchi family Japanese clans