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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 Yoshitaka. This was done to ensure his father's loyalties to Ōuchi. He was allowed to return home and around 1546, upon his father's retirement, Takamoto inherited formal leadership of the family, but his father Motonari continued to wield actual control over the clan's affairs. In 1555, Sue Harukata, one of Ōuchi's vassals, staged a coup and forced Ōuchi Yoshitaka to commit suicide. He was then attacked by Mōri Takamoto and his father, and was defeated in the battle of Miyajima. The Mōri, defeating the Sue/Ōuchi forces, thus rose to power in the Chūgoku region, In 1561, Takamoto fought in the Siege of Moji against Ōtomo Sōrin in alliance with the Portuguese. Ōtomo led an all-out attack on the castle, but the assault failed, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 in Aki Province. During the Edo period his descendants became ''daimyō'' of the Chōshū Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration with the abolition of the ''han'' system and ''daimyō'', the Mōri clan became part of the new nobility. Origins The founder of the clan, Mōri Suemitsu, was the fourth son of Ōe no Hiromoto. He founded the clan when he took the name from his '' shōen'' named "Mōri" in Aikō District, Sagami Province. After the Jōkyū War, Suemitsu was appointed to the jitō office of a '' shōen'' in Aki Province. He was defeated by Hōjō Tokiyori in 1247 and committed suicide ('' seppuku'') at Minamoto no Yoritomo's shrine (''hokkedō'') along with his Miura clan allies. The genealog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Ashikaga shogunate. Various samurai warlords and Japanese clans, clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the emerged to fight against samurai rule. The Nanban trade, arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea (159 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kobayakawa Hidekane
was a Japanese samurai, the ninth son of Mōri Motonari. His mother was Motonari's concubine, Nomi no Ōkata (乃美の方). Originally he was named Mototsuna and given to Ōta Hidetsuna but later his childless half-brother Kobayakawa Takakage took him as his adopted son. After this he changed his name to Motofusa. When he became one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's hostages for some years and granted to use a kanji from Hideyoshi's name, he changed his name again to Hidekane. He married Ōtomo Sōrin's daughter Maxentia (Katsurahime) and converted to Catholic Christianity with the baptized name Simao Findenao (シマオ・フィンデナオ). After the Sekigahara Campaign, Hidekane changed his family name back to Mōri, to avoid shame caused by his stepbrother Kobayakawa Hideaki. He died young at 35 years old. Hidekane was known of his gunnery skill, and Tachibana Muneshige's sworn brother. Together with him and other Toyotomi The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mōri Motokiyo
, also known as was the fourth son to the reputed Mōri Motonari throughout the latter Sengoku Period of Feudal Japan. He has the same biological mother with Amano Motomasa and Kobayakawa Hidekane. Family *Father: Mōri Motonari (1497–1571) *Mother: Nomi no Ōkata (?-1601) *Brothers: ** Mōri Takamoto (1523–1563) ** Kikkawa Motoharu (1530–1586) ** Kobayakawa Takakage (1533–1597) ** Kobayakawa Hidekane (1567–1601) *Son: Mōri Hidemoto was a senior retainer of the Toyotomi clan throughout the latter Sengoku period of feudal Japan. Hidemoto was the eldest son of Mōri Motokiyo and initially began service under the Toyotomi as a military commander under his cousin Terumoto, ... (1579–1650) Samurai 1551 births 1597 deaths {{samurai-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Kobayakawa, the Takehara-Kobayakawa clan (竹原小早川氏) and Numata-Kobayakawa clan (沼田小早川氏). He became an active commander of the Mōri army and he with his brother Kikkawa Motoharu became known as the “''Mōri Ryōkawa''", or “''Mōri's Two Rivers''" (毛利両川). As head of the Kobayakawa clan, he expanded the clan's territory in the Chūgoku region (western Honshū), and fought for the Mōri clan in all their campaigns At first he opposed Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi but later swore loyalty and became a retainer of Hideyoshi who awarded him domains in Iyo Province on Shikoku and Chikuzen Province on Kyūshū, totalling 350,000 ''koku''. Hideyoshi gave him the title ''Chûnagon'' also appointed him to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Two Rivers" (毛利両川). Biography In 1530, he was born in Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle. When Motoharu was young he was adopted into the Kikkawa clan by Kikkawa Okitsune. He then became head of the family around 1550. In 1547, He married Kumagai Nobunao's daughter. Motoharu fought in many battles alongside his brother, Kobayakawa Takakage, including the 1555 Battle of Miyajima and the 1570 Battle of Nunobeyama. In 1566, he claimed Izumo Province as his fief, after defeating its lords, the Amago clan, in a number of battles. He fought in the 1568 Battle of Torisaka. and the 1569 Battle of Tatarahama. Motoharu also fought in many battles against the Oda such as the 1578 Siege of Kōzuki Castle and the 1582 Siege of Takamatsu. Afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bingo Province
was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, comprising what is today the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It was sometimes grouped together with Bizen and Bitchu Provinces as . The 備 ''bi'' in the names of these provinces is taken from the second character in the name of Kibi Province, whose ambit also included the area that would be divided off as Mimasaka Province in the early 8th century CE. Bingo bordered Bitchū, Hōki, Izumo, Iwami, and Aki Provinces. The ancient capital is believed to have been in the vicinity of the city of Fuchu. During the Sengoku Period, Bingo was part of the Mori clan's domains, but after the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu reassigned it to one of his allies. A notable landmark includes Fukuyama Castle, which was the main castle of the Bingo-Fukuyama ''han'' (clan) during the Edo period of Japanese history. Shrines and temples ''Kibitsu jinja'' was the chief Shinto shrine (''ichinomiya'') of Bingo. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 inherited the Funai Domain, on Kyūshū, Japan's southernmost main island, from his father. He is perhaps most significant for having appealed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi to intervene in Kyūshū against the Shimazu clan, thus spurring Hideyoshi's Kyūshū Campaign of 1587. Early life In 1545, Sōrin married Lady Nata (Jezebel) who became one of the leading personalities against the spread of Christianity in western Japan. she was the daughter of Nata Akimoto, the head priest of the Nata Hachiman Shrine. Sōrin's domain included the port of Funai, which was frequented by Jesuit priests, bandits, Chinese merchants, and Japanese sea lords. In addition to unifying much of Kyūshū under his control, and securing a significant gain in his clan' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ''Chūgoku'' literally means "middle country", but the origin of the name is unclear. Historically, Japan was divided into a number of provinces called ''koku'', which were in turn classified according to both their power and their distances from the administrative center in Kansai. Under the latter classification, most provinces are divided into , , and . Therefore, one explanation is that ''Chūgoku'' was originally used to refer to the collection of "middle countries" to the west of the capital. However, only five (fewer than half) of the provinces normally considered part of Chūgoku region were in fact classified as middle countries, and the term never applied to the many middle countries to the east of Kansai. Therefore, an alternative ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Miyajima
The 1555 was the only battle to be fought on the sacred island of Miyajima; the entire island is considered to be a Shinto shrine, and no birth or death is allowed on the island. Extensive purification rituals took place after the battle, to cleanse the shrine and the island of the pollution of death. The Battle of Miyajima was the turning point in a campaign for control of the Ōuchi clan and of Aki Province, a strategically important province for establishing control of western Honshu. It was an important step for the Mōri clan in taking the foremost position in western Japan, and cemented the reputation of Mōri Motonari as a cunning strategist. Background In 1551, Sue Harukata revolted against his lord Ōuchi Yoshitaka in the Tainei-ji incident, forcing him to commit seppuku. Sue installed the next lord of the clan, Ōuchi Yoshinaga (younger brother of Ōtomo Sōrin), but effectively led the Ōuchi family and its armies, intent on military expansion. In 1554, Mōri Moton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seppuku
, sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people during the Shōwa period (particularly officers near the end of World War II) to restore honour for themselves or for their families. As a samurai practice, ''seppuku'' was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honour rather than fall into the hands of their enemies (and likely be tortured), as a form of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offences, or performed because they had brought shame to themselves. The ceremonial disembowelment, which is usually part of a more elaborate ritual and performed in front of spectators, consists of plunging a short blade, traditionally a '' tantō'', into the belly and drawing the blade from left to right, slicing the belly open. If the cut is deep enough, it can sever the abdomin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 (). Biography Harukata was born to the Sue clan, which was related to the Ōuchi clan, and served as shugodai of Suō Province. As a boy, he served Ōuchi Yoshitaka, a childhood friend. After '' genpuku'', he was given the name Takafusa after Ōuchi Yoshitaka. In 1539, after his father Okifusa died of illness, he became the head of the Sue clan. Being an able retainer, he became known as the Samurai General Without Peer in the Western Provinces (''Saigoku-musō no Samuraidaishō''). From 1540 to 1542, he worked as the general, replacing Ōuchi Yoshitaka, in the war with the Amago clan. However, when Ōuchi's troops lost heavily in 1542, Yoshitaka's interest in war faded, and he began to incline to cultural activities. Because of this, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
