was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

of 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 Nob ...

through early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. Once the ruler of

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syst ...

, his fief was revoked by

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

after the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

. His childhood name was Sen'yumaru (千熊丸).

Biography

Morichika was the 4th son of

Chōsokabe Motochika was a prominent ''daimyō'' in Japanese Sengoku period, Sengoku-period. He was the 21st chief of the Chōsokabe clan of Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), the ruler of Shikoku, Shikoku region. Early life and rise He was the son and ...

. He was named the heir to the Chōsokabe following Chōsokabe Nobuchika's death in 1587 and fought in the

Siege of Odawara (1590) The third occurred in 1590, and was the primary action in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign to eliminate the Hōjō clan as a threat to his power. The months leading up to it saw hasty but major improvements in the defense of the castle, as H ...

and 1st Korean Campaigns (1592-93). In 1600, he sided with

Ishida Mitsunari was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi–Momoyama period of the 16th century. He ...

and commanded 6,600 men. His troops fought against

Ikeda Terumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was ''Kokushi (officials), Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many ...

at the

(though he saw very little action) and was afterwards deprived of his fief despite sending an apology to

. That same year, he had ordered the execution of his elder brother Tsuno Chikatada, who had questioned his right to be Motochika's heir, as ruler of

. In 1614, he went to join the defenders of Osaka Castle against the Tokugawa, he arriving there the same day as

Sanada Yukimura , also known as , was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He was especially known as the leading general on the defending side of the Siege of Osaka. Yukimura was called "A Hero who may appear once in a hundred years", "Crimson D ...

. His Chōsokabe contingent fought very well in both the Winter and Summer Osaka Campaigns. After the fall of Osaka, Morichika attempted to flee but was apprehended at Hachiman-yama by Hachisuka men. He and his sons were beheaded on May 11, 1615, following the defeat of the Toyotomi and Chōsokabe forces at the Battle of Tennōji. Chosokabe Morichika Banner; Natsuka Masaie (1562?-1600) Banner.jpg, Chōsokabe Morichika hata-jirushi (right) Chosokabe Morichika Banner and Battle Standard.jpg, Chōsokabe Morichika hata-jirushi and uma-jirushi

Family

*Father:

(1539–1599) *Mother: Lady Motochika (d. 1583) *Older brother : ** Chōsokabe Nobuchika ** Kagawa Chikakazu *Wife: Daughter of Chōsokabe Nobuchika *Children: ** Chōsokabe Moritaka (d. 1615) ** Chōsokabe Morisada (d. 1615) ** Chōsokabe Morinobu (d. 1615) ** Chōsokabe Moritsune (d. 1615) *Grandchild: (son of Moritsune) Chōsokabe Moritane (d. 1615)

References

External links

Information on Chōsogabe Morichika
1575 births 1615 deaths Daimyo Samurai Chōsokabe clan Executed Japanese people People executed by Japan by decapitation {{samurai-stub