was a local warlord (

jizamurai The were lower-ranking provincial samurai that emerged in 15th-century Japan Muromachi period. The definition was rather broad and the term ''jizamurai'' included landholding military aristocracy as well as independent peasant farmers. They alt ...

) of

Aki Province or Geishū () was a province in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, 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 ...

in the west

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. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 7,328,339 ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

during the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

and

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

of the 16th century. The

Mōri clan The was a Japanese clan, 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. Durin ...

claimed descent from Ōe no Hiromoto, an adviser to

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

. He is most known as the father of the famous

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 ...

Biography

Not much is known about the early life of Hiromoto but in 1476 he became head of the

when his father Mōri Toyomoto died. He was one of the many subordinate lords who were vassals of

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 ...

. After the death of Masahiro he continued to serve his son and successor,

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 firs ...

. His son Mōri Okimoto also followed the

Ōuchi clan was one of the most powerful and important families in Western Japan during the reign of the Ashikaga shogunate in the 14th to 16th centuries. Their domains, ruled from the castle town of Yamaguchi in the western tip of Honshu island, compris ...

. In 1500, Hiromoto was involved in a power dispute with the Ashikaga shogunate and the

and decided to retire. He handed over the head position of the clan to his eldest son, Mōri Okimoto and moved to

Tajihi-Sarugake Castle was a Japanese castle located in Akitakata, Hiroshima, Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture. Its ruins have been protected by the central government as a Historic Sites of Japan, National Historic Site together with Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle since 19 ...

(多治比猿掛城) with his son Shōjumaru (the later

). Okimoto then took over

Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle was a Japanese castle located in Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture. It was also called from its location in former Aki Province. Its ruins have been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1940. History Yoshida- ...

, the main stronghold of the clan. In 1501 his wife died and he died in 1506 from

alcohol poisoning Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. The technical term ''intoxication ...

His grave is at Esō Temple (''Esō-in'' 悦叟院) in Akitakata City, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Family

*Father: Mōri Toyomoto (毛利興元, 1444–1476) *Mother: unknown **Brother: Kaneshige Motoshige (兼重元鎮, d. 1541) ***Wife: name unknown, daughter of

Fukubara Hirotoshi was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period, who served the Mōri clan. He was the eighth head of the Fukubara clan, the daughter of Hirotoshi, married Mōri Hiromoto from Mōri clan and gave birth to Mōri Motonari was a prominent ''d ...

(福原広俊). ****1st son: Mōri Okimoto (毛利興元, 1492–1516) ****2nd son:

(毛利元就, 1497–1571) ***Concubine: Lady from Aiō clan (相合大方) ****3rd son: Aiō Mototsuna (相合元綱, d. 1524) ***Concubine: Lady from Arita clan (有田氏女) ****4th son: Kita Narikatsu (北就勝, d. 1557) ***Concubine: ? ****5th son: Mitsuke Motouji (見付元氏)

References

{{reflist 1466 births 1506 deaths Mōri clan

Biography

Family

See also

References