Chris Perry, Author

Tag: Choshu Domain

  • The Shimazu, Part 2

    The Shimazu, Part 2

    By 1582, the Shimazu were once again masters of southern Kyushu and had recently defeated the rival Otomo Clan so comprehensively that they effectively ceased to be an obstacle to Shimazu dominance of the whole island. This ambition would be curbed by the intervention of Oda Nobunaga, who wanted to get the Otomo to join his attack on the Mori Clan.

    The situation in 1582. The Shimazu are in blue, and the Otomo in purple. The Mori are in yellow, and Oda Nobunaga is the big red blob in the middle.
    By Alvin Lee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39198356

    Nobunaga’s plans, along with his life, would be cut short in the Honnoji Incident in June 1582, and the Shimazu once again found themselves as the strongest clan on Kyushu. In the far north-west of the island, close to the modern city of Nagasaki, lay the base of the Ryuzoji Clan. For generations, the Ryuzoji had been a secondary clan in the region. However, under the leadership of Ryuzoji Takanobu, they had expanded their power to control the whole of Hizen Province (modern Nagasaki and Saga Prefectures), and although they had nominally been subordinates of the Otomo Clan, the aftermath of the Battle of Mimikawa in 1578 (which the Otomo lost) gave the Ryuzoji the opportunity to expand even further. (They are in the light-green on the map above).

    It was inevitable that the Shimazu and Ryuzoji would clash, and in 1584, a member of the Arima Clan wrote to Shimazu Yoshihisa, requesting his aid against the Ryuzoji. This was a convenient excuse to do what he probably would have done anyway, and Yoshihisa dispatched an army under his brother Iehisa. What followed was a lightning campaign in which the Shimazu, despite being outnumbered more than three-to-one, engaged and defeated the Ryuzoji at the decisive Battle of Okitanawate in May 1584.

    This proved to be yet another decisive victory for the Shimazu. Not only did they defeat the Ryuzoji army, Takanobu, but the lord of the clan was also killed, cutting the head off the proverbial snake. The Ryuzoji had expanded rapidly, and their control collapsed just as quickly. Clans who had been forced to submit quickly switched sides to the Shimazu, and any holdouts were destroyed in short order.

    In 1586, Yoshihisa turned his attention to the remnants of the Otomo Clan, invading Bungo Province and crushing the final remnants of what had once been Kyushu’s pre-eminent clan. Yoshihisa might have had time to reflect on the fleeting nature of power in that era, but he wouldn’t have had long. No sooner did the Shimazu deal the final blow to the Otomo than the last holdouts of that clan appealed to the new power in Japan for help, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

    The situation in 1586, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi secured power, and the Shimazu came so close to unifying Kyushu.
    By Alvin Lee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39214208

    The Shimazu were at the height of their power, and it is perhaps no surprise that, when Hideyoshi order them to cease their attacks on the Otomo, they refused. Yoshihisa went even further, when he suggested that the Shimazu, and old and storied clan, had no need to accept an ‘upstart’ like Hideyoshi as regent. Hideyoshi had been born a peasant, but he was the most powerful warlord in Japan by that point, and Yoshihisa would come to regret the disrespect.

    When it became clear that Hideyoshi meant to invade Kyushu, the Shimazu doubled their efforts to crush the Otomo and secure the whole island. They rightly guessed that any Otomo holdouts would be used by Hideyoshi’s forces as a base for any campaign. Though they would ultimately be unable to fully subjugate the Otomo, the Shimazu’s confidence seemed to have been well placed when, in early 1587, Chosokabe forces, under Hideyoshi’s orders, invaded Bungo province and were heavily defeated at the Battle of Hetsugigawa.

    Shimazu celebrations would be short-lived, however. Hideyoshi, reportedly enraged by the ease with which the Shimazu had apparently defeated the initial invasion, mustered a force of between 250,000 and 300,000 men (reports vary), possibly the largest army seen in Japan up to that time. Throughout the spring and summer of 1586, this huge force steamrolled the Shimazu. There were instances of brave resistance, but the writing was on the wall, and in June, the Shimazu sued for peace.

    Taiheiji Temple in modern Kagoshima, where Shimazu Yoshihisa met with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and a peace was agreed.
    Sakoppi – 自ら撮影, CC 表示 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12570199による

    The terms were harsh, but ultimately secured the survival of the clan. Hideyoshi demanded that the Shimazu give up control of almost the whole of Kyushu, essentially wiping out centuries of conquest and expansion. In return, the Shimazu were confirmed as lords of Satsuma province, and later, after further negotiations, Osumi as well.

    The Shimazu would prove to be somewhat unreliable vassals. When Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592, he ordered all feudal lords to commit troops. The Shimazu were apparently slow to comply with this order, leading Hideyoshi to suspect they were disloyal (which they probably were, having been only recently conquered)

    The Shimazu would eventually obey and dispatch troops to Korea, but it appears that Yoshihisa had been replaced as head of the clan in the eyes of Hideyoshi, as formal letters recognising Shimazu control of their provinces were written in the name of Shimazu Iehisa, Yoshihisa’s younger brother, though it appears that Yoshihisa retained the actual power.

    Shimazu Iehisa (sometimes called Yoshihiro), the nominal head of the Shimazu after Hideyoshi’s invasion of Kyushu.

    Hideyoshi’s death and the end of the war in Korea refocused the realm’s attention back home, as Hideyoshi’s son and heir was just a child. The Shimazu would not be members of the Council of Regents, but when the final rupture occurred in 1600, and war became inevitable, Shimazu Iehisa (nominal head of the clan) was in Kyoto and swore loyalty to the Western (or pro-Toyotomi) army.

    This move was apparently not supported by his older brother and the wider Shimazu clan, as when Iehisa requested reinforcements, he received none. This might have been a deliberate ploy by the Shimazu to play both sides, but it’s also possible that an outbreak of fighting in Kyushu caused the Shimazu to focus their efforts closer to home.

    The fighting was relatively small-scale and was nominally between supporters of the Toyotomi and Tokugawa Ieyasu (who had just won the decisive Battle of Sekigahara). In reality, this was probably an example of a breakdown in central authority being taken advantage of by local warlords. Unlike in previous eras, however, central control was swiftly reestablished. After his victory at Sekigahara, Ieyasu turned his attention to subduing the rest of the realm, Kyushu included.

    Tokugawa Ieyasu.

    A planned campaign against the Shimazu was cancelled in favour of negotiations that lasted nearly two years. Ieyasu suggested that Yoshihisa travel to Kyoto in person, but Yoshihisa always had an excuse not to go; he was ill, the roads were bad, the weather was awful, he hadn’t got enough money, etc. Finally, in 1602, Ieyasu, who apparently had no real appetite for a campaign in Kyushu, confirmed Shimazu control of Satsuma and Osumi Provinces after Yoshihisa’s brother, Iehisa, went to Kyoto in his place (some sources say Yoshihisa actually opposed this idea, only approving it after the fact, when his brother had already departed)

    The Shimazu would be largely left in peace in the decades that followed. In 1609, Iehisa, but now more or less dejure lord of the Shimazu, received permission from the Tokugawa to invade the Ryukyu Kingdom (modern Okinawa). This meant that the Shimazu became the only clan to control a foreign kingdom, and meant that, when Japan entered its period of isolation (Sakoku), the Shimazu were one of the few who still had access to the outside world.

    These contacts would grant the Shimazu an unusual level of economic strength in the Edo period, and this, combined with some strategic marriages into the Tokugawa, meant that the clan, despite (or perhaps because of) its distance from Edo (modern Tokyo), became one of the richest and most powerful of the era.

    A Ryukyu tributary mission to China. The relationship between Ryukyu and China allowed the Shimazu to maintain indirect trade links with mainland Asia.

    This proved to be important in the 19th century, when the irresistible tide of modernisation swept Japan after the first American, but later, other powers sought to take advantage of Japan’s weak position for their own ends. It would be the Shimazu (better known as Satsuma Domain by then) under their leader Nariakira, who were amongst the first to grasp the potential for Western-style industrialisation and warfare.

    Satsuma Domain would be at the vanguard of the Meiji Restoration, with its alliance with the Mori clan of the Choshu Domain proving to be the decisive factor in the brief, but bloody Boshin War that saw the Tokugawa overthrown and Imperial rule reestablished.

    The Shimazu themselves would endure the tumultuous years of the late 19th and 20th centuries, and the family survives today, with the 33rd head of the clan, Shimazu Tadahiro, serving as CEO of the Shimazu Corporation, which works to promote not only the cultural legacy of the Shimazu family, but also tourism and business development in and around Kagoshima, the traditional heart of the Satsuma Domain.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E7%BE%A9%E4%B9%85
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E7%BE%A9%E5%BC%98
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E6%B0%8F#
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E5%BF%A0%E8%A3%95
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E8%88%88%E6%A5%AD
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B3%B6%E6%B4%A5%E6%96%89%E5%BD%AC
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A0%B9%E7%99%BD%E5%9D%82%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9D%E5%B7%9E%E5%B9%B3%E5%AE%9A
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%88%B8%E6%AC%A1%E5%B7%9D%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%96%E7%94%B0%E7%95%B7%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BE%8D%E9%80%A0%E5%AF%BA%E9%9A%86%E4%BF%A1
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_daimy%C5%8Ds_from_the_Sengoku_period

  • Memento Mori, Part 3

    Memento Mori, Part 3

    Last time, we looked at how the relationship between Mori Terumoto and Oda Nobunaga broke down, leaving both sides on the verge of conflict. After Terumoto declared for the Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki (the last Ashikaga Shogun) declared that Terumoto would serve as ‘Vice Shogun’, a slightly ambiguous position which was rendered largely moot in practice, as the Shogun relied almost entirely on Mori’s strength of arms, reducing him to little more than a figurehead.

    Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last of the Ashikaga Shoguns, and little more than a figurehead.

    The first action of this new ‘Shogunate’ (read: Mori) army was supporting the besieged warrior monks of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. You may recall in the post about the Ikko-Ikki, we mentioned Nobunaga’s campaigns against Hongan-ji, which ultimately lasted more than a decade, and left the temple a charred ruin.

    The Mori, possessing one of the most powerful navies amongst the Sengoku Daimyo, dispatched a fleet which made short work of the Oda forces in Osaka Bay, opening the way for supplies to be delivered to Hongan-ji. This victory prolonged the siege and gave the Mori unchallenged control of the Seto Inland Sea in the short term.

    Later that year, Nobunaga sought to restore the Amago Clan (long-time enemies of the Mori) to a position of strength, putting up Amago Katsuhisa, the last Amago ‘lord’ at Kozuki Castle, in Harima Province, hoping to attract Amago loyalists and any other opponents of the Mori, and make life difficult for Terumoto.

    A later image of Amago Katsuhisa, the last ‘lord’ of the Amago Clan.

    In response, Terumoto himself led an army to lay siege to Kozuki, and when a relief force, led by Hashiba (later Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, arrived, Terumoto handily defeated it, driving the Oda out of Harima Province, taking Kozuki Castle, and obliging the remaining Amago partisans to commit seppuku, which isn’t bad for a day’s work.

    Not long after this success, Terumoto would expand his influence in Harima still further, convincing several lords to defect to the Mori, and bottling up Nobunaga’s remaining loyalists in the province. After this series of successes, Terumoto had Nobunaga on the back foot, and in response, he pressured the Imperial Court to issue an order that Hongan-ji make peace with Nobunaga. The monks of Hongan-ji expressed a desire to make peace, but not without Terumoto, to whom they owed a debt of gratitude. In response, Nobunaga agreed and began negotiations with Hongan-ji and the Mori.

    The strategic situation shifted considerably in the early winter, however, as a Mori fleet dispatched to deliver further supplies to Hongan-ji was defeated by new ironclad ships of the Oda Navy. The exact nature of these vessels isn’t clear; the word ‘ironclad’ is a direct translation from Japanese, implying the vessels were at least partially armoured, though the exact style and extent of armour isn’t clearly recorded.

    An example of the type of warship used by the Mori Navy.

    Shortly after this victory, which drove the Mori beyond Awaji Island and opened Osaka Bay to the Oda, Nobunaga swiftly called off negotiations and made plans to continue the war. Despite the defeat, the Mori were still in a very strong position, however, and at this point, Terumoto made plans to advance on Kyoto and take the fight to Nobunaga directly.

    Plans were laid, including negotiation with Takeda Katsuyori for a simultaneous attack on Nobunaga’s ally, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Terumoto set the date of the start of the campaign for early 1579. However, early 1579 came and went, and the Mori did not march. A series of rebellions broke out around the same time, supposedly instigated by both Nobunaga and the Otomo Clan (rivals to the Mori on Kyushu), and Terumoto had his hands full.

    The situation went from bad to worse for the Mori throughout 1579, as several border clans, angered at what they saw as a ‘betrayal’ when Terumoto failed to march on Kyoto, defected to the Oda side, disrupting communications with troops on the front line, and opening several gaps in Mori defences. The Mori failure to march also resulted in no further attempts to relieve Hongan-ji, and it was forced to surrender in early 1580.

    Not long after that, Nobunaga was able to focus significant forces on the Mori, and an army led by Hashiba Hideyoshi took advantage of the Mori’s weak position and launched a series of successful attacks against them, capturing castle after castle. A counter-attack in February 1582 led to a brief reprieve, but news from elsewhere was bad.

    A later artistic depiction of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then still called Hashiba) around 1582.

    The Takeda, with whom the Mori had allied against Nobunaga, were decisively defeated in early Spring, and with their removal, Nobunaga turned his entire attention to the Mori. The situation was dire. A little more than five years earlier, the Mori had been a match for Nobunaga; indeed, had Terumoto marched on Kyoto, he would have had a good chance of success.

    Now, however, Nobunaga was stronger than ever, and internal rebellion, defections, and military defeats meant that the Mori were far weaker in comparison. Had Nobunaga advanced, he almost certainly would have won.

    As is so often the case, however, fate intervened. Nobunaga was betrayed by one of his generals in June 1582 and killed. His supporters immediately turned on each other, with Hashiba Hideyoshi, the man who had been leading the charge against the Mori, wishing to establish himself as Nobunaga’s successor, and so he concluded a swift peace with the Mori. For his part, Terumoto was glad to accept, even though it meant sacrificing three provinces. When news of Nobunaga’s death broke, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, still with the Mori, ordered Terumoto to march on Kyoto and take advantage of the situation.

    A 19th century depiction of Oda Nobunaga’s final moments.

    Terumoto refused, still forced to deal with internal rebellion, and although there would be plenty of opportunities to involve himself in the chaotic fighting that followed Nobunaga’s betrayal, the Mori would not move, instead adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach, which, in hindsight was wise, as although history would record Hideyoshi as the ultimate victor, in the summer of 1582, that was far from certain.

    One thing that Terumoto did agree to, however, was refusing to accept the ceding of three provinces to Hideyoshi as part of their peace deal. No doubt the Mori felt that Hideyoshi had misled them (Terumoto hadn’t known about Nobunaga’s death before the agreement), and with Nobunaga’s successors tearing each other apart, the Mori were in a good position to keep hold of their territory.

    Negotiations dragged on, even after Hideyoshi was able to win a decisive victory at the Battle of Shizugatake in April 1583, and he began to lose patience, threatening a resumption of war if the Mori didn’t concede. It would not be until early 1585 that a peace was actually agreed, and it was achieved largely without fresh fighting. The Mori would be allowed to keep seven provinces, representing much of the territory that had been taken by Terumoto’s grandfather, Motonari. In exchange, the Mori agreed to support Hideyoshi’s campaigns to unite the realm, especially in Shikoku and Kyushu, which the Mori assisted in invading in May 1585 and August 1586, respectively.

    The strategic situation in 1584, just after Hideyoshi secured power. The Mori are represented in yellow, and Hideyoshi in red.
    By Alvin Lee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39198357

    Finally, in the summer of 1586, Terumoto formally became a vassal of Hideyoshi (by now known as Toyotomi), ending decades of conflict and proving to be a significant step in bringing the Sengoku Jidai to an end more generally. A testament to the new trust placed in the Mori came in 1590, when Hideyoshi attacked the Hojo Clan, masters of the Kanto. Though the Mori did not join the campaign, Mori troops were entrusted with guarding the capital while Hideyoshi was away.

    Around this time, Terumoto completed his new base at Hiroshima Castle and would take part in Hideyoshi’s ill-fated invasion of Korea in 1592. We will go into more detail about the events that followed later, but after Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, Terumoto was named as one of five regents for his infant son, Hideyori.

    The five regents were meant to stabilise the realm until Hideyori came of age, but it didn’t work; Tokugawa Ieyasu was swiftly opposed by the other four as it was believed (rightly as it turned out) that he wished to overthrow the current government and make himself Shogun. The tension would eventually lead to a new outbreak of violence, and a brief campaign culminated in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

    Teruhito and the Mori Clan were officially in opposition to the victorious Ieyasu, but had dispatched only a small force to Sekigahara, keeping their main strength at Osaka Castle to guard the heir. This was the strongest castle in the realm, and Terumoto had tens of thousands of fresh troops with which to hold it. Ieyasu, apparently aware of this, dispatched a letter to Terumoto, expressing his desire for positive relations between the two, and hoping that the Mori would depart Osaka without further violence.

    The walls of Osaka Castle as they appeared in 1865.

    Terumoto agreed when Ieyasu confirmed that the Mori would lose no territory in the aftermath. However, Ieyasu would almost immediately go back on his word once Terumoto was safely away from Osaka. The Mori were reduced to just two provinces in the far west, Suo and Nagato, and almost all the territory taken by Motonari and Terumoto was lost.

    Terumoto himself would officially retire as head of the clan not long after Sekigahara and became a monk, though in reality, he would retain most of the actual authority within the clan. One challenge that came about almost immediately was the loss of income that came with the loss of territory. Before Sekigahara, the Mori had had an income of more than 1 million koku (a Koku being approximately how much rice one man needed for a year). After Sekigahara and the loss of five of their provinces, this income was down to less than 300,000.

    This loss in income led to a loss in strength, as many of the clan’s retainers found their stipends reduced or lost entirely, leading them to seek employment elsewhere (just in case you thought Samurai were all about unquestioned loyalty.) Terumoto rather astutely recognised that this reduction might actually benefit the clan long term, as disloyal vassals would leave quickly, and even those who remained could be chosen based on ability, leading to a reduction in the clan’s overall strength, but perhaps improving skill and efficiency, at least in theory.

    A 19th century photograph of Hagi Castle, where the Mori Clan were based after their forced relocation.

    This would prove a wise move, as a land survey in 1610 showed that the Mori’s financial situation was better than originally assumed, and the reduction in vassals and retainers had led to a leaner, more efficient administration.

    Peace in the realm would last a while under Tokugawa Ieyasu’s rule, but it was a fragile thing. In 1614, the now adult Toyotomi Hideyori (Hideyoshi’s heir) brought about a crisis when a new prayer bell was inscribed with language that was interpreted as calling for the overthrow of the Tokugawa. Hideyori holed up in Osaka Castle and called on all ‘loyal vassals’ to come to his aid. Most, including Terumoto, ignored him, and when Ieyasu marched on Osaka, he requested the Mori dispatch their navy in support, which they duly did.

    Terumoto also led an army to Osaka, though the Mori would ultimately play a relatively small role in the so-called Winter Siege of Osaka. The following year, during what is called the Summer Siege, Ieyasu attacked Osaka again, this time successfully, capturing and executing Hideyori, and bringing his line to an end.

    Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who would ultimately bring the Sengoku Jidai to an end.

    The Mori were again asked to dispatch an army, but delays in orders and the length of the march meant they arrived only after Osaka had fallen. There was some concern that this delay might be interpreted as treachery by Ieyasu; however, even the savvy political operator, Ieyasu, chose to lay the blame on slow communication instead, sparing the blushes of the Mori.

    Terumoto, his health failing and age catching up with him, handed full control of the clan over to his heir, Hidenari, in 1621, and although a formal system of ‘dual leadership’ would continue, it was becoming increasingly clear that Terumoto’s time was running out.

    He would continue to play a role in the affairs of the Mori until his death in 1625, and his clan’s distant position from the new capital in Edo afforded them a certain degree of autonomy, at least with regard to internal affairs, in the years that followed.

    That would prove important in the 19th century, as the arrival of American ships in Edo Bay forced Japan to end its period of isolation. It would be the Mori Clan, based in what by then was called the Choshu Domain, who would lead the charge against the Tokugawa Shogunate, overthrowing it, and re-establishing Imperial Rule in the so-called Meiji Restoration, but we are getting way ahead of ourselves.

    Mori Motonari, the last lord of Choshu Domain.

    Mori Terumoto is one of the giants of the Sengoku Era. Building on the successes of his grandfather, Motonari, he led the Mori to a position in which they may well have been able to take power for themselves, had things gone a little differently. Ultimately, despite never gaining ultimate power for themselves, Terumoto and his successors would prove to be one of the success stories of this period, surviving the turmoil and even thriving in the new Japan of the 19th Century.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%9B%E5%88%A9%E8%BC%9D%E5%85%83
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E8%8A%B8%E5%92%8C%E7%9D%A6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B3%A5%E5%8F%96%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%89%84%E7%94%B2%E8%88%B9
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%89%AF%E5%B0%86%E8%BB%8D
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%8Dri_Terumoto
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%BC%E5%AD%90%E5%8B%9D%E4%B9%85
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu

  • The Power in the Provinces Part Two

    The Power in the Provinces Part Two

    Western Japan

    Western Japan was, much like the Kanto, away from the centre of power, but still close enough to be a perpetual source of trouble.

    The Ouchi

    The mon of the Ouchi Clan
    By Mukai – No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7845833

    At the end of the 15th Century, the Ouchi Clan were one of the strongest in Japan. Based at Yamaguchi, in the furthest west of ‘The West’, they were in an enviable position. Their centre of power was far enough away from Kyoto that they were often spared the worst of the destruction, and the city of Yamaguchi, positioned as it was, near the coast, was a prime location for getting involved in the trade with China and Korea.

    These close links to mainland Asia go back into the mists of time. Unlike many other clans, the Ouchi did not claim descent from one of the ‘Imperial’ Clans (Fujiwara, Minamoto, or Taira). Instead, they claimed as their ancestor a Korean prince, Prince Imseong, although the long years involved make a definitive link impossible to prove.

    During the Nanbokucho Period, the Ouchi proved to be staunch supporters of the Northern Court and the Ashikaga Shoguns, earning them rich rewards, and by the time of the Onin War, they had extended their control into Northern Kyushu, officially on behalf of the Shogun, but effectively ruling their little empire independently.

    During the Onin War, the Ouchi sided with the Yamana Clan and the Western Army. In fact, after the decline of the Yamana during the war, it was the Ouchi who stepped forward and played the leading role in securing Western military victories in the West. When the war ended, the Ouchi regained control of their former territories in northern Kyushu, and would continue to be one of the leading powers at the dawn of the 16th Century.

    Their links to international trade continued during this period as well, in fact, during the mid-16th Century, they would prove to be one of the key clans in what became called “Nanban trade”, literally the “Southern Barbarian Trade”, the ‘Barbarians’ in this case, being the Portuguese, who arrived in Japan in the 1540s.

    Despite their wealth and power, the Ouchi would eventually become overstretched. Facing powerful clans in Kyushu and nearer to home, they would initially see success, crushing the Shoni Clan of Kyushu in 1536, and facing the Amago Clan of Izumo Province in 1541. An initial victory over the Amago was followed by a serious defeat in which the Ouchi clan’s heir was killed.

    Ouchi Yoshitaka, who oversaw the decline of his clan.

    After this, the head of clan, Yoshitaka, began neglecting affairs of government, and the Ouchi would enter a period of steep decline. In 1551, Yoshitaka was killed in a rebellion, and over the next five years, the Ouchi’s once expansive domains were chipped away, as rivals took advantage of the chaos, and even formerly loyal vassals (most notably the Mori Clan) went their own way, often violently.

    The Ouchi would enter terminal decline from this point. There was a brief attempt at a restoration in 1569, but it was crushed by the Mori, and the original Ouchi Clan ceased to exist. A supposed branch of the family, the Yamaguchi Clan, would survive as rulers of the Ushiku Domain, in modern Ibaraki Prefecture, but they appear to have died out in the male line in 1991.

    The Mori

    The mon of the Mori Clan.
    Kashiwamon – 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示-継承 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91163213による

    Like the Hojo in the Kanto Region, the Mori were arguably the most successful clan based in Western Japan. Despite this, the origins of the clan are actually in Sagami Province, close to the modern city of Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture. From there, the clan would branch off (as they always seem to) into several different ‘Mori’ Clans, but the one we are focusing on here is the ‘Aki Mori’ Clan, which came to be based in Aki Province in what is today Hiroshima Prefecture.

    During the period of the Kamakura Shogunate, the Mori clan remained largely aloof, and when the Emperor Go-Daigo overthrew the Kamakura, the Mori did not get involved. This actually worked against them as Go-Daigo adopted a “With me or against me” approach, and the Mori temporarily saw their territories forfeit.

    This backfired pretty spectacularly when, just three years into the “Kenmu Restoration”, Emperor Go-Daigo himself was overthrown by the Ashikaga Family, leading to the establishment of the eponymous Shogunate, and the Mori (who had helped the Ashikaga) being restored to their lands.

    Much like every other major Samurai family, the Mori broke up into several branch families that would often end up fighting each other. Their situation in the mid-15th Century was further weakened by the presence of the powerful Ouchi and Amago Clans in the region.

    Through the late 15th Century, the Mori would find themselves caught between these two powers, but in the 16th Century, several savvy political marriages and a few adoptions improved their position considerably, and they would eventually rise to eclipse their former masters, the Ouchi, entirely.

    Mori Motonari, the man who would lead his clan to the height of their power.

    Throughout the Sengoku Period, the Mori would become the power in the West in the same way the Hojo were the power in the East. When Oda Nobunaga (him again!) drove the last Ashikaga Shogun out of Kyoto in 1576, he sought protection from the Mori, who would remain Nobunaga’s chief rivals in the West until his death (spoilers) in 1582.

    The Mori would make peace with Nobunaga’s successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and remain a major power, eventually establishing their base at Hiroshima. However, the final battles of the Sengoku period would see the Mori choose the losing side, and they were eventually reduced to just two provinces, which became known as the Choshu Domain.

    There they would remain, implacably opposed to the new government, but far enough away from the capital to be too much trouble to get rid of. During the Meiji Restoration in the 19th Century, it was Choshu, and the Mori clan, who would play a leading role in the modernisation of Japan, but that’s a story for another time.

    The Mori family continued through this period and into the modern era, with the current head being Mori Motohide, who works for Hitachi Steel Works, and became the family head in 2020.

    The Amago

    The mon of the Amago Clan

    The Amago were a branch of another clan, the Kyogoku, who were themselves descended from the Sasaki Clan, whose progenitor was a son of the Emperor Uda, who ruled in the late 9th century.

    Emperor Uda, who ruled from 887-897. The Amago claimed him as their illustrious ancestor.

    The Amago Clan themselves were a relative latecomer; their direct ancestor (the ‘first’ Lord Amago) was Takahisa, who took the name Amago for the area (near Kyoto) where he had his manor. In the early 15th Century, he was appointed as the deputy governor (shugo-dai) of Izumo Province (in modern Shimane Prefecture) on behalf of the Kyogoku Clan, who were obliged to reside in Kyoto.

    We’ve discussed in previous posts how the Shogun’s policy of demanding that Shugo reside in Kyoto led to the rise of independently minded deputies; well, the Amago are one of them. Although officially only deputies, the Amago would take advantage of the chaos of the Onin War to consolidate their power, and by the time the war ended, they were in effective control.

    When the Kyogoku line became extinct in 1514, with the death of the last lord, the Amago graduated from de facto to actual lords of Izumo, and it would be there that they based their power. The rise of the Amago was initially opposed by the Ouchi, and throughout the early 16th Century, they would engage in something of a hostile coexistence, neither side quite able to overcome the other, with the Ouchi focusing on the west, whilst the Amago had their eyes to the east.

    The Amago would eventually rise to be the masters of eight provinces in the region, but in the 1540s, the rise of the Mori clan would lead to the decline of the Ouchi and directly threaten the Amago. The conflict between these clans would drag on for nearly 40 years, but the Mori would eventually prevail, with the surviving members of the Amago family serving as retainers for the Mori throughout the Edo Period.

    The family itself would survive until 1940, when the last head of the clan passed away without an heir.

    The Akamatsu

    The mon of the Akamatsu Clan
    By お茶飲む人 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53365103

    Unlike many of the other clans we’ve been looking at, the Akamatsu Clan were a family that peaked early, and then never really recovered. The exact origins of the clan are disputed, with some sources suggesting they descended from the Minamoto Clan, whilst others refute this, leading to some confusion.

    What is not disputed is that the Akamatsu Clan originally supported the Emperor Go-Daigo during the short-lived Kenmu Restoration, earning Harima Province for their trouble, only for the province to be forfeited shortly afterwards during Go-Daigo’s controversial “Alienate everyone as quickly as possible” policy, which saw him overthrown by the Ashikaga Shogunate after just three years.

    The Akamatsu, thoroughly alienated as they were, sided with the Ashikaga and had Harima Province restored to them after their victory, and the clan would be steadfast loyalists of the new Shogunate, at least for a while. The Akamatsu remained faithful, but in 1429, a serious peasant revolt in their home province badly weakened them, and not long after that, the Shogun, Yoshinori, came to the throne and proved to be an effective, but extremely paranoid ruler.

    The exact reasons for the so-called Kakitsu Rebellion are unclear, but members of the Akamatsu Clan assassinated the Shogun in 1441, after which they raised an army only to be crushed by the Shogunate army shortly afterwards.

    Branches of the family would survive, and after conspicuous service during the Onin War, the Akamatsu were actually restored to control of Harima Province. For a while, things were looking up. By 1488, the head of the clan, Masanori, had established control of three provinces, and there was every indication that the Akamatsu would enter the 15th century as one of the major players.

    You’ve probably already guessed that that isn’t what happened, though, and you’d be right, good on you for paying attention. Masanori died suddenly in 1496, and his heir was just four years old, meaning that the clan fell into the hands of so-called ‘Elders’ who were supposed to rule until the little lord came of age.

    Akamatsu Masanori, who might have held things together for his clan, if he’d lived.

    This might have worked in more peaceful times, but in the early days of the Sengoku Jidai, it led to chaos. Before long, different factions of the clan were fighting each other, and the Akamatsu entered a period of steady decline. Even after the lord, Yoshimura, came of age, he couldn’t change the situation.

    It got so bad that Yoshimura was first forced to abdicate in 1521 and was then assassinated shortly afterwards. His son, Harumasa, was young and easier to control, which might be why the ‘elders’ favoured him as ruler.

    There was a brief resurgence in 1531, when Harumasa managed to establish his own rule, but years of infighting had effectively bled the Akamatsu dry, and in 1537, the neighbouring Amago Clan invaded and conquered the Akamatsu’s home province of Harima.

    The Akamatsu would return to Harima, but they were never able to establish control of the whole province ever again, and throughout the 16th century, their power was gradually eroded away, until 1568, when they made the somewhat short-sighted decision to resist Oda Nobunaga, who promptly crushed them and took Harima for himself.

    Branches of the family would survive in one form or another, but they never ruled large territories again. In the modern era, a descendant of the clan, Akamatsu Yoshinori, served in several high positions in the Imperial Navy, eventually being granted the title of Baron. His descendants are still going today, although there’s not a lot of information available online.

    Sources
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cuchi_clan
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E5%86%85%E6%B0%8F
    https://reichsarchiv.jp/%E5%AE%B6%E7%B3%BB%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88/%E7%89%9B%E4%B9%85%E5%B1%B1%E5%8F%A3%E6%B0%8F
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%8Dri_clan
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%9B%E5%88%A9%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%9B%E5%88%A9%E5%85%83%E6%95%AC
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%9B%E5%88%A9%E5%85%83%E6%A0%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%BC%E5%AD%90%E6%B0%8F
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akamatsu_clan
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B5%A4%E6%9D%BE%E6%B0%8F