Chris Perry, Author

Tag: Meiji Restoration

  • Kings in the North, Part 3

    Kings in the North, Part 3

    Last time, we looked at how Date Masamune defied an order from Toyotomi Hideyoshi to end his local wars. In 1590, the Date were summoned to take part in the upcoming campaign against the Hojo, based at Odawara, and Masamune knew better than to push his luck. Hideyoshi, however, had not forgotten his earlier defiance.

    Date Masamune

    When Masamune arrived at Odawara, he was stripped of all the territory he had taken in Aizu and confined to the 13 counties in Mutsu and Dewa Provinces that the Date had controlled before the peace order, obliging Masamune to leave the recently conquered Kurokawa Castle and return to his family’s seat at Yonezawa. In 1591, a rebellion broke out in Masamune’s home province, and after he put it down, letters were ‘found’ that implicated Masamune in instigating the violence.

    The rumours reached Hideyoshi in Kyoto, and he ordered Masamune to come in person to explain himself, which he promptly did, eventually being pardoned, but having his territory reduced still further. Despite the fact that Masamune then fought in Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea, it wasn’t long before further rumours of treason surrounded him.

    In 1595, Hideyoshi’s nephew, Hidetsugu, was accused of treason, allegedly plotting either to overthrow his uncle or else usurp the regency after his death. Even at the time, the accusations were considered dubious, and the exact reasons are still murky today, but Hidetsugu was obliged to commit seppuku, and 39 members of his family and household were purged (read, murdered).

    Toyotomi Hidetsugu. The accusations of his treasonous conduct were considered dubious even at the time.

    The brutality of the crackdown and the somewhat flimsy evidence would eventually backfire for Hideyoshi, but for now, we can focus on how this purge would eventually involve Masamune. He and Hidetsugu had enjoyed a close relationship, and when accusations of treason were being thrown around, it didn’t take long for people to point that out.

    Masamune was summoned to explain himself once again. He had good reason to worry; his cousin had been Hidetsugu’s concubine (and had died in the purge), and it was widely thought that Hideyoshi believed that Masamune was guilty. In the end, a combination of Masamune’s eloquent denial and the intervention of several influential retainers led to his pardon. He was, however, obliged to sign a document, witnessed (and potentially enforced) by 19 powerful vassals, stating that if he were ever to commit treason, his position as head of his clan would be forfeit.

    Hideyoshi died in 1598, leaving his young son in the care of a council of five regents. Masamune was not on this council, but he quickly reached an understanding with Tokugawa Ieyasu, arguably the council’s most powerful member. In 1599, Masamune’s daughter married Ieyasu’s fifth son, something that was believed to be an example of Ieyasu securing illegal alliances, though modern scholars suggest that this is an example of a violation of the ‘spirit’ rather than the letter of the law.

    Tokugawa Ieyasu. He found a willing ally in Masamune.

    By 1600, it had become clear that the Council of Regents was not going to last, and a new conflict swiftly broke out. Ieyasu secured the support of Masamune by promising to restore all the lands he had lost in 1590. Date forces would not be present at the decisive Battle of Sekigahara, however, and despite some successes against Ieyasu’s enemies in the north, an attempt to retake the promised territories by force was ultimately unsuccessful.

    Despite this, Masamune still petitioned Ieyasu for the return of the territory, which Ieyasu refused to do, and in fact, Date lands were reduced further (though they would remain the fifth richest clan by koku (rice production)). In 1601, Masamune moved his headquarters to Sendai, establishing the Sendai Domain, which would continue to be the centre of the Date Clan for the next 250 years.

    Though distant from the capital and never entirely trusted, Masamune would play a significant role in Japan’s future. In 1613, he ordered the construction of a European-style galleon, the San Juan Bautista. Masamune was the only Daimyo to receive permission from the Tokugawa to send missions overseas to represent Japan. The so-called Keicho Embassy departed Japan in October 1613, travelling across the Pacific to New Spain (modern Mexico) and from there, across the Atlantic to Europe. The embassy would receive an audience with the King of Spain in January 1615, and then one with the Pope in October of the same year. The Embassy would not return to Japan until 1620, by which time Christianity had been outlawed by the Shogunate, meaning that the Ambassador and anyone involved had come under suspicion.

    A European portrait of Hasekura Tsunenaga, the ambassador in the Keicho Embassy. By the time he returned to Japan, Christianity had been outlawed, and his achievement as the first Japanese representative to Europe was largely forgotten.

    Meanwhile, Masamune at the Date had continued to support the new Shogunate, taking part in both Sieges of Osaka in 1614-15. However, once again, Masamune would find himself under attack by rumours of treason, this time after a supposed ‘friendly fire’ incident, in which Date troops fired on their allies. It’s not clear from surviving records if this incident actually happened, but in 1616, the rumour spread that Ieyasu planned to march against the Date.

    When the two men met in early 1616, Masamune was cleared of any suspicion, and after Ieyasu passed away in June of that year, any serious suggestion that the Date and Tokugawa would go to war seems to have died out (though later texts suggest that Masamune had a plan to fight the Shogunate, should it come down to it)

    With the age of constant civil war coming to an end, Masamune focused on developing his home territory. He ordered the construction of a canal that became the Teizan Canal (though it wouldn’t take its final form until the 19th century). He established a port at Ishinomaki, which was heavily damaged in a tsunami in 2011, and has since been largely rebuilt.

    The Teizan Canal as it appears today. Though largely remodelled in the 19th century, its origins lay with Masamune in the 1600s.

    He also developed agriculture in the Kitakami River basin, which remains a major rice producer to this day. In the Edo Period, the Sendai Domain was valued at around 620,000 koku, but produced in excess of 745,000 koku annually, indicating how effective Masamune’s investments had been, and how inefficient Japanese land valuation was in the pre-modern period.

    In his later years, Masamune would establish a warmer relationship with the Shogunate than he had known previously. When the third Shogun, Iemitsu, began to rule in his own right in 1632, he was said to have idolised Masamune, who by then was one of the last remaining Daimyo to have actually fought during the Sengoku period. The Shogun is said to have frequently asked Masamune for stories of the period, especially the battles he had fought, and what it had been like to serve Ieyasu and Hideyoshi (both of whom were legendary figures by that point)

    Masamune remained vigorous until late in life, but in 1634, he began to develop serious health problems, and his condition declined quickly before he eventually passed away in June 1636. His death was mourned in Edo, with the Shogun banning revelry, fishing, and even the playing of music for seven days afterwards.

    Zuihoden, in modern Sendai, the final resting place of Date Masamune.
    663highland 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2631054による

    Masamune’s reforms and investments had left the Date in a strong financial position, and the Clan would often be treated generally by the Shogunate, with the clan being one of the few ‘outside’ Daimyo (a clan that had not been a vassal of the Tokugawa before Sekigahara) who was granted a marriage into the Shogun’s family.

    Despite, or perhaps because of this, the third Lord, Tsunamune (Masamune’s grandson), proved to be something of a “rich kid” spending his days engaged in what is politely called “debauchery”. Although a certain amount of wine, women (or men), and song was expected of a Daimyo, Tsunamune was extreme to the point that his retainers tried to get rid of him. In August 1660, they petitioned the Shogunate directly, asking that Tsunamune be removed.

    The Shogunate agreed, replacing Tsunamune with his two-year-old son, Tsunamura. Given his young age, Tsunamura needed a regent, and what followed was a decade of violence as rival factions sought influence over the young Lord. Finally, in 1671, a meeting was called in the house of Sakai Tadakiyo, a roju (senior minister) in Edo.

    Date Tsunamune, whose debauchery led to his downfall, and nearly that of his clan.

    What was supposed to be a peaceful meeting to seek a solution to the ongoing violence in Sendai quickly turned into a bloody brawl, and by the end of it, swords had been drawn, and several men lay dead. Tsunamune, as a child, was not held responsible, but the families of those responsible for the bloodshed were executed in turn (in line with the law at the time).

    As the Edo Period went on, the Sendai Domain, much like many Samurai holdings, began to suffer economic hardship. The problem was that the value of the land was estimated based on rice production in the 17th century, and by the early 19th century, those numbers simply didn’t add up.

    Financial problems didn’t stop the Date from remaining loyal to the Tokugawa; during the Boshin War in 1868-69, the Sendai Domain was central to the Shogunate’s efforts to retain power. The Shogunate would ultimately lose the war, and the Date had their lands confiscated, though they were partially restored in the peace that followed. With the abolition of the domains, the Date joined the new aristocracy and continued to serve the new Meiji regime into the 20th century.

    Date Munemoto, the last lord (and first governor) of the Sendai Domain.

    The Date were not always on the right side of the law, however. One infamous member of the clan was Junnosuke, who was known for carrying a knife to school and, in 1909, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for shooting a fellow student during a brawl. His sentence was eventually suspended when his lawyer ‘proved’ it was self-defence. In 1916, he left Japan for Manchuria (not yet under Japanese rule at that point), where he joined the Manchurian Independence Movement.

    He had a varied career after this, serving in the Border Guards in Korea (then under Japanese control), but in 1923, he seems to have been operating as little more than a bandit in and around the Shandong Peninsula. In 1931, he became a naturalised Chinese citizen, but in 1937, he was at the head of some 4000 soldiers from Manchukuo and took part in the Japanese invasion of China; however, his unit was disbanded in 1939. After the war, he was caught by the Chinese, tried as a war criminal, and shot in 1948, bringing a violent career to a violent end.

    Date Junnosuke in the uniform of a Border Guard.

    In the interest of ending things on a lighter note, another descendant of the Date clan (a branch of it, anyway) is Date Mikio, one half of the famous comedy duo Sandwichman, who have won many awards and are arguably one of Japan’s most prolific duos, so that’s nice.

    The main branch of the Date Clan survives into the modern era as well, with the current head, Date Yasumune, serving as a curator of the Zuihoden Museum, burial place of Date Masamune, and a repository for numerous artefacts related to the clan.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E9%A8%92%E5%8B%95
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_S%C5%8Dd%C5%8D
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E7%99%BA%E7%94%B0%E9%87%8D%E5%AE%B6
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E7%B6%B1%E5%AE%97
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%9A%E6%B4%A5
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E6%9C%AC%E6%9D%BE%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%A5%E6%9D%BE%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%91%BA%E4%B8%8A%E5%8E%9F%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B1%8A%E8%87%A3%E7%A7%80%E6%AC%A1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%90%E3%82%A6%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E5%8F%B7
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%99%E5%8F%B0%E8%97%A9
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%85%B6%E9%95%B7%E9%81%A3%E6%AC%A7%E4%BD%BF%E7%AF%80
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9F%B3%E5%B7%BB%E6%B8%AF
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B2%9E%E5%B1%B1%E9%81%8B%E6%B2%B3
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E6%94%BF%E5%AE%97
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E9%A0%86%E4%B9%8B%E5%8A%A9
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E6%B3%B0%E5%AE%97
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%83%E3%83%81%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3_(%E3%81%8A%E7%AC%91%E3%81%84%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%93)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94%E5%AE%97%E5%9F%BA

  • 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
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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%8Dri_Terumoto
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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu