Motoharu Kikkawa

Japanese: 吉川元春 - きっかわ・もとはる

Year of death: November 15, 1586 (December 25, 1586)
Year of birth: 1530
A military commander in the Sengoku period. The second son of Mori Motonari, his mother was from the Yoshikawa clan. He was called Shosuke Jiro, Jibu Shosuke, and Suruga no Kami. In 1547 (Tenbun 16), he was adopted by Yoshikawa Okitsune, who had influence from Geihoku to Iwami province, based in Oasa-sho, Aki province (Oasa-cho, Yamagata-gun, Hiroshima prefecture), and inherited the family headship the same year. Together with his elder brother Mori Takamoto and younger brother Kobayakawa Takakage, he assisted his father Motonari in fighting in various places. After 1556 (Koji 2), he was entrusted with the strategy of Iwami province, where many members of the family were closely connected, and built the foundation for the Mori clan's control over the San'in region. The so-called "Mori Ryokawa" system, with Motoharu in charge of military affairs in the San'in region and Takakage in the San'yo region, was established around this time. From 1562 to 1569, together with his father, he attacked and defeated Amago Yoshihisa of Izumo at Tomita (Gassan) Castle, and in 1570, together with Takakage, he rushed to the aid of Kawano Michinao of Iyo and defeated Utsunomiya Toyotsuna at Ozu Castle (Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture). The following year, while fighting the Otomo clan at Tachibana Castle in Chikuzen (Kasuya Town, Fukuoka Prefecture), Yamanaka Shikanosuke Yukimori invaded Izumo accompanied by Amago Katsuhisa, so he quickly returned his forces and defeated them in 1570. After Motonari died in 1571, he assisted Terumoto, head of the Mori clan, together with Takakage, in a strategy to advance eastward from the areas of Hoki and Inaba. In 1578, with the support of the Oda clan, he defeated Katsuhisa, who had holed up in Harima Kozuki Castle (Kozuki-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo Prefecture), but in 1579, Tottori Castle, where Kikkawa Tsuneie was stationed as the defender, fell to the forces of Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, and the following year he was forced to make peace with Hideyoshi. In the same year, he handed over the family headship to his son Motonaga and retired. In 1581, at Hideyoshi's strong request, he marched to Kyushu and died in the camp of Kokura in Buzen. <References> Hideo Segawa, "Kikkawa Motoharu," "Kikkawa Motoharu-kyoden"

(Inoue Hiroshi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天正14.11.15(1586.12.25)
生年：享禄3(1530)
戦国時代の武将。毛利元就の次男,母は吉川氏。少輔次郎,治部少輔,駿河守と称した。天文16(1547)年,安芸国大朝荘(広島県山県郡大朝町)を本拠に芸北から石見国に勢力を有していた吉川興経の養子となり,同年家督を相続。兄毛利隆元,弟小早川隆景と共に,父元就を助けて各地に転戦。弘治2(1556)年以後,一族が多く,つながりも深い石見国の経略を任され,毛利氏の山陰地方制圧に基礎を築いた。元春が山陰方面,隆景が山陽方面の軍事を担当するいわゆる「毛利両川」体制はこのころに成立。永禄5(1562)年から同9年にかけて,父と共に出雲尼子義久を富田(月山)城に攻めてこれを下し,同11年には隆景と共に伊予河野通直の救援に駆けつけ,大洲城(愛媛県大洲市)に宇都宮豊綱を下した。翌年,筑前立花城(福岡県粕屋町)で大友氏と交戦中,山中鹿介幸盛が尼子勝久を奉じて出雲に侵入したため,急遽軍を返し,元亀1(1570)年これを敗走させた。同2年に元就が死ぬと隆景と共に毛利家家督輝元を補佐し,伯耆・因幡方面からの東上策を進めた。天正6(1578)年,織田氏の援助のもと播磨上月城(兵庫県佐用郡上月町)に立てこもった勝久を滅ぼすが,同9年,吉川経家を守将に配した鳥取城が羽柴(豊臣)秀吉軍に落され,翌年秀吉との講和を余儀なくされた。同年,家督を子元長に譲って隠退。同14年,秀吉の強い意向を受けて九州に出征し,豊前小倉の陣中に没。<参考文献>瀬川秀雄『吉川元春』,『吉川元春卿伝』

(井上寛司)

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