Takakage Kobayakawa

A military commander during the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. The third son of Mori Motonari. His childhood names were Tokujumaru, Matashiro, and Saemonnosuke. He was a Junior Third Rank and a Gon Chunagon. In 1544 (Tenbun 13), he was adopted into the Takehara Kobayakawa family and inherited the family. In 1550, he married the daughter of Masahira of the Numata Kobayakawa family and became her heir, thus uniting the two Kobayakawa families. In 1551, he lived in Takayama Castle in Numata Manor, but in 1567 (Eiroku 10), he built Mihara Castle (Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture). He adopted his younger brother Ichimasa (Hidekane), and later gave him 75,000 koku of rice in three districts in Chikugo, making him a separate family. In 85 (Tensho 13), he was awarded 350,000 koku of rice in Iyo by Toyotomi Hideyoshi for his achievements in defeating the Chosokabe clan, and in 87 he defeated the Shimazu clan and was awarded one province in Chikuzen, one province in Chikugo, and one district in Hizen, and moved to Najima Castle in Chikuzen. In 91, following a Taiko survey, he was granted his former territories of Aki and Bingo, one province in Chikuzen, and two districts each in Chikugo and Hizen. In 94, he made Hideaki Hideyoshi's adopted son his heir.

Together with Motoharu, Motonari's second son and heir to the Kikkawa family, Takakage helped the Mori clan to become a feudal lord during the Sengoku period as a local vassal, and they are known as the "Mori Ryosen." In 1582, during Hideyoshi's attack on Takamatsu Castle, Nobunaga died in the Honnoji Incident, and it was Takakage, among the Mori forces led by Terumoto and Motoharu, who advocated for peace with Hideyoshi. This achievement earned him Hideyoshi's trust. In 1592 (Bunroku 1), he marched to Korea, and as a leading figure in the Korean army, he was highly trusted by Hideyoshi, to the point that Hideyoshi said he could only trust Takakage's reports. In 1593, he defeated the army of Li Rusong, but fell ill and returned to Japan in leap September. In 1595, he was appointed to the rank of Junior Third Rank and Provisional Chunagon, and in the same year handed over the family headship to Hideaki. He died at Mihara Castle in June 1609.

Although Takakage was the third son of the Mori clan, he inherited the Kobayakawa clan, and it is said that he had a hard time uniting the people in the clan, but he followed Motonari's admonition to his three sons, Takamoto, Motoharu, and Takakage, to work together as one to ensure the strength of the Mori clan, and with the support of the Mori clan, he achieved unification of the clan and worked wholeheartedly for the Mori clan together with his brother Motoharu. As one of the Five Elders, he was highly trusted by Hideyoshi, and played an important role as a bridge between the Mori clan and Hideyoshi.

[Tabata Yasuko]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

戦国・安土(あづち)桃山時代の武将。毛利元就(もうりもとなり)の三男。幼名徳寿丸(とくじゅまる)、又四郎、左衛門佐(さえもんのすけ)。従三位(じゅさんみ)・権中納言(ごんちゅうなごん)。1544年（天文13）竹原(たけはら)小早川家の養子となり家を嗣(つ)ぎ、50年沼田(ぬた)小早川家の正平(まさひら)の娘を室としてその嗣子(しし)となり、これにより両小早川家は合一した。51年沼田荘の高山城に住んだが、67年（永禄10）三原城（広島県三原市）を築く。弟市正(いちまさ)（秀包(ひでかね)）を養子とし、のち筑後(ちくご)3郡7万5000石を与え、別家としている。85年（天正13）長宗我部(ちょうそがべ)氏を討った功により、豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉から伊予(いよ)35万石を、また87年には島津氏を討伐して筑前(ちくぜん)1国、筑後1国、肥前(ひぜん)1郡を与えられ、筑前名嶋(なじま)城へ移る。91年、太閤検地により旧領安芸(あき)・備後(びんご)と、筑前1国、筑後・肥前各2郡を改めて与えられた。また94年には秀吉の猶子(ゆうし)秀秋(ひであき)を嗣子とした。

　元就の次男で吉川(きっかわ)家を嗣いだ元春(もとはる)とともに、毛利氏の国衆(くにしゅう)としてその戦国大名化をよく助け、「毛利両川(りょうせん)」とよばれる。1582年、秀吉の高松城攻撃中、本能寺(ほんのうじ)の変で信長が死去したが、このとき輝元・元春ら毛利軍のなかで秀吉と和を結ぶことを主張したのは隆景であった。この功により秀吉の信を得た。92年（文禄1）から朝鮮に出陣し、在朝鮮軍の重鎮として、秀吉の信望厚く、秀吉をして隆景の注進以外信頼しないとまでいわせている。93年李如松(りじょしょう)軍を破ったが、病を得、閏(うるう)9月に帰国。95年従三位・権中納言に任じられ、同年家督を秀秋に譲った。慶長(けいちょう)2年6月、三原城にて死去した。

　隆景は毛利氏の三男でありながら小早川氏を嗣いだため、家中の人心の一致に苦労したといわれるが、元就が隆元・元春・隆景の3子に心を一つにして毛利氏が堅固であるように努めよとした訓戒を守り、毛利氏の支援を得て家中の統一を成し遂げるとともに、兄の元春とともに誠心毛利氏のために尽くした。五大老の一人として秀吉の信望厚く、毛利氏の秀吉との提携に重要な橋渡しの役割を果たした。

［田端泰子］

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