Terumoto Mori

Japanese: 毛利輝元 - もうり・てるもと

Year of death: 27th April 1625 (2nd June 1625)
Year of birth: Tenbun 22.1.22 (1553.2.4)
A military commander from the Sengoku to the early Edo period. His father was Takamoto, and his mother was the adopted daughter of Ouchi Yoshitaka (daughter of Naito Okimori). His childhood name was Kozurumaru. He served as Shoyu Taro, Uma no Kami, Sangi, and Gon Chunagon. In 1563 (Eiroku 6), he inherited the family headship upon his father's sudden death. In the same year, he came of age and was given one character of the name of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, and took the name Terumoto. He joined his grandfather Motonari's campaign to attack the Amago clan of Izumo, and distinguished himself in his first battle. After Motonari's death in 1571 (Genki 2), he was assisted by his uncles Kikkawa Motoharu and Kobayakawa Takakage, and clan members Fukuhara Sadatoshi and Kuchiha Michiyoshi, and promoted policies to strengthen control over his domain, which had expanded throughout the Chugoku region by defeating the Amago clan. In 1576, Terumoto welcomed Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate who had been exiled by Oda Nobunaga, to Tomo in Bingo Province (Fukuyama City) to make his anti-Nobunaga stance clear, and by providing support to Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple, he stood in the way of Nobunaga's unification of Japan, backed by his superior naval power and the wealth of the Iwami Silver Mine. However, under the offensive of Nobunaga's subordinate, Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, the Mori forces, inferior in mobility and logistical power, were forced to retreat on both the San'in and San'yo fronts, and in the 10th year of the same year, Terumoto made peace with Hideyoshi, who had besieged Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu Province (Okayama City). It is said that Terumoto gained Hideyoshi's trust by not pursuing Hideyoshi's troops when they withdrew their troops upon hearing the news of the Honno-ji Incident, and he subsequently led Hideyoshi's conquest of Shikoku and Kyushu. Around the time of his trip to Kyoto in 1582, he began a land survey of his domain (Sokoku Kenchi) and construction of Hiroshima Castle, and promoted reforms in the system of domain control, including significant transfers of the fiefs of his vassals, and in 1583 he was granted a fief of 1.12 million koku by Hideyoshi. In 1597 he became one of the Five Elders, and played an important role under the Toyotomi government as one of the greatest daimyo. In the Battle of Sekigahara in 1592, he entered Osaka Castle as the supreme commander of the anti-Tokugawa Ieyasu camp, but was defeated, and with the mediation of Kikkawa Hiroie, he was allowed to retain only the provinces of Suo and Nagato. At this time he shaved his head, took the name Sozui or Genan, retired, and handed over the family headship to Hideyori, who was six years old at the time. He was the so-called third generation who inherited the territory built by his ancestors at a young age, but he opposed heroes such as Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu who aimed to rule the country, and overcame several crises to build the foundation for the survival of the Mori clan as a modern daimyo.

(Nobutaka Akiyama)

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

Japanese:

没年：寛永2.4.27(1625.6.2)
生年：天文22.1.22(1553.2.4)
戦国から江戸時代初期にかけての武将。父は隆元,母は大内義隆の養女(内藤興盛の娘)。幼名幸鶴丸。少輔太郎,右馬頭,参議,権中納言。永禄6(1563)年父の急死によって家督を相続。同8年元服して将軍足利義輝の諱の1字をもらい輝元と称した。祖父元就の出雲尼子氏攻撃の陣に加わり,初陣の功を立てる。元亀2(1571)年元就死後は,叔父吉川元春・小早川隆景,一族福原貞俊・口羽通良らの輔佐を受け,尼子氏を下して中国地方一円に拡大した領国の支配強化のための政策を推進した。天正4(1576)年,織田信長に追放された室町幕府将軍足利義昭を備後国鞆(福山市)に迎えて反信長の立場を明らかにし,石山本願寺を救援するなど,優勢な水軍力と石見銀山の富を背景に信長の天下統一の前に立ち塞がった。しかし,信長の部将羽柴(豊臣)秀吉の攻勢を受け,機動力と兵站力で劣る毛利軍は山陰・山陽の両戦線で後退を余儀なくされ,同10年,備中国高松城(岡山市)を包囲した秀吉と講和を結んだ。本能寺の変の報に接して兵を引く秀吉軍を追撃しなかったことで輝元は秀吉の信を得たともいわれ,その後は秀吉の四国・九州制圧に先陣を務めた。天正16年の上洛と前後して領内総検地(惣国検地)と広島築城を開始,家臣知行地の大幅な移動を実施するなど領国支配体制の変革を進め,同19年には秀吉から112万石の知行目録を与えられている。慶長2(1597)年五大老のひとりとなり,最大級の大名として豊臣政権下で重きをなした。同5年関ケ原の戦では,反徳川家康陣営の総大将格として大坂城に入ったが敗戦,吉川広家の斡旋により周防・長門両国のみを維持することが許された。このとき剃髪して宗瑞または幻庵と称し,隠居して家督を6歳の秀就に譲った。父祖の築いた領国を若年で相続したいわゆる3代目であったが,信長,秀吉,家康という天下を狙った英雄たちに対抗し,幾度かの危機を乗り越えながら近世大名としての毛利家存続の礎を築いた人物といえよう。<参考文献>三卿伝編纂所編『毛利輝元卿伝』

(秋山伸隆)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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