Mononobe no Okoshi - The Rise of Mononobe

Date of birth and death unknown. A great minister of the Kinmei period. The father of Moriya. He was appointed as a great minister when Emperor Kinmei ascended to the throne, but in the first year of the reign (540), he reported to the Emperor that Silla should not be attacked lightly, and that the great minister Otomo no Kanamura had easily handed over the four prefectures of Mimana to Baekje, and Silla had been bitter about it for many years, forcing Kanamura into retirement. When Buddhism was officially introduced to the Emperor in the 13th year of the Kinmei period (552), the Emperor asked his ministers whether it was acceptable to worship the Buddha, but he opposed the Minister Soga no Iname and, together with Nakatomi no Kamako, insisted that it should be firmly rejected. This incident led to an even more fierce struggle for power between the Soga and Mononobe clans, which continued into the time of the next generation, Umako and Moriya. Since his son Moriya became the head of the Imperial Court during the reign of Emperor Bidatsu, Okoshi probably died during the reign of Emperor Kinmei.

[Hiromichi Mayuzumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年不詳。欽明(きんめい)朝の大連(おおむらじ)。守屋(もりや)の父。欽明天皇の即位とともに大連に任じられたが、その元年（540）には天皇の諮問に答えて新羅(しらぎ)を軽々に討つべきでないこと、大連大伴金村(おおとものかなむら)がたやすく任那(みまな)四県を百済(くだら)に譲ったため新羅の怨(うら)みは年久しいこと、などを奏聞し、金村を隠退に追い込んだ。欽明天皇13年（552）の仏教公伝に際し、天皇は礼仏の可否を群臣に問うたが、彼は大臣蘇我稲目(おおおみそがのいなめ)に反対し、中臣鎌子(なかとみのかまこ)とともに断固排斥すべきことを主張した。これを機に蘇我・物部両氏の権力争いはいっそう熾烈(しれつ)となり、次代の馬子(うまこ)・守屋時代まで持ち越された。子の守屋が敏達(びだつ)朝に大連となっているから、尾輿は欽明朝に没したのであろう。

［黛　弘道］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例