Yoshitaka Ouchi

Japanese: 大内義隆 - おおうち・よしたか

Year of death: September 1, 1551 (September 30, 1551)
Year of birth: November 15, 1507 (December 18, 1507)
A military commander in the Sengoku period. His childhood name was Kamedomaru. He held a number of positions in his official career, including Suo no Suke, Sakyo no Daifu, Dazai no Daini, Sahyoe Gon no Sabu, Hyobu Gon no Daifu, Iyo no Suke, and Hyobukyo. He also rose in rank from Junior Fifth Rank to Junior Second Rank. He was the son of Yoshioki. His mother was the daughter of Naito Hironori. In 1528 (Kyoroku 1), he succeeded Yoshioki as head of the family after his death from illness. In 1532 (Tenbun 1), as the Shoni and Otomo forces were hostile to the Ouchi clan in Kyushu, Yoshitaka led Sue Okifusa to battle and overwhelmed the Shoni clan, forcing Shoni Sukemoto to commit suicide in September of Tenbun 5. In May of the same year, Yoshitaka was appointed Dazai no Daini, surpassing the Shoni clan in terms of official rank. In the same year, a peace agreement was established with the Otomo clan through mediation by the shogunate. In the following year, Yoshitaka dispatched his retainers to Aki to counter Amago Haruhisa's advance into Aki, and in the following year, he personally marched out with his son Harumichi. In January of the following year, he defeated the Amago clan and attempted to pacify Aki and Bingo. In the following year, he launched an expedition to Izumo to capture the Amago clan's base. However, in May of the following year, the Ouchi forces were completely defeated, and Harumichi was drowned when his ship capsized. After that, Yoshitaka dispatched troops to Aki, Bingo, Iyo, and other areas to fight against anti-Ouchi forces. He mingled with aristocrats who had traveled to Yamaguchi, and had a deep knowledge of literature. He also had exchanges with Ming and Korea. In particular, in trade with Ming, he excluded the Hosokawa clan and monopolized ships sent to Ming. Later, Yoshitaka's retainers gradually became dissatisfied with Yoshitaka's policies, such as the protection of temples and shrines, and in 1820, due to conflicts among powerful retainers, Sue Takafusa (Harukata) and others rebelled. Yoshitaka fled to the Dainichi Temple in Nagato, but as the forces of the Sue clan approached, he committed suicide with the assistance of Takatoyo Reizei.

(Saeki Hirotsugu)

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

Japanese:

没年：天文20.9.1(1551.9.30)
生年：永正4.11.15(1507.12.18)
戦国時代の武将。幼名亀童丸。官途は周防介,左京大夫,大宰大弐,左兵衛権佐,兵部権大輔,伊予介,兵部卿など目まぐるしく変わる。位階も従五位下から従二位まで上昇した。義興の子。母は内藤弘矩の娘。享禄1(1528)年,義興の病死後家督を嗣ぐ。天文1(1532)年,九州で少弐・大友勢が大内氏と敵対したため,陶興房を出陣させ少弐氏を圧倒,天文5年9月少弐資元を自殺せしめた。この年の5月,義隆は大宰大弐に任じられ,官職の上からも少弐氏をしのいだ。同7年,幕府の調停によって大友氏との和睦が成立。翌8年,尼子晴久の安芸進出に対抗して家臣を安芸に派遣し,9年には子の晴持と共に自ら出陣した。10年1月に尼子氏を破り,安芸・備後の平定を図った。11年には尼子氏の本拠を攻略するため,出雲遠征を行った。しかし,翌12年5月大内勢は総くずれとなり,晴持は乗船が転覆し溺死。その後も義隆は,安芸・備後・伊予などに兵を派遣し,反大内勢力と戦った。山口に下向した貴族らと交わり,文芸に造詣が深かった。明や朝鮮とも交流。特に明との貿易では細川氏を排除し,遣明船を独占した。のち,義隆の寺社保護などの政策に対して次第に家臣団の不満がつのり,有力家臣の対立もあって,20年,陶隆房(晴賢)らが反乱を起こした。義隆は長門の大寧寺に逃れたが,陶氏の軍勢が迫ったため,冷泉隆豊の介錯で自殺したという。<参考文献>『大内義隆記』,米原正義編『大内義隆のすべて』

(佐伯弘次)

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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