Mōri Hidemoto (毛利 秀元, November 25, 1579 – November 26, 1650) was a senior retainer beneath the clan of Toyotomi throughout the latter Sengoku Period of Feudal Japan. Hidemoto was the eldest son of Mōri Motokiyo and initially began service under the Toyotomi at the time at which he was of the age to become a military commander under his cousin Terumoto, the head of the Mōri clan. Within the year of 1597, Hidemoto became a highly redeemed figure beneath the Mori, and, by variable means, was chosen specifically by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to lead the Second Invasion of Korea's Army of the Right, where he respectively wielded 30,000 soldiers. Hidemoto was additionally backed by six generals that were assigned to his right wing: Katō Kiyomasa, who possessed 10,000; Kuroda Nagamasa, who wielded 5,000; Nabeshima Naoshige with 12,000; Ikeda Hideuji tasked with 2,800; Chōsokabe Motochika, who wielded 3,000; and a certain Nakagawa Hidenari, who respectively possessed 2,500. With these preparations thus made, Hidemoto and his mutual supporters led the initial Japanese offensive within the Korean province of Gyeongsang, where they marched towards Jeonju after assaulting Busan, presently taking both Sacheon and Changpyong. Following this campaign, Hidemoto obtained a far greater sum of power beneath him, justifiably by means of becoming the governor over the provinces of Suo and Nagato, which he held up until the decisive Sekigahara Campaign of 1600.
Initially within this campaign, Hidemoto was determined to rationally support the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu--dubbed as the 'east'--and as his cousin, Terumoto, possessed 128,000 soldiers that he would use to mutually back the Western forces of Mitsunari, Hidemoto, intending on assisting the Eastern forces of Ieyasu, gathered his armaments with great immediacy, equipping himself with 15,000 soldiers and stationed his entire army on Mt. Nangu, where his generals were equally distributed along the eastern borders of this mountain. To make the circumstances go from beneficial to entirely detrimental, Kikkawa Hiroie, General of Hidemoto, refused to move against the Eastern forces during the battle's beginning; and as Hiroie was the leading general of the army, Hidemoto was restricted from ascending to the frontlines, placing him with little other choice than to resentfully retreat without offering his mutual support to the Tokugawa. And as a general resolution to such an event, Hidemoto's initial fief was dropped from 200,000 to a moderate 50,000 out of sympathetic consideration to Terumoto's service, causing Hidemoto a justifiable level of humiliation. Regardless, Hidemoto surmisably remained as a primary commander under Ieyasu throughout the Period of Edo, where he more than likely assisted within the Sieges of Osaka and the later Shimabara Rebellion before eventually dying during the year of 1650.[1][2]