Mōri clan

The Mōri clan (毛利氏 Mōri-shi) was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded their power in Aki Province and his descendants established themselves as daimyō of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period.

Origins

Grave of Mōri Suemitsu in Kamakura.

The founder of the clan, Mōri Suemitsu, was the fourth son of Ōe no Hiromoto. He founded the clan when he took the name from his shōen named "Mōri" in Aikō District, Sagami Province. After the Jōkyū War, Suemitsu was appointed to the jitō office of a shōen in Aki Province. He was defeated by Hōjō Tokiyori in 1247 and commited suicide (seppuku) at Minamoto no Yoritomo's shrine (hokkedō) along with his Miura clan allies.

Kamakura period

During the Kamakura period the Mōri were one of prominent gokenin families due to the fame of their ancestor Ōe no Hiromoto. At the end of the Kamakura shogunate they became distant from the shogunate and showed a favorable attitude to Ashikaga Takauji.

Sengoku period

Mōri Motonari's battle standard, housed at the Mōri Museum (毛利博物館蔵).

In the Sengoku period, Mōri Motonari expanded their power to the whole of Aki province and then to other neighboring provinces. In his generation, Mōri became the daimyō from a local jizamurai.

During the war with the Oda clan and the Ikkō-ikki, the Mōri helped the Ikkō-ikki clans by establishing a naval trade route between each other's provincial docks and harbours, the Oda eventually nullified this by laying siege to the trade ships between the two clans and went to further disrupt trade by attempting to destroy the Mōri fleet, failing on their first attempt in 1571. The second battle took place in 1579 with the Oda sending eight Atakebune (heavily armoured ships with iron-clad plating) warships to finally destroy the Mōri naval threat.

After a struggle between Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who led his army as a general of Oda Nobunaga, the two sides made peace and Mōri remained as a daimyo who kept five provinces in Chūgoku.

Edo period

In 1600, Mōri Terumoto nominally led the West Army in the Battle of Sekigahara. The West Army lost the battle and the Mōri clan lost three eastern provinces and moved their capital from Hiroshima to present-day Hagi, Yamaguchi. The newer fief, Mōri han, consisted of two provinces: Nagato Province and Suō Province. Derived from the former, Mōri han was referred to often as Chōshū han.

Meiji period

After the Meiji Restoration, the han and daimyō system was abolished, and the head of the Mōri was titled as duke.

Clan Heads

Mōri clan crest (mon).

1. Mōri Suemitsu (毛利季光, 1202–1247), fourth son of Ōe no Hiromoto (大江広元).
2. Mōri Tsunemitsu (毛利経光, ? – ? )
3. Mōri Tokichika (毛利時親, ? –1341)
4. Mōri Motoharu (毛利元春, 1323– ? )
5. Mōri Hirofusa (毛利広房, 1347–1385)
6. Mōri Mitsufusa (毛利光房, 1386–1436)
7. Mōri Hiromoto (毛利煕元, ? –1464)
8. Mōri Toyomoto (毛利豊元, 1444–1476)
9. Mōri Hiromoto (毛利弘元, 1466–1506)
10. Mōri Okimoto (毛利興元, 1492–1516)
11. Mōri Kōmatsumaru (毛利幸松丸, 1515–1523)
12. Mōri Motonari (毛利元就, 1497–1571)
13. Mōri Takamoto (毛利隆元, 1523–1563)
14. Mōri Terumoto (毛利輝元, 1553–1625)
15. Mōri Hidenari (毛利秀就, 1595–1651)
16. Mōri Tsunahiro (毛利綱広, 1639–1689)
17. Mōri Yoshinari (毛利吉就, 1668–1694)
18. Mōri Yoshihiro (毛利吉広, 1673–1707)
19. Mōri Yoshimoto (毛利吉元, 1677–1731)
20. Mōri Munehiro (毛利宗広, 1717–1751)
21. Mōri Shigenari (毛利重就, 1725–1789)
22. Mōri Haruchika (毛利治親, 1754–1791)
23. Mōri Narifusa (毛利斉房, 1782–1809)
24. Mōri Narihiro (毛利斉熙, 1784–1836)
25. Mōri Narimoto (毛利斉元, 1794–1836)
26. Mōri Naritō (毛利斉広, 1814–1837)
27. Mōri Takachika (毛利敬親, 1819–1871)
28. Mōri Motonori (毛利元徳, 1839–1896)
29. Mōri Motoakira (毛利元昭, 1865–1938)
30. Mōri Motomichi (毛利元道, 1903–1976)
31. Mōri Motoyoshi (毛利元敬, 1976– )
32. Mōri Motohide (毛利元栄, ? – )

Popular culture

The clan's war with Hideyoshi appears in Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan.

The Mori are a playable faction in Shogun: Total War and Total War: Shogun 2.

This article incorporates text from OpenHistory.