Amago Akihisa (Amago Haruhisa) (2/2)San'in male

By the way, Amago Akihisa, who was fighting with surrounding powers, also worked to strengthen domestic control. Kitsuki Taisha Shrine (currently Izumo Taisha Shrine), which was an independent entity, tried to intervene when the shrine was to be relocated. They also provide support to Hinomisaki Shrine and actively conduct trade using Uryu Port, which is owned by the same group. In the Iiri River basin, pottery and mirrors made in Korea and the Ming Dynasty from the time of the Amago family's rule have been excavated, indicating that the area was actively engaged in trade.

In 1551, Yoshitaka Ouchi died due to a rebellion by Harukata Sue, and the Ouchi family, a large power located to the west of the Amago family, was run under the leadership of Harukata Sue.

In the midst of such changes in the political environment, in 1552, Yoshiteru Ashikaga, the 13th shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, appointed him as the shugo daimyo of the eight regions of the San-in, Sanyo region and as the shogun's companion. In the same year, he was appointed by the Imperial Court as Jugoi (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Repair Officer). The capital of Kyoto recognized the Amago family as a powerful daimyo in the Chugoku region.

This appointment from the Muromachi shogunate and the imperial court strengthened Amago Akihisa's position, and he repeatedly skirmished with the Ouchi family supported by Sue Harukata, surrounding daimyo, and locals. Also around the same time. He assassinated his uncle Kunihisa Amago, who led the Shingu Party, an elite group of the Amago family. Kunihisa Amago was the second son of Akihisa Amago's grandfather, Tsunehisa, and contributed to the expansion of Tsunehisa's territory. However, the Shingu Party led by Kunihisa gradually grew in size and had great power in Izumo Province, interfering with Kunihisa's jurisdiction. This kind of system supported by the clan was similar to that of a medieval samurai family, but at the same time there were limits to the right of the head of the family to speak out. By plotting a purge, Amago Akihisa promoted centralization with himself at the top.

Conflict with the Mori family and death

Four years after Sue Harukata rebelled against the Ouchi family, in the first year of Koji (1555), Sue Harukata, who ruled the Ouchi family, was defeated at Itsukushima by Mori Motonari and committed suicide (Battle of Itsukushima). .

Furthermore, two years after the Battle of Itsukushima, in 1557, Yoshinaga Ouchi, who had been supported by Sue Harukata, was cornered by Mori Motonari and committed suicide.
When most of the Ouchi territory became Mori territory, Nagato Province, Suo Province (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture), which had been in turmoil since the rebellion caused by Sue Harukata, stabilized under the control of the Mori family. Therefore, the Mori family began to invade Amago territory. Mori Motonari incorporated feudal lords from around Amago territory, including Inaba Province (present-day Tottori Prefecture) and Mimasaka Kokubichu (present-day Okayama Prefecture).

After the first year of Eiroku (1558), all of Amago's territories, including Izumo Province, Mimasaka Province, Bicchu Province, and Inaba Province, became targets for invasion and became the front lines. Amago Akihisa resisted and continued to advance and retreat.
In the midst of these fierce battles, Amago Akihisa suddenly died at the age of 47 in Gassan-Tomida Castle in 1561. When Akihisa Amago passed away, the Amago family made Akihisa's son, Yoshihisa Amago, the head of the family.

After the Amago family

In December 1561, Amago Akihisa passed away.
The Amago family was succeeded by Akihisa's eldest son, Yoshihisa. However, Akihisa's death caused turmoil within the Amago family. Furthermore, dissatisfaction within the family began to explode due to the internal purges exemplified by the Shingu Party.

Seeing this turmoil in the Amago family, Mori Motonari frequently dispatched troops to the San'in region. Then, in the 8th year of Eiroku (1565), four years after Amago Akihisa passed away. Gassan-Tomida Castle, the residence of the Amago family, was besieged by the Mori family (Second Battle of Gassan-Tomida Castle). The Mori family refrained from a hasty siege and began a food offensive. As a result, morale within the castle gradually declined, and in 1566, the castle surrendered, resulting in the demise of the Amago clan, a powerful feudal lord in the San'in region.

The head of the family, Yoshihisa Amago, descended to the Mori family, and later became a guest of the Mori family and served as a vassal during the Edo period. In addition, some of the vassals who were unwilling to descend to the Mori family supported Katsuhisa Amago (the second son of Tsunehisa Amago and the grandson of Kunihisa Amago, who led the Shingu party and was purged) and tried to revive the Amago family. , later absorbed into the vassals of Toyotomi Oda. In addition, some of the descendants of the Amago clan served feudal lords in various regions, and the Amago clan who served the Mito Tokugawa family was mentioned through the activities of sonno-joi at the end of the Edo period.

The Amago clan made a leap forward during the Sengoku period. In the history of the Amago clan, Akihisa Amago ran through the latter half of the Muromachi period, competing with the powerful daimyo around him.

Festivals related to the Amago family

Sengoku Amago Festival

The Sengoku Amago Festival is a festival that has been held once every five years since 1989. The most recent one was the 7th one in 2022. The festival is held at the Gassan-Tomida Castle ruins in Yasugi City as the main venue, and includes a parade of warriors with the keyword "Amago clan," sales of local specialties, and a panel discussion to remember the ancient Amago family of San'in.

Kano Festival

Now, after the Amago family was destroyed. There were vassals who worked hard to rebuild the Amago family. One of them is Kamenori Kamei. The remnants of the Amago clan fought in various places, and many fell short of their ambitions, but Kamei Fuminori and others came under the control of Hashiba Hideyoshi, and Fuminori was given Shikano Castle in Inaba Province. Furthermore, in the Edo period, he became close to the Tokugawa family and became the first lord of the Shikano domain. This Kamei Kinori demonstrated his power in administrative matters and overseas trade, and was admired by the people. The "Shikano Festival" began in the land of Shikano. This festival started in the Edo period, and although it was discontinued in the early Edo period, it was revived in 1813 and continues to this day. Currently, it is held every two years in the spring at Shiroyama Shrine, located on the ruins of Kano Castle, and has been designated as an intangible cultural property of Tottori Prefecture. It is a gorgeous festival with sakaki trees, warrior parades, lion dances, and festival floats and portable shrines from each town that parade through the castle grounds.

Gassan Tomita Castle

Gassan-Tomida Castle was ranked as one of Japan's top five mountain castles, and was an impregnable castle that took advantage of the surrounding nature.
Legend has it that a castle was built at the end of the Heian period, during the Hogen and Heiji periods.

During the Kamakura period, the Sasaki family (Kyogoku family) came as guardians and ruled Izumo Province. During the period of the Northern and Southern Courts, the Yamana and Kyogoku families fought over territorial rights, and Gassan-Tomida Castle became the center of the dispute. In the 3rd year of Meitoku (1392), the Kyogoku family dispatched one of its members, Mochihisa Amago, as a guardian and became the lord of Gassan-Tomida Castle. This is where the 170-year history of Amago's 6th generation began.

After the demise of the Amago family, vassals of the Mori family were dispatched to the castle during the Momoyama period and became the lords of the castle. In 1600, the year of the Battle of Sekigahara, the Horio family became the feudal lord, replacing the Mori family. Tadaharu Horio moved from Gassan-Tomida Castle, a mountain castle, to Matsue Castle, which was near the sea. At this point, Gassan Tomita Castle became an abandoned castle. In 1934, Gassan-Tomida Castle was designated as a national historic site, and in the Heisei era, trees were cut down and stone walls repaired, and it was developed as a historical park.

Gassan Tomita Castle is famous as the center of the 170-year history of the 6th generation of the Amago family, but long before that, it showed its original form in the Kamakura period when samurai flourished, and was the center of the San'in area until the beginning of the Edo period. That was one. Nowadays, visitors are entertained by reminding them of Gassan-Tomida Castle, which was once the center of the San'in area.