Yoshitaka Ouchi (2/2)The most talented person in western Japan

Having raised an army, Yoshitaka tried to rely on his relative Yoshimi Masayori of Tsuwano, but he was unable to proceed due to the rain, and when he reached Daineiji Temple in Fukagawa, Nagato, he attempted to resist there.

However, Yoshitaka Ouchi fought in vain and was killed at this time. Yoshitaka's son Yoshitaka Ouchi was also captured and killed, so the Suo Ouchi clan was effectively destroyed at this time.

The Ouchi family was led by Sue Haruken. Sue Harukata made Yoshinaga Ouchi, who was Yoshitaka's adopted son (a boy who was brought into the Otomo clan by the daughter of Yoshitaka's father Yoshioki Ouchi, a half-brother of Sorin Otomo, and a nephew of Yoshitaka Ouchi), the new member of the Ouchi family. I will act as a puppet for the head of the family. However, when Sue Harukata died in the Battle of Itsukushima, Yoshinaga Ouchi was also cornered by the Mori clan and committed suicide.

The Ouchi family was the shugo daimyo of Suo Province. During the Onin War, Yoshitaka Ouchi's grandfather Masahiro Ouchi fought bravely as the main force of the Western army. At the time of Yoshitaka Ouchi's father, Yoshioki, he moved to Kyoto and ruled the city for a time, and was even called ``Tenkajin.''

and Yoshitaka Ouchi. It controlled the area from Kitakyushu to the Chugoku region and focused its efforts on trade and culture. However, due to the betrayal of their senior vassal Sue Harukata, the once prosperous Ouchi family fell into ruin.

Ouchi culture

Throughout the Muromachi period, Yamaguchi flourished under the rule of the Ouchi clan. Yamaguchi is known as the ``Western Capital'' due to its emphasis on town development and cultural activities. Among the successive heads of the family, the following three have put a lot of effort into it.

• 9th head of the family, Hiroyo Ouchi (1325-1380)
• The 14th Masahiro Ouchi (1446-1495)
• 16th Yoshitaka Ouchi (1507-1551)

Hiroyo Ouchi went to Kyoto to have an audience with Yoshiakira Ashikaga, the second shogun of the time. At this time, Hiroyo, who saw Kyoto, built Ojikoji in the town of Yamaguchi and developed a Kyoto-style urban area. Around the time of Masahiro Ouchi, the economic base was stabilized due to the profits gained from exchanges with foreign countries, and efforts were made to promote culture.

Yoshitaka Ouchi promoted Bunji politics by protecting the aristocrats and intellectuals in Kyoto, and Louis Frois, who visited Yamaguchi, left many notes about its prosperity. Yoshitaka also allowed Francisco Xavier to spread Christianity, and Western culture also entered the area, with Christmas events being held at Japan's first Nanbanji Temple (Daidoji Temple).

Unfortunately, due to the war damage of the Sengoku period, some buildings no longer remain, but the following are representative buildings.

Rurikoji Temple Five-storied Pagoda (National Treasure. One of Japan's Three Famous Pagodas)

This is a Soto sect temple located in Koyama-cho, Yamaguchi City, and is a five-storied pagoda that represents "Yamaguchi, the Western Capital." It was built around 1442 and is said to be a masterpiece of Ouchi culture. It is sometimes counted as one of Japan's top three pagodas, along with those at Daigoji Temple in Kyoto and Horyuji Temple in Nara.

Furukuma Shrine Main Hall (National Important Cultural Property)

Tenmangu Shrine located in Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is also known as ``Yamaguchi's Tenjin''.

Yasaka Shrine Main Hall (National Important Cultural Property)

This shrine was commissioned by Hiroyo Ouchi from Gion Shrine in Kyoto in 1370. The main shrine was rebuilt by Yoshioki Ouchi in 1520, and is now designated as an important cultural property of the country.

Hanaoka Hachimangu Shrine Yangaibo Tahoto (National Important Cultural Property)

The Hanaoka Hachiman Shrine Yinkaibo Tahoto is one of the 16 Hachiman Shrine pagodas in Japan, said to have been founded by Fujiwara Kamatari. The tower is 13 meters high and features a persimmon thatched roof. Yugaibo is also one of the nine shrines and temples of Hanaoka Hachimangu Shrine, and is a temple of the Omuro sect of the Shingon sect. The name of the mountain is ``Kaaksan,'' but ``Yuuga'' refers to pure water offered to Buddha. Yugai refers to the well that draws water from this well, and the name of the mountain has this deep meaning.

Ouchi clan and Kango trade

The Ouchi family frequently launched large-scale military campaigns. Yamaguchi was also experiencing a cultural boom. However, although the Ouchi family's territory is vast, it is not a particularly productive area.

However, their economic power stood out from other daimyo due to the operational profits they gained from controlling the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, and the trade profits they gained from controlling Hakata, the commercial center of Kyushu, and the port town of Moji. Ta. Particular emphasis was placed on overseas trade.

It was the third shogun, Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, who started trade between Japan and the Chinese Ming Dynasty (Japanese-Ming trade). During the early Muromachi period, the Ouchi family conducted private trade while controlling Wakō (pirates). Since the Ouchi clan claimed to be descendants of the kings of Baekje, they had particularly strong ties with the Joseon Dynasty.

When the Onin War broke out in 1467, the Hosokawa Kiccho family, who conducted trade through Sakai, and the Ouchi family, who operated through Hakata Moji, clashed over who would officially be responsible for trade between Japan and Ming Dynasty. When Masamoto Hosokawa, the son of Katsumoto Hosokawa, the general of the Eastern Army during the Onin War, was assassinated (eternal confusion), Yoshitaka Ouchi's father Yoshioki Ouchi went to Kyoto. He ruled over Kyoto with Takakuni Hosokawa, one of Masamoto Hosokawa's adopted children. Yoshioki Ouchi, backed by military power, monopolized the rights to trade between Japan and Ming Dynasty.

However, when the situation in the Amago family in the San'in region and Kyushu deteriorated, Yoshioki Ouchi withdrew to Yamaguchi. Once again, the Ouchi family and the Hosokawa family engaged in trade between Japan and the Ming Dynasty, but in 1523, the Ouchi family and the Hosokawa family fought at the Ming trading port of Ningbo, and the Ouchi family was eliminated. Ningbo Rebellion.

As a result, the Ouchi family was once excluded from trade, but it was Yoshitaka Ouchi who restarted it. In 1536, Yoshitaka resumed trade between Japan and Ming Dynasty, and was able to generate huge profits and obtain funds through trade centered on Hakata merchants.

The items traded by the Ouchi family are as follows.

• Export items: Minerals such as sulfur, silver, and copper, lacquerware, fans, swords, folding screens, inkstones
• Imported items: Meibutsu coins (Eiraku Tsuho), raw silk, silk fabrics, classic books, pottery

The Ouchi family sought to secure their main export products within their territory. Minerals include the Iwami Omori Silver Mine, the Sato Silver Mine, and the Nagato Copper Mine, and with the creation of the Haibuki method, the amount of silver produced from Iwami Ginmine increased dramatically and is said to account for one-third of the world's production. I am.

Ouchi Clan House and Takamine Castle

The Ouchi clan mansion was a castle built on Odonoji, Yamaguchi city, and was also the residence (shugokan) of the Ouchi clan, which was based in Suo and Nagato provinces. It is estimated that it was built in the mid-1400s, around the time of the 13th generation, Norihiro Ouchi, and it was thought to have been popular as the capital of the west.

Takamine Castle was built on the mountain just behind the Ouchi residence as a mountain castle for defense. Yoshinaga Ouchi, the last head of the Ouchi clan, was concerned about the defeat and suicide of Sue Harukata at the Battle of Itsukushima in 1555. Construction of Takamine Castle began in 1556 in preparation for the invasion of Motonari Mori, who had won the battle. However, the Mori clan invaded earlier than expected, and Yoshinaga Ouchi resisted, but ended up committing suicide. The following year, Motonari's eldest son, Takamoto Mori, built Ryufuku-ji Temple in the same place to pray for Yoshitaka Ouchi's body.

Currently, it has been designated as a national historic site as the ``Ouchi Clan Ruins, Tsutsutari Ryoun-ji Temple'', and the earthworks, west gate, garden, etc. have been restored and maintained in a restoration project that began in 1997.