Background
Motonari Mōri was born on 16 April 1497 in Aki. He was the second son of Mori Hiromoto; his childhood name was Shojumaru.
毛利 元就
Motonari Mōri was born on 16 April 1497 in Aki. He was the second son of Mori Hiromoto; his childhood name was Shojumaru.
In 1516 his elder brother Okimoto died and he assisted his elder brother's son Yukimatsumaru in managing the affairs of the family. But in 1523 Yukimatsumaru died, and Motonari became head of the family. The Mori family, which resided in Yoshida in Aki, was relatively weak and situated between the two much more powerful Ouchi and Amako families. At first it allied itself with the Amako, but as a result of a dispute in the Mori family it later went over to the side of the Ouchi. Motonari gradually overwhelmed the other powerful families of the provinces of Aki and Bingo and in 1540 inflicted a defeat on the Amako family. In 1546 he turned over the nominal leadership of the family to his son Takamoto but continued to exercise power.
In 1551 Ouchi Yoshitaka, head of the Ouchi family, was killed by his retainer Sue Harukata. In 1555 Motonari attacked and defeated Sue Haru- kata at Itsukushima and in one stroke added all of the Ouchi lands to his own, thus laying the foundation for his spectacular rise to power. Thereafter he challenged the power of the Otomo family, wiped out the Amako, and in time made himself master of a territory embracing the ten provinces of Aki, Suo, Nagato, Bitchu, Bingo, Inaba, Hoki, Izumo, Old and Iwami, as well as parts of Buzen in Kyushu and Sanuki in Shikoku. He died in the sixth month of 1571.