Mōri clan


The Mōri clan was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. During the Edo period his descendants became daimyō of the Chōshū Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration with the abolition of the han system and daimyō, the Mōri clan became part of the new nobility.

Origins

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 committed suicide at Minamoto no Yoritomo's shrine along with his Miura clan allies. The genealogy of the Mori clan is well verified because it matches up from several different sources such as the Mōri Family Tree, Sonpi Bunmyaku and Ōe Family Tree.
According to the Sonpi Bunmyaku from the late 14th century:
Ōe no Hiromoto
　┃
Mōri Suemitsu
　┃
Mōri Tsunemitsu
　┃
Mōri Tokichika
　┃
Mōri Sadachika
　┃
Mōri Chikahira, moved the family to Aki Province.
　┃
Mōri Motoharu

Kamakura period

During the Kamakura shogunate the Mōri were a gokenin family due to the fame of their ancestor Ōe no Hiromoto. Mōri Suemitsu, the fourth son of Ōe no Hiromoto inherited Mōri-shōen from his father and that is why he began to use the name. It is reasonable to say he is the first head of the Mōri clan but in the Mōri family tradition he is the 39th head of the family according to him being the 39th linear descendant of Amenohohi-no-mikoto, an ancient god of Japan. After the third head of the clan, Mōri Tokichika, his son Mōri Sadachika was supposed to succeed him but he and his son were both killed by the Hōjō clan and the great-grandson of Tsunemitsu became the next head of the clan.
At the end of the Kamakura shogunate, they became distant from the shogunate and showed a favorable attitude to Ashikaga Takauji.

Sengoku period

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 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 daimyō 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.

After the Meiji Restoration

After the Meiji Restoration with the abolition of the han system and daimyō, the Mōri clan became part of the new nobility. They became a Duke family.

Clan Heads

  1. Mōri Suemitsu, fourth son of Ōe no Hiromoto, gokenin of the Kamakura shogunate.
  2. Mōri Tsunemitsu, gokenin of the Kamakura shogunate.
  3. Mōri Tokichika, gokenin of the Kamakura shogunate.
  4. Mōri Motoharu, great-grandson of Tokichika skipped over, jizamurai of Aki, retainer of Ashikaga shogunate.
  5. Mōri Hirofusa, jizamurai of Aki, retainer of Ashikaga shogunate.
  6. Mōri Mitsufusa, jizamurai of Aki, retainer of Ashikaga shogunate.
  7. Mōri Hiromoto, jizamurai of Aki, retainer of Ashikaga shogunate.
  8. Mōri Toyomoto, jizamurai of Aki, retainer of Ashikaga shogunate.
  9. Mōri Hiromoto, jizamurai of Aki, retainer of Ashikaga shogunate. Died young of alcohol poisoning.
  10. Mōri Okimoto, jizamurai of Aki, retainer of Ashikaga shogunate. Died young of alcohol poisoning, succeeded by his infant son.
  11. Mōri Kōmatsumaru, jizamurai of Aki, retainer of Ashikaga shogunate. Died at only 9 years of age, succeeded by his uncle.
  12. Mōri Motonari, arguably the most famous member of the clan. Expanded the clan's power to nearly all of the Chūgoku region.
  13. Mōri Takamoto, became head of the clan when his father "retired" but died young before his father, suspected assassination by poisoning.
  14. Mōri Terumoto, 1st daimyō of Hiroshima Domain, taken away from him after Battle of Sekigahara.
  15. Mōri Hidenari, 1st daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  16. Mōri Tsunahiro, 2nd daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  17. Mōri Yoshinari, 3rd daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  18. Mōri Yoshihiro, 4th daimyō of Chōshū Domain, adopted from the Chōfu-Mōri branch family.
  19. Mōri Yoshimoto, 5th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  20. Mōri Munehiro, 6th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  21. Mōri Shigenari, 7th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  22. Mōri Haruchika, 8th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  23. Mōri Narifusa, 9th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  24. Mōri Narihiro, 10th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  25. Mōri Narimoto, 11th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  26. Mōri Naritō, 12th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  27. Mōri Takachika, 13th daimyō of Chōshū Domain.
  28. Mōri Motonori, Duke under the Kazoku system.
  29. Mōri Motoakira, Duke under the Kazoku system.
  30. Mōri Motomichi, Duke under the Kazoku system.
  31. Mōri Motoyoshi, current head of the family.
  32. Mōri Motohide, heir apparent to head of the family.

    Popular culture

The clan's war with Hideyoshi appears in Eiji Yoshikawa's novel '.
The Mōri are a playable faction in ' and .