was a prominent daimyà  (feudal lord) in the western Chà «goku region of Japan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century. The Mà Âri clan claimed descent from à Âe no Hiromoto (大æ±ÂåºÂå Â), an adviser to Minamoto no Yoritomo. Motonari was called the "Beggar Prince". He was known as a great strategist who began as a small local warlord (jizamurai) of Aki Province and extended his clan's power to nearly all of the Chà «goku region through war, marriage, adoption and assassination.
Sandwiched between the powerful Amago and à Âuchi clans, Motonari led his clan by carefully balancing actions and diplomacy. Eventually, Motonari succeeded in defeating both and controlled the entire Chà «goku region. In his later years, he crushed the à Âtomo clan of Bungo Province in Kyà «shà «. Motonari ruled from Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle, the clan's main bastion since the early 14th century. His descendants became lords of the Chà Âshà « Domain.
Mà Âri Motonari was born on April 16, 1497, under the childhood name Shà Âjumaru (æ¾寿丸) in a small domain of Aki Province. He was the second son of his father, Mà Âri Hiromoto. His mother was a daughter of Fukubara Hirotoshi (ç¦ÂÃ¥ÂÂåºÂä¿Â), but her name is unknown. His birthplace is said to be Suzuo Castle (é´尾åÂÂ), the base of the Fukubara clan and his mother's home. Today, there are stone monuments at the ruins of Suzuo Castle to commemorate the birthplace of Motonari at the castle.
In 1500, his father was involved in a power dispute with the Ashikaga shogunate and the à Âuchi clan and decided to retire. He handed over the head position of the clan to his eldest son, Mà Âri Okimoto and moved to Tajihi-Sarugake Castle (å¤Âæ²»æ¯Âç¿æÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ) with his son Shà Âjumaru. Okimoto then took over Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle, the main stronghold of the clan.
History remembers the young Mà Âri Shà Âjumaru as a fearless daredevil. It is said he escaped by night with some other children from his father's castle and met lord Amago Tsunehisa and his troops. Shà Âjumaru thought they were the ghosts of the Heike clan samurai, and so tried to become famous with a ghost hunt, a practice favored for the education of the youth of buke families. And so, Shà Âjumaru came openly to challenge the mounted warrior who looked to him like the general of the troops. It was Tsunehisa. The other children were trembling in fear, but not Shà Âjumaru. The young lord shot an arrow at the veteran lord. Tsunehisa swiftly caught it with his bare hand. Impressed by the bravery of his young opponent, Tsunehisa spared the boys, looking forward to battle against an adult Motonari.
The following year in 1501 his mother died and in 1506 his father died due to alcohol poisoning. Shà Âjumaru stayed at Tajihi-Sarugake Castle but his vassal Inoue Motomori (äºÂä¸Âå ÂçÂÂ) began embezzling land and was turned out of the castle. Because he was now both impoverished and from a powerful family he was called the "Beggar Prince" (ä¹Âé£Âè¥殿) by the common people. The young Shà Âjumaru was raised by a foster mother Sugi no à Âkata (æÂÂ大æ¹), who was a great influence on him; they grew very close. She got him in the habit facing the sun and saying a Buddhist prayer every morning.
In 1511, Shà Âjumaru officially became an adult and had his genpuku ceremony. He received the name Mà Âri Motonari (æ¯Âå©å Âå°±).
In 1516, his brother Okimoto died suddenly like their father due to alcohol poisoning. Okimoto's infant son, Kà Âmatsumaru (幸æ¾丸) succeeded as head of the clan and Motonari became his regent.
After the sudden deaths of his father and brother the Mà Âri clan was left weak and vulnerable. The most powerful lord of the region, Takeda Motoshige (æ¦ç°å Âç¹Â) of Satoukanayama Castle (ä½Âæ±éÂÂå±±åÂÂ), took advantage of the situation and gathered an army of 5,000 and in October, 1517 advanced into the territory of the Mà Âri's Kikkawa clan allies surrounding Arita Castle (æÂÂç°åÂÂ). A few weeks later, Motoshige dispatched a raid into the Mà Âri clan's territory and set fire to houses in Tajihi (å¤Âæ²»æ¯Â). Motonari went in place of his nephew Kà Âmatsumaru to relieve Arita Castle from the advancing Takeda forces. This was Motonari's first battle that would decide the fate of the Mà Âri clan and would become known as the Battle of Arita-Nakaide.
With most of the à Âuchi clan forces preoccupied in Kyoto with à Âuchi Yoshioki, the Mà Âri were unable to call on them for assistance, and Motonari instead mobilized his clan and called on their supporters. Motonari was also aided by his younger brother, Aià  Mototsuna. In total the Mà Âri strength comprised around 850 men, reinforced by 300 from the Kikkawa clan, for a total of around 1,000. This force marched towards Arita Castle and on the way encountered the Takeda vanguard, commanded by Kumagai Motonao (çÂÂè°·å Âç´), commanding about 500 men. The Mà Âri and their allies stood off and engaged the Takeda with archery fire. Kumagai Motonao was in the front ranks and was encouraging his men when he was struck and killed by an arrow. Takeda Motoshige was meanwhile with the main army at Arita Castle. Learning of Motonao's demise, he drew up his forces and marched to engage the smaller Mà Âri resistance. The Takeda encountered the Mà Âri and Kikkawa occupying the opposite bank of the Uchikawa River (Ã¥ÂÂæÂÂå·Â) and a bitter struggle ensued. Heavily outnumbered, the Mà Âri-led forces began to falter and fall back, rallying only when Motonari pleaded with them to stand their ground. Takeda Motoshige himself advanced across the river on horseback but was struck by an arrow and killed. The Takeda broke and retreated, leaving Mà Âri Motonari the victor. The battle was the start of the decline of the Aki-Takeda clan and the start of the military expansion of the Mà Âri. Mà Âri Motonari's name finally became known in the country.
In 1518 Amago Tsunehisa made a series of raids into the à Âuchi clan's lands, falling back with the return of à Âuchi Yoshioki from Kyà Âto. In 1521 a formal peace treaty was signed between the two clans but it lasted but one year. Also sometime around 1522, Motonari married the daughter of Kikkawa Kunitsune (Ã¥ÂÂå·Âå½çµÂ) the lord of Ogurayama Castle; this match would not only secure the friendship of the Kikkawa clan but would in time produce three fine sons. This was an important alliance as the Kikkawa were powerful in Aki Province and their land lay directly to the north of Yoshida, the Mà Âri heartland on the border with Iwami Province. Motonari had thus already extended his influence north in the direction of the silver-rich Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and south towards the Inland Sea.
In 1522, Tsunehisa marched into Aki Province, forcing Motonari, whose lands sat directly in the Amago's path, to submit. Motonari was immediately dispatched against Kagamiyama Castle (é¡山åÂÂ) while Tsunehisa himself struck at Kanayama Castle (éÂÂå±±åÂÂ). Tsunehisa made no progress against Kanayama and retreated, but Motonari was eventually successful at the Battle of Kagamiyama Castle (é¡山åÂÂã®æ¦) in 1523. Motonari had problems taking the castle because the lord of Kagamiyama Castle, Kurata Fusanobu (èµç°æ¿信), put up a strong fight, so Motonari persuaded his uncle Kurata Naonobu (èµç°ç´信) to betray the castle. After the battle Motonari tried to save Naonobu but Amago Tsunehisa executed him for his shameful and disloyal act. It may be that Tsunehisa became aware of Motonari's talent and wary of his expansion, for from then on a rift would grow between Tsunehisa and Motonari.
In July 1523, Motonari's nephew Kà Âmatsumaru, the titular head of the clan, died suddenly at the age of nine. The senior Mà Âri vassals met and decided to offer the leadership to Motonari and on August 10 he entered Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle as its new lord. However, some among the senior vassals dissented from the decision and in 1524 any sense of security was broken when Mà Âri suffered the defection of his vassal Katsura Hirozumi (æ¡ÂåºÂæ¾Â), and was forced to defeat the traitor in open battle not far from Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle. Also in 1524, Motonari learned of a conspiracy led by a vassal, Sakagami Sosuke, to murder him and elevate his half-brother Aià  Mototsuna to the leadership. The rebellion was crushed at Funayama Castle in April.
Along with the family troubles concerning succession, Motonari and Amago Tsunehisa gradually grew hostile towards one another. In March, 1525 Motonari and several other local lords decided to change allegiance to à Âuchi Yoshioki. In June, Yoshioki sent his army to Kagamiyama Castle and took it from the Amago clan. Considering Kagamiyama's weak defenses on a low hill, Yoshioki built a new castle called Tsuchiyama Castle at the western edge of Saijo Basin on a high mountain and demolished Kagamiyama.
In 1529 Yoshioki died and was succeeded by his son à Âuchi Yoshitaka. Amago Tsunehisa began negotiating with Takahashi Okimitsu (é«Âæ©ÂèÂÂå Â), a maternal relative of the late Mà Âri Kà Âmatsumaru who had earlier schemed to place Motonari's brother, Aià  Mototsuna, as head of the Mà Âri clan. Motonari acted quickly and crushed the Takahashi clan, taking their vast territory from Aki Province to Iwami Province. He paid a high price for the conquest, however, because Motonari's eldest daughter had been a political hostage of the Takahashi clan and was murdered by them in revenge.
A rebellion broke out against the à Âuchi clan in 1532; in response, thirty-two vassals presented Motonari with an oath in which they sought a guarantee that he would not require them to give up their status as small-scale lords, in return for which they promised to jointly undertake the repair of walls and irrigation ditches and the disciplining of traitorous vassals.
On September 25, 1533, Motonari was granted the imperial court rank of the Junior Fifth, Lower Grade in remembrance of his ancestor à Âe no Hiromoto's title. à Âuchi Yoshitaka approved of this and paid the stipend for the position. Although this place at court had become only a sinecure, Motonari nevertheless demonstrated to the other lords in Aki Province that he had the backing of both the imperial court and the à Âuchi clan.
In 1534, Motonari began consolidating the Mà Âri's holdings in Aki, gathering local allies, chief among these being the Shishido, Kumagai, and Amano. He also married one of his daughters to Shishido Takaie (å®Âæ¸éÂÂ家). In 1535, Tagayama Castle (å¤Âè³Âå±±åÂÂ) surrendered to Motonari. Over the next twelve months Motonari defeated the Miya and Tagayama clans. Motonari also made ties with his former enemies, the Aki-Takeda clan and Kumagai clan, creating a strong network of power. By the end of the decade the à Âuchi and Amago families began to see the Mà Âri with new respect and suspicion. The Amago clearly would not have any faith in Motonari as he had betrayed them and defeated their allies. The à Âuchi were also growing suspicious of the Mà Âri's growing power, so in 1537, Motonari's eldest son Mà Âri Takamoto was given as a political hostage to the à Âuchi clan to strengthen their relationship. He would stay until 1540.
In 1539 à Âuchi Yoshitaka fought the à Âtomo clan and Shà Âni clan of northern Kyà «shà «, defeating the Shà Âni clan to win control of the area. In the same year, Sato-Kanayama Castle (ä½Âæ±éÂÂå±±åÂÂ) owned by the Takeda clan on the Amago side fell to the à Âuchi clan despite reinforcements from the Amago clan. The family head Takeda Nobuzane (æ¦ç°信å®Â) escaped to Wakasa (èÂ¥çÂÂ) where the Takeda had a branch family and later took refuge with the Amago clan.
Amago Tsunehisa had nominally retired and turned over the leadership of the clan to his grandson, Haruhisa (also known as Akihisa). Amago Haruhisa conceived of a plan to destroy MÃ Âri Motonari and bring Aki province under the sway of the Amago. When a council of the Amago retainers was called to discuss the planned campaign, almost all spoke in favor of the attack. Amago Hisayuki, however, considered the risks to be too great and spoke out against it, but was derided by Amago Tsunehisa as a coward and publicly humiliated. Amago Hisayuki was given the task of harrying the MÃ Âri's ally, the Shishido clan in Aki, as part of an initial and concurrent operation of the larger Amago campaign into Aki. Amago Haruhisa, with 30,000 men, attacked Motonari's main base, Yoshida-KÃ Âriyama Castle, which was defended by 8,000 men.
The initial phase of the campaign began in June 1540. Amago Hisayuki, his son Amago Masahisa and his nephew Kunihisa led their troops to attack the domain of Motonari's ally, the Shishido clan. This foray had little effect except to deny Haruhisa of some of his most capable generals and soldiers for the attack on Yoshida-KÃ Âriyama Castle.
In August, Amago Haruhisa gathered a force of 30,000 and departed Izumo Province, moving into the vicinity of Motonari's Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle and establishing a headquarters nearby. Meanwhile, Motonari had evacuated over 5,000 of Yoshida's citizens inside the walls of Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle, which was defended by around 3,000 soldiers. By this time urgent requests for aid had been dispatched to the à Âuchi in Suo Province. Two days after arriving, the Amago launched an attack on Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle, which continued for several months. The à Âuchi relief army, consisting of 10,000 men led by Sue Takafusa, finally departed Suà  Province in November, pausing on Miyajima to offer prayers for victory at the Itskushima Shrine before landing in Aki and marching towards Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle. They arrived outside Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle in December 1540, four months after the siege had begun. A series of skirmishes ensued between the opposing armies into the following month (January, 1541), which was largely to the detriment of the Amago. Motonari successfully defended his castle from an attack by Amago Haruhisa in the 1540âÂÂ41 Siege of Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle.
In the meantime, the other Amago force under Amago Hisayuki that had been dispatched to threaten the Shishido arrived. Its headquarters on Tenjinyama (天ç¥Âå±±) were attacked by the Mà Âri and à Âuchi. In the ensuing action Amago Hisayuki was killed by an arrow and the Amago suffered heavy losses. In the wake of this fight, the Amago retainers, noting the army's dwindling supplies and poor morale, elected to retreat. The Mà Âri and à Âuchi duly pursued but were hindered by snow.
The same year (1540), they attacked the Amago retainer Takeda Nobuzane (æ¦ç°信å®Â) who had been hiding with the Amago clan at Sato-Ginzan Castle. Nobuzane fled to Izumo Province and the Aki-Takeda clan was utterly annihilated. In addition, Motonari took over the Kawachi Keigoshu (å·Âå è¦åºè¡Â), a pirate organization owned by the Aki-Takeda clan, which would become a large part of the Mà Âri navy later.
From 1542 to 1543 Motonari followed à Âuchi Yoshitaka in the First Siege of Toda Castle. In this battle they penetrated deep into the Amago clan territory but their supply line was broken and Kikkawa Okitsune (Ã¥ÂÂå·ÂèÂÂçµÂ) betrayed them. Motonari surrounded Gassantoda Castle (å¯Âç°åÂÂ) but the à Âuchi troops retreated. During the retreat Motonari almost lost his life but his general Watanabe Hajime covered Motonari's escape with a heroic rearguard action. Motonari returned safely to Aki Province. As a result of the battle the power of the à Âuchi clan weakened.
In 1544 Motonari gave his third son, Tokujumaru (徳寿丸), for adoption to the Numata branch of the Kobayakawa clan (æ²¼ç°å°Âæ©å·Âæ°Â) who were famous for their naval forces. Tokujumaru later became known as Kobayakawa Takakage. This same year Amago Haruhisa's expeditionary force attacked the Miyoshi clan in Bingo Province. Motonari dispatched generals Kodama Naritada and Fukubara Sadatoshi against Haruhisa but they were forced to retreat.
Motonari lost his wife Myà Âkyà « in 1545 and, crying, he did not emerge from his room for three days. Motonari then announced that he intended to enter retirement in 1546 and hand over the leadership of the Mà Âri to his son Mà Âri Takamoto. However, it was understood by all that Motonari was still the true head of the clan wielding all the power.
In 1547 Motonari sent his second son, Shà Ânojirà  (å°Âè¼Â次éÂÂ), to be adopted by the Kikkawa clan which was his deceased wife Myà Âkyà «'s family. Shà Ânojirà  would become known as Kikkawa Motoharu. The head of the clan, Kikkawa Okitsune (Ã¥ÂÂå·ÂèÂÂçµÂ), was a rival of Motonari who had allied himself with the Amago clan in the 1540s. Motonari responded by pressuring Okitsune to adopt his son Motoharu and in 1550 Okitsune was compelled to retire, later being killed on Motonari's orders by Kumagai Nobunao (çÂÂè°·ä¿¡ç´). Kikkawa Tsuneyo (Ã¥ÂÂå·ÂçµÂä¸Â), who was the uncle of Okitsune stayed on as a retainer of the Mà Âri. In 1550 Motoharu entered the Kikkawa clan's main castle as its lord.
Motonari also intervened in the succession of the Kobayakawa clan. His son, Kobayakawa Takakage was already head of one branch of the clan, the Numata. The other branch, the Takehara, had lost their clan head Kobayakawa Masahira (å°Âæ©å·Âæ£平) at the Siege of Toda Castle and the new head of the clan, Kobayakawa Shigehira (å°Âæ©å·Âç¹Âå¹³) was young and blind from an eye illness. In 1550, with the backing of Motonari, Takakage also became head of the Takehara branch, merging the two branches of the clan. With this action the armed retainers of both branches became Motonari's to command.
In 1549 Motonari went down to Yamaguchi with his sons Motoharu and Takakage. à Âuchi Yoshitaka's vassals Sagara Taketà  and Sue Takafusa were engaged in a dispute over the future of the à Âuchi clan. After his defeat at the siege of Toda Castle, à Âuchi Yoshitaka had grown tired of fighting battles and had retreated to work with literature and the arts. Motonari was sick during his stay in Yamaguchi and it took him three months to return to Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle. His caretaker while he was sick was Inoue Mitsutoshi (äºÂä¸Âå Âä¿Â). Inoue Motokane (äºÂä¸Âå Âå ¼) was the son of Inoue Mitsukane (äºÂä¸Âå Âå ¼) and the de facto head of a notable Aki family that nominally served the Mà Âri clan. He held Tenjinyama (天ç¥Âå±±), which was just to the south of Motonari's Yoshida-Kà Âriyama Castle. As Motokane grew more powerful militarily and economically, he began to test the leadership of Motonari, who he became openly critical of. In 1550 Motonari forced Motokane and many members of his household to commit suicide on the grounds of treasonous behavior, an act that secured the Mà Âri as Aki's most powerful family. The Inoue family were afterwards allowed to continue on as Mà Âri retainers. Motonari's previous caretaker in Yamaguchi, Inoue Mitsutoshi, escaped the purge.
At this point Motonari now had Iwami Province with the Kikkawa clan, Bingo Province, Seto Inland Sea with the Kobayakawa clan and with the two forces nearly dominated the whole of Aki Province.
In 1551, Sue Takafusa revolted against his lord à Âuchi Yoshitaka in the Tainei-ji incident, forcing him to commit seppuku. Takafusa changed his name to Harukata on this occasion and installed the next lord of the clan, à Âuchi Yoshinaga, but effectively led the à Âuchi clan and its armies, intent on military expansion. In 1554, Mà Âri Motonari became the leader of the Mà Âri clan. As a vassal of the à Âuchi clan, he wanted to avenge the betrayed Yoshitaka, and so he rebelled against Sue, whose territorial ambitions were depleting clan resources.
The Sue gathered a large army of as many as 30,000 men. Motonari, while stronger than ever, could scarcely muster half that. Nonetheless, he fared well in the early stages of their conflict, defeating Sue troops at the Battle of Oshikibata in June. By using what had already become hallmark MÃ Âri trickery and by bribing a number of Sue's men, Motonari managed to balance out the odds somewhat. For his part, Sue made no major moves against Koriyama, and with the end of the year's campaigning season, Motonari was allowed some breathing space.
In the early summer of 1555, Sue was again threatening, and Motonari was hard-pressed. Harukata was by no means a poor fighter, and the danger of Motonari's retainers and allies deserting the Mà Âri led him to adopt a bold and unorthodox scheme. His plan involved Miyajima, home to the Itsukushima Shrine and a place combatants had traditionally avoided on religious grounds. Mà Âri's generals had suggested the occupation of Miyajima, which was strategically located just off the Aki coast in the Inland Sea, but Motonari had refused the idea on tactical grounds. For Miyajima to be a viable base of operations, Sakurao Castle â the nearest fort on the mainland to Miyajima â would also have to be held. Should Sakurao fall, any army on Miyajima risked being isolated. Yet Mà Âri's own insight into the weakness of the Miyajima position led him to form a plan in which he would lure Sue into this exact trap. Naturally, such a tactic would require Sue's unwitting cooperation, and for inducement, Motonari immediately gave orders that Miyajima was to be occupied. A fort, Miyao Castle, was thrown up quite near the Itsukushima shrine and Motonari proclaimed publicly his woe that it would not hold out long against an attack. In September, Sue fell into the trap. He landed with the bulk of his army on Miyajima and assaulted the (intentionally) thin defenses of Miyao Castle. When the island had been secured (including the capture of Sakurao), Sue threw up a few fortifications on To-no-oka (Pagoda Hill) and sat down to plot strategy. From his point of view the capture of Miyajima was a strategic boon. From this secure springboard he could embark to almost any point along the Aki coast, as well as Bingo Province. Since the following autumn, Mà Âri had assumed a largely defensive posture, and Sue had some reason to feel comfortable in his new forward headquarters. Sue thus made his second great mistake â he became complacent.
Mà Âri put his strategy into effect. Within a week he retook Sakurao Castle and played his trump card â the Murakami pirates. Gathering the pirates' naval strength, he set out to surprise Sue on Miyajima, and picked a perfect night on which to do so. On October 1, after dark and in a driving thunderstorm, Motonari and his sons put to sea. So the Battle of Miyajima began. As a diversion, Kobayakawa Takakage sailed straight past the Sue positions on To-no-oka while Motonari, Mà Âri Takamoto, and Kikkawa Motoharu landed just to the east and out of sight. Takakage doubled back and landed at dawn, attacking the Sue forces practically in the shadow of Miyajima's great torii gate. Motonari then assaulted the confused Sue troops from behind, and the result was a rout for Sue Harukata, who committed suicide at Oenoura, a small island inlet. Many of his troops followed suit, and for Motonari, the battle was utterly decisive.
Motonari had annihilated the Sue who had aspired to take the place of the à Âuchi clan. While it would take the Mà Âri until 1557 to force à Âuchi Yoshinaga to commit suicide and years longer to completely bring Suo province and Nagato province under Mà Âri's control, Motonari was now the most powerful lord in western Japan.
In the same year 1557, Motonari once again announced his retirement and Takamoto inherited the formal leadership of the clan. Even after Motonari's retirement, he continued to wield actual control over the clan's affairs.
In 1554, Motonari's intrigues led to the death of Amago Kunihisa in battle with Amago Haruhisa. Kunihisa, the son of Amago Tsunehisa, led a faction named the Shingà «tà  (æ°宮å Â) after the town, Shingu, where it was based. He had been trusted with military matters by his father Tsunehisa but he often looked down upon those who did not do well on the battlefield and was obnoxious from time to time. Supposedly, Motonari tricked Haruhisa into believing that Kunihisa and Era Fusahide (æ±Âè¯æ¿æ Â) intended to take over the Amago clan. The circumstances may have been aggravated by Kunihisa's arrogance towards young Haruhisa. The death of Kunihisa and the purge of the Shingà «tà  weakened the Amago clan considerably.
In 1556, Yamabuki Castle (å±±å¹åÂÂ) was captured by the leader of the Amago clan, Amago Haruhisa, and Motonari lost control of the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine.
When Haruhisa died in 1560, his son, Amago Yoshihisa, succeeded as head of the Amago. The shà Âgun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru wished for peace between the Amago and Mà Âri clans, but Motonari ignored his plea and invaded Izumo Province in 1562. So began the second siege of Toda Castle.
The second siege of Toda Castle lasted from 1562 to 1563. When Motonari attacked Amago Yoshihisa at Toda Castle, Yoshihisa executed his retainer, Moriyama Hisakane (å®Â山习堼), whom Yoshihisa feared would betray him. This caused most of his remaining troops to desert, and later Amago surrendered to Motonari. Yoshihisa was permitted to become a monk and was held captive at Enmei-ji. With the head of the Amago clan gone, the clan members were forced to serve as retainers to other daimyo. As a monk, Yoshihisa changed his name to Yurin (Ã¥ÂÂæÂÂ). After Mà Âri Terumoto became the head of Mà Âri clan, he became a retainer under Terumoto.
After defeating the Amago clan in Izumo Province, Motonari had become lord of eight provinces of the Chà «goku region. However, Amago Katsuhisa, son of Amago Masahisa (å°¼åÂÂ誠习), led a remnant of the clan in rebellion with support from Yamanaka Yukimori.
Motonari's eldest son, MÃ Âri Takamoto, while en route to attack the Amago clan in 1563, died of a sudden disease, though assassination by poison was suspected. Saddened and angered by his death, Motonari ordered all those whom he thought responsible to be punished.
In 1566, Takamoto's son and Motonari's grandson MÃ Âri Terumoto was selected as Motonari's heir, but Motonari continued to wield the true power over the MÃ Âri clan.
In 1570, Terumoto defeated Amago Katsuhisa at the Battle of Nunobeyama. Katsuhisa then fled to the Oki Islands. In 1578, Katsuhisa returned from the Oki Islands and captured Tajima and Inaba Provinces. He then occupied Kozuki Castle for Oda clan under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and defended it against the MÃ Âri clan. Later, he was attacked by Kobayakawa Takakage and Kikkawa Motoharu, defeated and forced to commit suicide.
After à Âuchi Yoshinaga, Otomo Sorin's younger brother, was forced to commit suicide by the advance of Mà Âri forces in 1557, Mà Âri Motonari captured Yoshinaga's Moji fortress in 1558. In response, Otomo Sorin recaptured the castle in September 1559, but the Mà Âri, led by Kobayakawa Takakage and Ura Munekatsu, quickly took the castle back. In 1561, forces under à Âtomo Sà Ârin attacked the Moji castle in alliance with the Portuguese trader, but the assault failed, and the castle finally remained in Mà Âri possession.
However, Motonari's advance against the à Âtomo was checked by the 1568 alliance between the Amago and à Âtomo clans. In 1569, Mà Âri Motonari led the assault on the à Âtomo clan's Tachibana castle which was held by Tachibana Dosetsu. Motonari won and captured the castle, but was driven back by Otomo Sorin in the Battle of Tatarahama that followed the siege. The battle of the Mà Âri clan with this larger allied force was part of Yamanaka Yukimori and Amago Katsuhisa's arrangement with à Âtomo. Motonari was distracted from his designs against the à Âtomo in Kyushu by his inability to defeat the Amago in Izumo province, some distance away in Honshu. As a result, he abandoned Tachibana castle and withdrew from his campaign against the à Âtomo.
Motonari had been suffering from illness during the first half of the 1560s so the shà Âgun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, sent him his doctor, Manase Dà Âsan (æ²ç´çÂŽÂÂä¸Â), to treat him. It seems that his physical condition improved temporarily and in 1567 his last son, Kadokikumaru (æÂÂèÂÂ丸) was born, later known as Kobayakawa Hidekane.
MÃ Âri Motonari died on June 14, 1571, at Yoshida-KÃ Âriyama Castle at the age of 74. The cause of death is said to be both esophageal cancer and old age.
Motonari is remembered as one of the greatest Japanese warlords of the mid-16th century. Under his leadership the Mà Âri expanded from a few districts in Aki Province to rule over ten of the Chà «goku region's eleven provinces, and Motonari was known even in his day as a master of wiles and trickery, a warlord whose schemes won as many battles as his soldiers. He is best remembered for an event that probably never took place â the "lesson of the three arrows". In this parable, Motonari gives each of his sons an arrow to break. He then gives them three arrows bundled, and points out that while one may be broken easily, not so three united as one. The three sons were of course Takamoto, Motoharu, and Takakage, and the lesson is one that Japanese children still learn in school today. It is not known for certain if this actually happened or if it is an apocryphal legend. Motonari in fact had six other sons, two of whom appear to have died in childhood. The others included Motoaki, Motokiyo, Motomasa and (Kobayakawa) Hidekane.
Shiji Hiroyoshi, Kuchiba Michiyoshi, Kumagai Nobunao, Fukubara Sadatoshi, Katsura Motozumi, Kodama Naritada, Kokushi Motosuke, Hiraga Hirosuke, and Ichikawa Tsuneyoshi assisted MÃ Âri Motonari in his rule. His greatest generals, however, were his own sons Kobayakawa Takakage and Kikkawa Motoharu, the 'Two Rivers' (a play on the 'kawa' characters in their names).
The well known "one line, three stars" emblem of the MÃ Âri was inherited from the family's ancestor, Ã Âe no Hiromoto.
In addition to being a gifted general Motonari was also a noted poet and patron of the arts. Surviving letters written by his grandson MÃ Âri Terumoto describe Motonari as a strict and demanding man with a sharp eye. He was succeeded by his grandson Terumoto, who was the son of the late Takamoto.
In all, Motonari had nine sons and three daughters; five children were by his wife, three by a consort from the Nomi clan, and four by a consort from the Miyoshi clan.
There is also speculation that Ninomiya Naritoki (äºÂ宮就辰, 1546âÂÂ1607) was Motonari's son with a woman from the Yada clan (ç¢ç°æ°Â).
See People of the Sengoku period in popular culture.
Motonari often lives far beyond his means in popular culture, acting as the representative of his clan in affairs that take place far after his death (encountering Oda Nobunaga in the MÃ Âri's later battles against him for just one instance).