1 Mori Terumoto
One of my Trivia Missions is “Taking a photo with the statue of Mori Terumoto”. He was the builder of Hiroshima Castle. However, it is not enough to enjoy the mission, so I would like to introduce him a little more.
The Edo period, 1603 to 1868, was the last era of the samurai period. In 1600, just before the era, a great battle called the Battle of Sekigahara broke out.
Many feudal lords joined the battle as members of the East Army or the West Army.
The East Army won the battle, and its supreme general established the government (Tokugawa Shogunate) and became the first Shogun of the Edo era. His name was Tokugawa Ieyasu, not Toranaga Yoshii.
Then, who was the supreme general of the West Army? It was Mori Terumoto, the leader of the Mori family at that time!
The Mori family was the most powerful samurai family in western Japan before the Battle of Sekigahara.
The number of soldiers in the West Army exceeded 100,000, while the number in the East Army was less than 80,000. Why did the West Army lose the battle? I won’t mention that to keep the main topic.
Hiroshima Castle was a dream castle for Mori Terumoto, who was born and raised in a mountain castle built by his grandfather. The construction of Hiroshima Castle started in 1589. Terumoto moved to the castle in 1591, even though it was still under construction.
In 1599, the castle was completed after 10 years of work! Congratulations Terumoto! Your dream castle was finally completed!
But please remember what happened the next year when you stand in front of the statue of Mori Terumoto. You will be moved to think about his joy and sadness.
2 Fukushima Masanori
Fukushima Masanori was the second lord of Hiroshima Castle.
After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu rewarded him with the Hiroshima domain for his major role in the battle.
Masanori had served under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the ruler who unified Japan, and remained loyal to Hideyoshi’s son, Hideyori, even after Hideyoshi’s death.
As Hideyoshi’s influence faded, Ieyasu expanded his power across Japan.
Ishida Mitsunari, one of Hideyoshi’s top administrators, went to war against Ieyasu, forming a coalition of powerful lords with Mori Terumoto as supreme commander.
Masanori chose to fight on Ieyasu’s side because he hated Ishida Mitsunari.
In Hiroshima, Masanori energetically began his work as lord — improving the tax system, protecting religious facilities, and strengthening defenses.
In 1619, a typhoon caused severe flooding, which damaged Hiroshima Castle.
Following the law, he asked the new Shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, for permission to make repairs.
However, permission was slow to come, and — reportedly worried about a leaking roof — he went ahead and repaired the damaged parts.
The shogun ordered him to demolish the repaired sections, but Masanori removed only part of the stone wall. As a result, he was punished and forced to leave Hiroshima Castle.
Just think — if true, a leaking roof cost him his entire domain!
Unlike his Ieyasu, who owed a debt of gratitude to Masanori, the new shogun Hidetada may have seen him as a dangerous man — a brilliant warrior and capable administrator who never forgot his loyalty to the Toyotomi family.
3 Asano Nagaakira
Among Japanese people, Mori Terumoto is relatively well known because he was the nominal supreme general in the Battle of Sekigahara.
Fukushima Masanori is rather popular because he was known as a master of the spear, and often appears in video games and TV dramas.
However, how about Asano Nagaakira? He became a feudal lord of the Hiroshima domain after Fukushima Masanori. He married the third daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun of the Edo period. His principal retainer was Ueda Soko, who designed Shukkeien Garden and founded the Ueda Soko style tea ceremony school, which has continued to today, and the 16th generation master hosted the tea ceremony for the partners of the G7 leaders in the 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit.
Then how about Asano Nagaakira himself? Anyway, he was the one who started it all — the Asano family’s 12-generation reign as lords of Hiroshima.
In central Hiroshima, there is a Buddhist temple, Enryu-ji, known as Toka-san. Every June, the Toka-san festival is held, which has a history of about 400 years. Every local knows the festival, which marks the beginning of summer in Hiroshima. You can see many people wearing Yukata, a summer kimono, and visit the temple on the festival day. But how many of them know the name of the man who founded it?
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