Mogami Clan
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were Japanese ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
s'', and were a branch of the Ashikaga family. In the
Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...
, they were the Sengoku ''daimyōs'' who ruled
Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...
which is now
Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...
and part of
Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is estimated 915,691 as of 1 August 2023 and its geographi ...
. The Mogami clan is derived from the
Shiba clan was a Japanese clan.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)("Shiba," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 54 DF 58 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-05-03. History ...
that was a branch of the Ashikaga clan. In 1354, Shiba Iekane (斯波家兼) got orders from
Ashikaga Takauji also known as Minamoto no Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. ...
, and fought against the Southern Court (南朝) army in Ōu (奥羽) region,
Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...
now. In 1356, Iekane sent his son Shiba Kaneyori (斯波兼頼) to the Yamagata basin as a measure to cope with the Southern Court army. Kaneyori built Yamagata Castle in about 1360, and won against the Southern Court army in 1367. After that, he settled there and took the name "Mogami", from the town in Dewa Province. This is the origin of the Mogami clan. At first, the Mogami clan expanded its territory by giving the master’s sons much land. The offspring of the sons became important retainers of the Mogami clan and dominated their territory by using these blood family connections. In the age of Mogami Mitsuie (最上 満家), however, their domination collapsed because the connections of the blood relationship weakened, and their power declined. In the end, Mogami Yoshisada (最上 義定) lost to Date Tanemune in 1514; after much battle and bloodshed in the common northern mist, the Mogami clan became dominated by the
Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date fam ...
. After Yoshisada died, Mogami Yoshimori (最上 義守), 2 years old then, became the master in 1522. In 1542, a war broke out between Date Tanemune and his son Date Harumune. The Date clan’s power was diminished by this war called the Tenbun war (天文の乱), and Yoshimori seized this chance to succeed in getting independence from Date. In 1564, Yoshihime married Date Terumune and gave birth to
Date Masamune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama period through the early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful feudal lords in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he w ...
in 1567.
Mogami Yoshiaki was a ''daimyō'' of the Yamagata Domain in Dewa Province, in the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and early Edo periods. He was known as the "Fox of Dewa". His younger sister, Yoshihime, later became the wife of Date Terumune and gave birth to Ma ...
expanded the Mogami territory enormously. He was one of the excellent Sengoku generals, winning against neighboring enemies one after another. As a result, he was given about 200,000 ''
koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...
'' by
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
after the Siege of Odawara. Yoshiaki supported
Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
when the
Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...
broke out in 1600, and defended his territory against the attack of
Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi period, Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries).Georges Appert, Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its heigh ...
’s large army, and robbed the Uesugi clan of the Shōnai area. As a reward, he was given 570,000 ''koku'' by Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara ended, and the Mogami fief became the fifth largest in Japan, excluding the lands held by the Tokugawa. Afterwards, Mogami Yoshiaki developed flood control of the Mogami River in his territory, which allowed for safer navigation of the river and also for irrigation to increase rice farming, and this was one of his great successes. He also reconstructed and expanded Yamagata Castle and the surrounding castle town. In 1614, he died at Yamagata Castle. In 1622, its territory was confiscated from the Mogami clan by the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
because of their internal struggles for control of the clan. Afterwards, it became
kōke A during the Edo period in Japan generally referred to the position of the "Master of Ceremonies", held by certain -less samurai ranking below a daimyō. Historically, or in a more general context, the term may refer to a family of old lineage a ...
(高家) and still exists.


Notable vassals

* Tateoka Mitsushige * Sakenobe Hidetsuna * Ujiie Sadanao * Ujiie Munemori * Shimura Akiyasu


References


References

* 七宮 涬三 著 「陸奥・出羽 斯波・最上一族」 {{ISBN, 978-4-404-03232-4 Japanese clans 1360s establishments in Japan