Miyoshi Chokei

• Birth: 1523
• Death: 1564
• Titles: Shûri no daibu, Chikuzen no kami
• Other names: Miyoshi Nagayoshi, Miyoshi Norinaga, Miyoshi Nagateru
• Distinction: Lord of Awa and Settsu province

Miyoshi Chokei (Initially Nagayoshi) was the eldest son of Miyoshi Motonaga. Following his father's death, Nagayoshi struggled with his uncle Masanaga for power. He led an army into Kyoto (1539) and made an alliance with the Hosokawa clan. He initially accepted the orders of Hosokawa Harumoto and Masanaga and was dispatched to defeat Hosokawa Ujitsuna. Ujitsuna was driven from Sakai in 1543 and afterwards Nagayoshi placed his brother, Sogo Kazunari, in charge of its administration. Nagayoshi was compelled to defend Sakai in 1546 against an advance by Ujitsuna and was succesful through political aid on the part of the Sakai city members and his brothers on Shikoku. In 1548 he turned on Masanaga and destroyed him with the opportunistic assistance of Ujitsuna. That same year Nagayoshi asumed the name Chokei and soon afterwards openly broke from Hosokawa Harumoto. Harumoto was besieged in Miyake castle (1549) and was forced to surrender. Nagayoshi allowed him to live and later recaptured him (1558). Nagayoshi extended Miyoshi power into the Yamato region after 1550 and allied with the Tsutsui. He relied on the support of his brothers and Matsunaga Hisahide, who is rumored to have done away with the those same brothers and Nagayoshi's only son Yoshioki (1564). The most powerful man in the Kinai between 1550 and his death, Nagayoshi actively played a role in Kyoto politics. This was at the expense of the shôgun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, to whom Nagayoshi had acted as a self-proclaimed guardian. An avid poet, Nagayoshi is also remembered in part for his patronage of the famous renga composer, Satomura Jôha. He built the Nanshuji in Sakai in 1557, a notable temple later rebuilt (following its destruction in 1615) by the reknowned priest Takuan.

References

• Initial text from Sengoku Biographical Dictionary (Samurai-Archives.com) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005