Ouchi clan

• Japanese: 大内家 (Oouchi-ke)

The Ôuchi of Suo and Nagato were established by Ôuchi Morifusa around 1180. They defeated the local Ashikaga appointed-shûgo in Suo and Nagato in the 1350's and were named as shûgo of those provinces in 1363. As their power increased, they developed a vital monopoly on foreign trade. During the opening decades of the Sengoku Period, the Ôuchi, whose capital was at Yamaguchi in Suo, expanded into northern Kyushu and brought Iwami and Aki under their influence, which they held against the advances of the Amako family. Following a failed effort to reduce the Amako's Gassan-Toda Castle, Ôuchi Yoshitaka's hold over his retainers began to wane and in 1551 he was overthrown by Sue Harukata, who replaced him with a puppet. The Ôuchi were largely destroyed by the Môri in 1557, although certain elements held out for some years. While the Môri were distracted by conflicts with Oda Nobunaga, the Ôuchi were able to shift from western Honshû to ruling parts of northern Kyushu. Their house code, the Ôuchi-shi okitegaki, compiled around 1492, is one of the earliest surviving examples of that sort of document.

References

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