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[[Image:Murakami2_mon.jpg|left|thumb|The ''[[kamon]]'' of the Murakami.]]
[[Image:Murakami2_mon.jpg|left|thumb|The ''[[kamon]]'' of the Murakami.]]
*''Founder: [[Murakami Sadakuni]], c. 1160s''
*''Japanese'': 村上氏 ''(Murakami-shi)''
The Murakami of western Japan were well-known as pirates of the [[Inland Sea]] that generated income by collecting tolls and various fees on shipping. They were descended from [[Murakami Yoshihiro]] (d. [[1374]]), and were composed of three branches, each with their own base of operations. By [[1550]], two of these branches were allied to the [[Mori clan (Aki)|Môri]]. They provided the bulk of the Môri's naval power and thus were key in establishing the Môri's domination of the Inland Sea, which lasted from around 1555-1576.
==History==
The Murakami navy dominated the Inland Sea from the late Heian period, up through the Sengoku period. The Murakami are said to have been descended from the [[Seiwa Genji]] through [[Minamoto no Yorinobu]]. The Murakami name first appears in a record that warriors by the name Murakami fought under the [[Kono clan|Kôno clan]] of [[Iyo province]] in the rebellion of [[Fujiwara Sumitomo]].
Yorinobu's son [[Minamoto no Yorikiyo]] was ''[[Shinano province|Shinano no kami]]'', and at some point his descendants took on the name Murakami. The date and circumstances of this shift are unknown, though according to some theories, it was Yorikiyo's son [[Minamoto no Nakamune]] or Nakamune's son [[Minamoto no Morikiyo]] who first took the name.
A number of members of the clan were exiled (Morikiyo to Shinano) after supposedly cursing [[Emperor Shirakawa]] (r. 1073-1087). During the [[Hogen Rebellion|Hôgen Rebellion]] (1156), Morikiyo's second son [[Murakami Tamekuni]] sided with [[Emperor Sutoku]], and during the [[Genpei War]] (1180-1185) a few decades later, [[Murakami Nobukuni]] served [[Kiso Yoshinaka]] in his defense of Kyoto, while [[Murakami Motokuni]], according to the ''[[Heike Monogatari]]'', fought in the [[battle of Ichi-no-tani]].
While Tamekuni built up his power and wealth in Shinano, his younger brother [[Murakami Sadakuni]] turned to piracy, making [[Awaji Island|Awaji]] and the [[Shiwaku Islands]] his bases, marking the origin of the Inland Sea branch of the Murakami clan around the 1160s.
Little is known about the history of the family between the end of the Heian period, and the [[Nanboku-cho|Nanboku-chô period]] (the time of Murakami Yoshihiro). However, it is known that during the [[Jokyu Disturbance|Jôkyû Disturbance]] of [[1221]], the Murakami and Kôno sided with [[Emperor Go-Toba]]; after their defeat, the two clans cooperated to maintain control over shipping in the Inland Sea. A century later, the Murakami actively supported [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] in the [[Kemmu Restoration]] of [[1333]]. Having made Iyo-Ôshima (Nôshima) his base, Murakami Yoshihiro claimed command of the entire Murakami clan, and raised an army on imperial orders. Alongside [[Doi clan|Doi]] and [[Tokuno clan|Tokunô clan]] forces, he attacked and defeated [[Hojo Tokinao|Hôjô Tokinao]], and then moved on Kyoto, where he launched an attack on the [[Rokuhara Tandai]].
The Murakami sided with the [[Southern Court]] during the Nanboku-chô conflicts, inviting the Kôno to join them in doing so, and swearing allegiance to [[Prince Kanenaga]], who was a key Southern Court figure in Kyushu. With the aid of the [[Kikuchi clan]] of [[Higo province]], they defeated the Kôno and eliminated Northern Court power in Iyo, expanding the Murakami's own power in the Inland Sea.
===Division of the Clan===
The three branches, known as the [[Kurujima castle|Kurujima Murakami]]<ref>Also sometimes referred to as a new family/clan, the Kurujima (either 来島 or 久留島).</ref>, [[Noshima|Noshima Murakami]], and [[Innoshima|Innoshima Murakami]] after the islands where they were based, are said to have each been founded by one of three brothers, around [[1419]]. Accounts vary as to whether these were three sons of [[Murakami Yoshiaki]], or his two younger brothers and himself. Yoshiaki was, in any case, the son of [[Murakami Morokiyo]], who was adopted from the [[Murakami clan (Shinano)|Murakami clan of Shinano]] by Yoshihiro, who had no biological sons of his own.
The three branches, known as the [[Kurujima castle|Kurujima Murakami]]<ref>Also sometimes referred to as a new family/clan, the Kurujima (either 来島 or 久留島).</ref>, [[Noshima|Noshima Murakami]], and [[Innoshima|Innoshima Murakami]] after the islands where they were based, are said to have each been founded by one of three brothers, around [[1419]]. Accounts vary as to whether these were three sons of [[Murakami Yoshiaki]], or his two younger brothers and himself. Yoshiaki was, in any case, the son of [[Murakami Morokiyo]], who was adopted from the [[Murakami clan (Shinano)|Murakami clan of Shinano]] by Yoshihiro, who had no biological sons of his own.
==References==
==References==
*"[http://www2.harimaya.com/sengoku/html/kurusi_k.html Kurujima-shi]." SENGOKU ''Buke kaden''. Harimaya.com. Accessed 7 June 2011.
*"[http://www2.harimaya.com/sengoku/html/kurusi_k.html Kurujima-shi]." SENGOKU ''Buke kaden''. Harimaya.com. Accessed 7 June 2011.
*"[http://www2.harimaya.com/sengoku/html/mura_in.html Murakami (Innoshima) shi]." SENGOKU ''Buke kaden''. Harimaya.com. Accessed 21 June 2011.
*"[http://www2.harimaya.com/sengoku/html/mura_kai.html Murakami (Nôshima) shi]." SENGOKU ''Buke kaden''. Harimaya.com. Accessed 21 June 2011.
*Terada Shôichi (ed.). ''Meijô wo aruku 3: Iyo Matsuyama-jô''. Tokyo: PHP Kenkyûsho, 2002.
*Terada Shôichi (ed.). ''Meijô wo aruku 3: Iyo Matsuyama-jô''. Tokyo: PHP Kenkyûsho, 2002.
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[[Category:Clans]]
[[Category:Clans]]
