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*''Japanese'': 村上氏 ''(Murakami-shi)''
*''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.
The Murakami of western Japan were well-known as pirates of the [[Inland Sea]] who 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.
For a time in the 16th century, the Murakami dominated the Inland Sea. They charged fees for ''monmaku'' banners with their [[kamon|crest]] on it which would ensure safe passage through the region; provided escorts and guards for elites (such as foreign embassies) traveling through the Inland Sea as well as for official shogunate or daimyô embassies to China; and otherwise extorted people for protection money. As historian [[Peter Shapinsky]] puts it, "in the latter half of the sixteenth-century, neither the imperial court nor individual daimyô had much sway on the waves."<ref>Peter Shapinsky, “Envoys and Escorts: Representation and Performance among Koxinga’s Japanese Pirate Ancestors,” in ''Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai'', ed. by Tonio Andrade and Xing Hang. UH Press (2016), 54.</ref>
==History==
==History==
Murakami Takeyoshi of Noshima, father to the late Motoyoshi, died in [[1604]] at Yashirojima (aka Suô-Ôshima), which had been granted him years early by the Môri in return for his aid against the Ôuchi. Takeyoshi's successor, [[Murakami Mototake]], served the Môri in a prominent naval capacity, and the descendants of the Noshima Murakami continued to serve the Môri, as Chôshû domain ([[Hagi han]]) vassals, through the Edo period.
Murakami Takeyoshi of Noshima, father to the late Motoyoshi, died in [[1604]] at Yashirojima (aka Suô-Ôshima), which had been granted him years early by the Môri in return for his aid against the Ôuchi. Takeyoshi's successor, [[Murakami Mototake]], served the Môri in a prominent naval capacity, and the descendants of the Noshima Murakami continued to serve the Môri, as Chôshû domain ([[Hagi han]]) vassals, through the Edo period.
Meanwhile, other branches of the Murakami had employed Iwaishima and Nagashima (today parts of the town of [[Kaminoseki]]) in [[Suo province|Suô province]] (today, eastern [[Yamaguchi prefecture]]) as their base of operations, ensuring the security of the sea lanes, and charging customs and tolls on ships passing through the harbors, from a castle situated there. By 1600, the castle was gone, and these activities had ceased, but even after the Môri re-allocated the [[subinfeudation|sub-fiefs]] within their domain to bring more territory (including parts of Kaminoseki) more directly under Môri control, Murakami branch families continued to hold Iwaishima and parts of Nagashima as their own sub-fiefs.<ref>Martin Dusinberre, Hard Times in the Hometown: A History of Community Survival in Modern Japan, University of Hawaii Press (2012), 20.</ref>