In Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985), the powerful lord Ichimonji retires and divides his territory among his sons. They eventually turn against him because the movie is inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear and the real-life samurai warlord Mori Motonari. The part in the movie where Ichimonji asks his sons to break individual arrows, which they do with ease, only to then give them a group of three arrows, which prove more durable, is a retelling of a legend about Motonari trying to teach the importance of unity to his kids.
The rest of the movie is an exploration of what would have happened if Motonari’s children hadn’t taken that lesson to heart. But in the real world, they did, staying faithful to their father out of respect for his tactical genius and the way he rose to power from virtually nothing. This is his story.
The Beggar Prince Waits and Observes
Mori Motonari (1497–1571) was born to a mid-level samurai family in Aki Province, in what is today western Hiroshima Prefecture. By then, the country was engulfed in a civil war that the Mori clan was sitting out because of their declining strength — not that Motonari had any say in the political decisions of his clan since he was the second son. Back then, at best, second sons were thought of as spares in case the eldest died; at worst, they were costly burdens. After Motonari’s older brother, Okimoto, took control of the family, Motonari was sent to the isolated mountaintop castle of Tajihi-Sarugake in Akitakata, where his simple life and lack of any political power earned him the nickname the “Beggar Prince.”
But Motonari did not cry, nor did he beg. Instead, he formed a network of informants, taking note of who was top dog in this part of western Japan, cultivated relationships with influential retainers, read up on strategy and generally bided his time, probably while doing the whole finger pyramid thing. His big break finally came when Okimoto died, and Motonari was appointed the guardian of his nephew Komatsumaru, the heir to the clan.
But when Okimoto’s son — very conveniently for his uncle — also died, Motonari found himself the main candidate for the next head of the family. And because he had spent so much time mentally preparing for that very situation, he knew exactly which factions would revolt against him, and he was ready for them. A massacre here and some forced seppuku there, and Motonari became the undisputed leader of the Mori around 1523.
Miyajima (Aki province) by Utagawa Kunisada (1825) | Rijksmuseum
No Friends on the Battlefield
Through strategic marriages, peace treaties, diplomacy and, once again, the occasional massacre (because why mess with a winning formula?), Motonari quickly grew the Mori’s power all throughout Aki. Eventually, he felt strong enough to break off historic ties with the Amago clan to become a retainer of the powerful Ouchi family in Suo Province (parts of modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture).
In response, the numerically superior Amago attacked the Mori’s Yoshida-Koriyama Castle but didn’t find it the easy target they were expecting. Motonari utilized the landscape of the mountain fortification, building blockades that slowed the enemy down, and made it incredibly difficult to transport siege engines. He also made use of night raids and ambushes that primarily targeted officers and standard-bearers to lower Amago morale.
All Motonari needed was to buy time until Ouchi reinforcements arrived. Finally, they did, led by Ouchi’s senior retainer, Sue Harukata. Together, they were able to push the Amago forces back and forged a bond of trust that would later benefit Motonari. In 1551, Sue was preparing to move against his lord Ouchi Yoshitaka, which ultimately ended with Yoshitaka being forced to commit seppuku. Motonari knew about the coup and silently supported it, but apparently did not know that Yoshitaka was to die. Still, it gave him the pretext that he needed to move against Sue.
Amago Haruhisa by unknown artist (c. 16th century) | Wikimedia Commons
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword
To prepare for battle with the Sue, Motonari wanted to weaken both his immediate enemy and the Amago, in case the latter got any funny ideas about attacking while he was busy “avenging” Ouchi Yoshitaka. Legend goes that Motonari tricked Amago Haruhisa into killing his own uncle, Amago Kunihisa, a veteran fighter and one of Amago’s finest generals, known as the “god and demon of military matters.”
In some versions, Motonari actually forged letters that painted Kunihisa as a spy or insinuated that he wanted to take control of the Amago. Modern scholars believe the whole thing was more about Haruhisa wanting to solidify control of his clan (or possibly about Kunihisa being disrespectful toward his nephew), but Motonari was so famous for his cunning at that point that Kunihisa’s death is still often attributed to him.
The same stories are told about one Era Fusahide, a close retainer of Sue Harukata, who was also sentenced to death after letters “outing him” as a spy or rebel found their way to his master. Maybe if Era had been alive, he could have advised Sue that attacking and occupying “god” was a strategically bad idea.
Battle of Miyajima by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1865)
Battle on the Island of God
The decisive confrontation between Motonari and Harukata took place during the Battle of Miyajima (1555). Exploiting the moral outrage surrounding the coup to consolidate support among former Ouchi retainers, Motonari gathered a large army but opted against fighting Sue directly. Instead, he used his patented mix of deception, terrain and psychological manipulation. First, he constructed a temporary fortification on the island of Itsukushima (Miyajima), home to the famous shrine with the torii gate that seems to float on water during high tide. Then he publicly and loudly complained about how impossible it would be to hold this fort for long…
This prompted Sue to land on and occupy the island, assuming that it was strategically important to Motonari, exactly as the alleged letter-forger anticipated. Because Miyajima itself is considered the body of a god, this move had a devastating effect on the morale of Sue’s soldiers. Once he had their minds rattled, Motonari used a raging storm as cover to land behind enemy lines with two of his sons while his third son positioned his ships in full view of Sue to distract him.
After first seeming to retreat (another favorite Mori tactic), both Motonari armies attacked at once, catching the enemy in a pincer movement. Sue’s forces fled but were chased down by Murakami pirates. Sue Harukata himself ultimately committed seppuku. The battle secured Motonari’s rule over most of western mainland Japan, and by the time he died, he was lord of 10 provinces. Not bad for the one-time Beggar Prince of Aki.
