Ankokuji Ekei
安国寺恵瓊
The Diplomat-Monk of the Mōri Clan Who Foresaw Nobunaga's Fall and Hideyoshi's Rise — Executed After Sekigahara
Description
Life
Ankokuji Ekei is said to have been born around 1537 or 1539 into a branch of the Aki Takeda clan in Aki Province. When his family's stronghold, Satō Ginzan Castle, fell to Mōri Motonari and the clan was destroyed, Ekei entered the priesthood and trained at Tōfuku-ji Temple in Kyoto.
Activities as a Diplomat-Monk
He later served the Mōri clan as a diplomat-monk, acting as the point of contact in negotiations with Oda Nobunaga and, later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Notably, immediately after the Honnō-ji Incident, he arranged a peace settlement with Hideyoshi, who was then besieging Bitchū Takamatsu Castle, greatly contributing to the survival of the Mōri clan. Under the Toyotomi regime, he was granted his own fief and took part in the conquest of Shikoku and the invasions of Korea.
The Prophecy Concerning Nobunaga and Hideyoshi
In a letter written in 1573 to Mōri retainers, Ekei famously predicted that "Nobunaga's rule will last five years, perhaps three at most, after which he will fall dramatically; Hideyoshi (Tōkichirō), however, is a man of real substance" — a forecast that accurately anticipated the collapse of Nobunaga's regime and the rise of Hideyoshi.
The Battle of Sekigahara and Death
At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Ekei was a central figure in installing Mōri Terumoto as commander-in-chief of the Western Army. However, when Terumoto's faction secretly came to terms with Tokugawa Ieyasu's side on the eve of the battle, Mōri forces did not engage, contributing to the Western Army's defeat. After the battle, Ekei was captured as one of the leading instigators of the Western Army and, on the 1st day of the tenth month of 1600, was beheaded at Rokujōgawara in Kyoto together with Ishida Mitsunari and Konishi Yukinaga.
Later Reputation
Ankokuji Ekei is remembered as a rare political monk who supported the Mōri clan through diplomacy and intelligence rather than force of arms, though he is also held responsible by some for the fateful decisions surrounding the Mōri clan's role at Sekigahara — a figure who remains an object of fascination as an emblem of the intrigue of the late Sengoku period.