* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kobayakawa Takakage
小早川隆景
The Strategist of the Mōri — The Wisest of the Three Brothers Who Shaped Western Japan
Description
Mōri Motonari's Third Son, Takakage
Kobayakawa Takakage was born in 1533 (Tenbun 2) at Yoshida Kōriyama Castle in Aki Province. As the third son of Mōri Motonari, he is known, together with his elder brothers Takamoto and Motoharu, as the youngest of the "Three Arrows of the Mōri" and is regarded as the foremost strategist of the Sengoku period. As lord of Mihara Castle in Bingo, Takakage controlled the Mōri's maritime transport. Backed by the Kobayakawa navy's command of the Seto Inland Sea, he formed the strategic core of the Mōri house. It is said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi remarked, "If the western part of Japan is left to Kobayakawa Takakage, all will be secure," a tradition that reflects the stature of the man.
Itsukushima and the Navy
In the Battle of Itsukushima in Kōji 1 (1555), Takakage and his brother Motoharu supported a daring stratagem against Sue Harukata, playing a decisive role in establishing Mōri supremacy. The Kobayakawa navy defeated the Ōuchi navy and sealed off the sea, and Takakage also distinguished himself by winning over the Murakami navy through Nomi Munekatsu.
The Korean Campaigns
In the Bunroku campaign, Takakage crossed over to the Korean Peninsula and experienced combat there. At the Battle of Byeokjegwan (Bunroku 2, 1593), Takakage, together with Tachibana Muneshige, drove back the main body of the Ming army.
Late Years as a Council Member and the Preservation of the Mōri
In Bunroku 4 (1595), Takakage co-signed the Toyotomi house code together with Tokugawa Ieyasu, Maeda Toshiie, and others, and took part at the center of the Toyotomi regime as one of the Council of Five Elders. One of Takakage's achievements was his handling of the succession question concerning his nephew Mōri Terumoto. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi attempted to make Hashiba Hidetoshi (later Kobayakawa Hideaki) an adopted son of Terumoto, Takakage himself adopted Hidetoshi, protecting the bloodline of the Mōri main house. Takakage died suddenly at Mihara Castle in Keichō 2 (1597), three years before the Battle of Sekigahara. Had he lived, the Mōri house might have taken a different path at Sekigahara. He was so greatly lamented as a strategist of such stature that his loss is still mourned.