Mimura Iechika

Mimura Iechika (birth year unknown – 24 February 1566 (Eiroku 9/2/5)) was a Sengoku-period daimyo of Bitchū Province. He was the son of Mimura Munechika. He made Kakushu Castle (Nariwa Castle) in Nariwa his base, and later moved his headquarters to Bitchū Matsuyama Castle (present-day Takahashi, Okayama Prefecture).

When his rivalry with the Shō clan, who sided with the Amago, reached a deadlock, he turned to Mōri Motonari and came under the Mōri. He expanded his power in Bitchū and also attacked Bizen and Mimasaka. Motonari reportedly thought highly of Iechika, and was so pleased that he said, in effect, “With this, all of Bitchū Province is as good as the Mōri’s.” In 1561 (Eiroku 4), Iechika defeated Shō Takasuke of the Amago faction, advanced into Bitchū Matsuyama, and became the central power in Bitchū.

On 24 February 1566 (Eiroku 9/2/5), while holding a council with his retainers at Kōzen-ji in Kume District, Mimasaka Province, he was assassinated with a matchlock by the Endō brothers (Hidekiyo and Toshimichi), who acted on the orders of Ukita Naoie. It was an unusual assassination by firearm even by the standards of the time. His age at death is unknown. Because his eldest son Motosuke had already been adopted into the Shō clan, his second son Motochika succeeded him, but Motochika was also defeated by Mōri forces in 1575 and took his own life, and the Mimura family perished.