Ōuchi Yoshioki

Ōuchi Yoshioki (1477-1529) was a daimyō of the early Sengoku period who embodied the zenith of the Ōuchi clan, which amassed vast wealth through trade with China, Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula from its base in Suō and Nagato. He had deep ties to the Ashikaga shogunal house. In 1508 he escorted Ashikaga Yoshitane to Kyoto and seized the initiative in shogunal politics, which had been in disarray since the death of Hosokawa Masamoto. He then held dominion over Kinai, Chūgoku and Kyushu for ten years, reigning as the most powerful figure in western Japan.

In 1516, the right to manage the dispatch of tribute ships to Ming China (Japan–Ming trade) was recognized by the shogunate as a permanent privilege, and this later became a cause of the Ningbo Incident.

Yoshioki was also an outstanding patron of culture. He made Yamaguchi (present-day Yamaguchi City) flourish as “Kyoto of the West” and invited court nobles, monks and men of letters, forming a major center of culture. In the Chūgoku region before Mōri Motonari rose to prominence, Ōuchi Yoshioki shone as a center of culture. His stay in the Kinai region until his return home in 1518 was proof of his outstanding political and military power, and he was a warlord with an exceptional presence among the Sengoku daimyō.