The Life of Warlord Chosokabe Motochika

Was He Partially Responsible for Oda Nobunaga's Death?

Chosokabe Motochika (1539- July 11, 1599) was born to the 20th head of the powerful Chosokabe clan, Chosokabe Kunichika of Tosa (Modern-day Kochi Prefecture) in 1539. His mother was of the Mino (Gifu) based Saito clan. Motochika is said to have been born in 1539 within Okatoyo Castle, a yamajiro mountain castle in Nantoku, modern day Kochi Prefecture, where his grandfather had been attacked and was forced to commit seppuku some 31 years earlier in 1508.

As a child, Motochika was seen as quiet and timid, a trait his warrior father found displeasing. However, by the time of his Gempuku, or Coming of Age Ceremony, Motochika had emerged as a brave warrior with fine leadership skills.

In May 1560, he fought his first battle beside his younger brother Chikasada at the Battle of Tonomoto Nagahama, where his father Kunichika attacked the Motoyama Shigetatsu, lord of Asakura Castle in Tosa Province. For the son of a Sengoku period warlord, at 23 years of age, this was a late first battle, yet Motochika showed his bravery in attacking the Motoyama forces at the front of Nagahama, charging forward with a spear.

The Chosokabe forces captured the rival Motoyama clan’s strategically important Nagahama Castle. The Motoyama sought to reclaim the vital fortress and sent a 2,500-man army in response. These 2,500 were soundly defeated by 1,000 Chosokabe troops led by Kunichika and his son, Motochika, giving the Chosokabe command over the bulk of Shikoku. This battle established Motochika's military fame, and he achieved further success in the following Battle of Ushioe Castle. Having proved himself in battle, Motochika finally found the admiration of his father, who died later that same year, and Motochika became the clan head.

March 1561 saw the Chosokabe again attacking Motoyama Shigetatsu who was driven back into Asakura Castle and Kira Castle and defeated the following year. Many of the Motoyama retainers gave up on Shigetatsu and defected to Motochika, so in January 1563, Shigetatsu abandoned Asakura Castle and took refuge in Motoyama Castle. In May, the Motoyama attempted to turn the tide by attacking the Chosokabe’s Okatoyo Castle, but failed.

Motochika fought the Battle of Yanagare in 1569 and won. Tosa province at the time was ruled by the aristocratic Ichijo clan, under whom the Chosokabe served. The Ichijo had lost a great deal of influence under the poor governorship of Ichijo Kanesada, opening the way for Motochika to take advantage of the situation. Attacking the Ichijo capital at the southwestern Kochi city of Nakamura, he sent Ichijo Kanesada fleeing to eastern Kyushu. In February 1574, Motochika intervened in an internal dispute within the governing Ichijo clan, expelling Ichijo Kanesada and orchestrating the political marriage of his daughter to Kanesada's son, Uchimasa, thus establishing a puppet like control of the region. The Ichijo clan were completely defeated two years later in the July 1575 Battle of Shimantogawa.

In February 1578, Motochika attacked Awa Shiraji Castle, killing Onishi Kakuyo. He sent his second son, Chikazu, to be adopted by Kagawa Nobukage, the powerful lord of Sanuki Province. In Awa Province, Miyoshi Nagaharu's younger brother, Togawa Nobuyasu, and Miyoshi Yasutoshi put up a fierce resistance, but Motochika captured Shigekiyo Castle in the summer of 1579. He cornered Miyoshi Yasutoshi in Iwakura Castle and forced him to surrender by taking his own son hostage. In the same year, the Hatoko clan of Sanuki Province and others surrendered to Motochika, and by 1580, he had almost completely conquered both Awa and Sanuki Provinces.

Having basically captured Tosa, Chosokabe Motochika then saw that the Mori allied Kouno clan of Iyo were vulnerable as their powerful allies were embroiled in an ongoing campaign against Oda Nobunaga, and so he attacked. Around 7,000 Chosokabe troops under Motochika’s general, Kumu Yorinobu, took part in the unsuccessful Battle of Mimaomote in May of 1579. The following year Motochika led 30,000 men against Iyo, driving out the Kouno. Once the momentum had started, the Chosokabe forces continued to Awa and Sanuki, until they finally held the island of Shikoku.

Conflict with Nobunaga

Nobunaga did not approve of Motochika's conquest of Shikoku and in 1580, demanded that he retain possession of only Tosa Province and the southern half of Awa Province, and that he submit to the Oda. Motochika initially refused Nobunaga's demands.

As a result, in March 1581, he was attacked by the Oda supported Miyoshi Yasunaga and Togawa Nobuyasu, Yasunaga turned his son Yasutoshi against Motochika, and Togawa Nobuyasu pressured Motochika by colluding with Hashiba Hideyoshi, who was fighting the Mori clan in the Chugoku region. It has been suggested that any relationship between Nobunaga and Motochika had deteriorated by this time and that in late 1581, Hashiba Hideyoshi supported Noguchi Nagamune, and pacified Awaji, which led to the Oda and Chosokabe forces conflict over regional influence.

In May 1582, a Shikoku attack force was assembled with Nobunaga’s son, Oda Kobe Nobutaka as its commander-in-chief. In a letter to Saito Toshimitsu, Motochika expressed his intention to submit to Nobunaga.

The Oda forces were scheduled to cross the waters to Shikoku on June 21, but that morning Nobunaga was killed in the Honno-ji Incident. With Nobunaga's death, Nobutaka's army disbanded and retreated, allowing Motochika to escape the crisis.

Conquest of Shikoku

Taking advantage of the upheaval caused through Nobunaga’s death, Motochika once again expanded his power, defeating his arch enemy, Togawa Nobuyasu, in the Battle of Nakatomigawa in August and taking control of most of Awa in the First Battle of Togawa Castle. In September, he defeated Togawa Nobuyasu in Katsuhata Castle, and completely subjugated Awa Province. In October, he attacked Toramaru Castle and Togawa Castle, where Togawa Nobuyasu had fled.

In the 1583 Battle of Shizugatake, he joined forces with Shibata Katsuie to oppose Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi. In response, Hideyoshi sent his vassal, Sengoku Hidehisa, to Awaji Sumoto. Togawa Nobuyasu, who had been attacked continuously by Motochika, also requested reinforcements from Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi ordered Sengoku Hidehisa to attack Chosokabe allied castles in Sanuki, such as Yashima and Takamatsu Castles, but were defeated. Konishi Yukinaga's navy was ordered to attack Kozaiura but he too failed. However, in April, Shibata Katsuie was defeated and destroyed by Hideyoshi, and so by May, Hideyoshi was prepared to attack Chosokabe Motochika.

In the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584, Motochika allied himself with Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu to oppose Hideyoshi. and defeated the forces of Sengoku Hidehisa sent by Hideyoshi (Battle of Hikida, Second Battle of Togawa Castle). He also allied with Kaneko Motoyasu of Arai County and captured the castles of Saionji Kinhiro in Nanyo, expanding his influence in Iyo Province. In mid-June, he captured Togawa Castle and pacified Sanuki. However, the Battle of Komaki ended with Hideyoshi and Nobukatsu making peace.

By 1584, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had positioned himself as the military ruler of Japan. He had unified the majority of the nation and now had set his sights on the remaining territories, starting with the southernmost island of Shikoku. The Chosokabe held Shikoku was invaded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s 113,000 troops in 1585. Chosokabe Motochika could raise only 40,000 men. Although greatly outnumbered three to one, Motochika refused to capitulate and instead, fought to protect his lands.

Motochika held Ichinomiya Castle, in Tokushima, when he was attacked by 40,000 men under Hashiba Hidenaga, younger brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Following the initial attack, the Toyotomi forces cut off Ichinomiya’s water supply, and 26 days later, Chosokabe Motochika was forced to capitulate. In surrendering, Hideyoshi deprived him of Awa, Sanuki and Iyo provinces, but allowed him to maintain his lands in Tosa.

Indirectly Responsible Oda Nobunaga’s Death?

Motochika may have been indirectly responsible for the death of Oda Nobunaga!

Motochika's wife was a daughter of the Saito clan of Mino (Gifu) whom he married in 1563. He valued her lineage of valor. His wife was the half-sister of Saito Toshimitsu, a senior vassal of Akechi Mitsuhide, and more precisely, the daughter of the Ishitani clan, direct servants of the Muromachi Shogunate. She is said to have been a cousin of Akechi Mitsuhide, and through this relationship Motochika later became involved with Mitsuhide and then Nobunaga. There are few historical documents about his wife, but the couple appears to have had a good relationship, as they had four sons, from the eldest son Nobuchika to the fourth son Morichika, and four daughters.

As such, Akechi Mitsuhide and Chosokabe Motochika were very close friends. Around 2013, a number of letters were discovered by researchers at the Okayama Prefectural Art Museum between Akechi Mitsuhide and his longtime friend, Chosokabe Motochika. All written around the same time, a few months before the May 21, 1582 attack on the Honno-ji, in which Akechi’s men attacked and killed Oda Nobunaga. The real reason remains a mystery, however these new discoveries shed new light, and another possible reason for the assassination.

According to the letters, Chosokabe had decided against opposing Nobunaga and was willing to submit to the Oda warlord. In reply, it appears Mitsuhide was attempting to avoid taking part in the subjugation of Shikoku, a mission he saw as likely to affect a future dispute involving Chosokabe.

The Shikoku Offensive seems to have been considered ruinous for the Chosokabe, and in an effort to protect his friend's interests, Akechi Mitsuhide found possibly another reason to attack his liege lord, Nobunaga.

If this was the case, Akechi Mitsuhide’s actions gave Motochika only three years grace. In 1585, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent 100,000 samurai to invade Shikoku. Recognising the power of the Toyotomi, Chosokabe Motochika surrendered. While Hideyoshi allowed him to retain Tosa, he lost Awa, Sanuki and Iyo Provinces.

Surrender to Hideyoshi

Hideyoshi invaded Kishu and pacified it in the spring of 1585, after which he ordered Motochika to hand Iyo and Sanuki to him. Motochika tried to effect peace by ceding Iyo Province, angered Hideyoshi dispatched over 100,000 men under his younger brother, Hidenaga Hashiba, as commander. Motochika then fortified his base at Awa Shiroji Castle along the coast and fought back.

Hideyoshi sent in Ukita Hideie and Kuroda Takataka to Sanuki, the Mori forces led by Kobayakawa Takakage and Kikkawa Motonaga to Iyo, and the samurai of Hashiba Hidenaga and Hidetsugu to Awa, and captured the Chosokabe castles one after another. When the Awa front collapsed, Shiroji Castle was exposed, and so Motochika surrendered on July 25th, losing Awa, Sanuki, and Iyo and being granted only the province of Tosa. Motochika went to Kyoto to meet Hideyoshi and swore allegiance.

Kyushu Campaign

He accompanied Hideyoshi in his 1586 Kyushu campaign along with his eldest son, Nobuchika, and went to the aid of the Otomo clan, who were under the oppression of the Shimazu clan. However, in December at the Battle of Totsugigawa, The Chosokabe were defeated by the Shimazu and Motochika’s son and heir, Nobuchika was killed in battle. When Motochika learned of Nobuchika's death, he tried to commit suicide but was persuaded by his retainers and fled to Hiburi Island in Iyo Province.

The death of Nobuchika affected Motochika greatly. Once described as "a man of the highest integrity and of great courtesy." Other military chronicles described him as a wise ruler with great bravery and compassion. However, in the Hosokawa clan's Kimiomi Awa Gunki, he is described as a cruel and unjust villain, following the loss of his son.

Once a generous and kind man, his personality changed drastically after Nobuchika's death. He bypassed his second and third sons and forced his youngest son, Morichika, to succeed him as clan leader, demanding the seppuku of any vassal who opposed him, even if they were family members. Motochika became cantankerous and lost his previous cheer.

In January 1591, with a fleet of several dozen ships and over 100 laborers Chosokabe Motochika brought a whale he caught into Osaka Castle, greatly surprising Hideyoshi and the townspeople of Osaka.

In 1592, he participated in the Bunroku-Keicho Korean Invasion. The Toyotomi government imposed military service according to each daimyo's rice yield, with the Chosokabe's military service was fixed at 3,000,members. He was also involved in the 1596 San Felipe Incident, which triggered Hideyoshi's persecution of Christians.

Death

With Hideyoshi's death on August 18, 1598, Japan’s political situation became unstable. Motochika stayed at the Fushimi residence until the end of the year, when he was visited by Tokugawa Ieyasu on November 26, before returning to Tosa at the end of the year or the beginning of the new year.

In March 1599 he imprisoned his third son, Tsuno Chikatada. Shortly after, his health began to deteriorate. In April, he went to Kyoto to recuperate at the Fushimi residence. On April 23, he had an audience with Toyotomi Hideyori. However, in May, he fell seriously ill, and although attended to by renowned doctors from Kyoto and Osaka, his condition did not improve. Realizing that he was nearing death, Motochika left a will to his son Morichika and died nine days later aged 61 on July 11, 1599 in his villa at Fushimi, south of Kyoto.