Page 82 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

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15 Miyoshi Nagayoshi murai eboshi (black headgear worn by 16 Mori Motonari
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk warriors), a blue robe with his family crest, hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
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107.0 x 50.0 (42 */8 x 193/4) and an underrobe of contrasting blocks or 97.0 x 50.0 (38 /s x 195/3)
Muromachi period, no later than 1566 stripes of bright color. A koshigatana (short Muromachi period, no later than 1562
sword) is tucked in his sash, and he holds a
Jukôin, Kyoto fan in his right hand and clenches his left Toyosakajinja, Yamaguchi Prefecture
Important Cultural Property fist. In place of the chilling determination Important Cultural Property
At the height of his power Miyoshi Naga- in the expressions of the two earlier war- Mori Motonari (1497-1571), a high-ranking
yoshi (1523-1564) ruled eight provinces, lords, Nagayoshi reveals a smooth urban- military leader and daimyo in the Age of
stretching from Kyoto to Shikoku. Like ity. Wars (Sengoku Jidai), first served Amako
Asakura Toshikage and Hójó Sóun, he be- The inscription above the figure, by Haruhisa (1514-1560), and then Ouchi
gan as retainer of a great lord whose power Shórei Sokin (1490-1568) of Daitokuji, is Yoshitaka (1507-1551), both daimyo of west-
he seized, but did not succeed in founding dated to 1566, the third anniversary of Na- ern Honshu. After Yoshitaka was killed by
a daimyo family. He was himself over- gayoshi's death. The portrait was there- his retainer Sue Harutaka (1521-1555), Mori
thrown by a retainer and died at the age of fore a commemorative one. Two seals Motonari defeated Harutaka at Itsu-
forty-one; the process ofgekokujd (low follow Sôkin's signature. The inscription kushima and brought Suó, Nagato, and
overthrowing the high) was a double- reads, in part, from left to right: Aki Provinces under his rule. He went on
edged sword. Portrait of the late Jukdin to subjugate Bingo, Iwami, Izumo, Inba,
Nagayoshi was a cultivated leader, es- and Hóki Provinces, eventually possessing
pecially skilled in renga (linked verse). Late Thoroughly trained in the Southern school ten provinces in San'yó (present-day Yama-
in his life he was ordained a priest and of Zen, Zen is his topic guchi, Hiroshima, and Okayama Prefec-
given the Buddhist name Jukóin. His com- His day-to-day disposition is likened to that tures) and San'in (present-day Shimane
memorative tomb is at the subtemple Ju- of Pang and Fei [ideal laymen Zen and Tottori Prefectures] as well as portions
kóin of Daitokuji, the family mortuary adherents in Tang China] of Buzen (present-day Oita Prefecture)
temple erected by Nagayoshi's son, Yoshi- With a single sword, he subjugated the land and lyo (present-day Ehime Prefecture).
tsugu, in 1566. He acquired today's dignified stature at a In this portrait Motonari sits on a ta-
Nagayoshi's depiction contrasts in ev- steady pace. AY tami mat wearing a samurai eboshi (black
ery point with'those of Toshikage and headgear worn by warriors) and a warrior's
Sôun. Seated on a tatami mat, he is in sec- robe bearing the Mori crest. A koshigatana
ular and quite colorful dress, wearing a sa- (short sword) is tucked in the sash. He is
holding a folding fan in his right hand and

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