The Chiga Sea Forces (2)

The name Ochi first appeared in a written text in 767. Ochi Mochitada (?-?) fought against Fujiwara Sumitomo (?-941), the first pirate king in Japan, and was conferred as a local noble man in 948. All in all, The Ochi Clan was a sea people, and was in contact with Kumano Sea People. It was quite possible for a member of the clan to move further east to Shima Province and settle there. One branch family of the Ochi Clan moved to Chiga Bay in Shima Province, and started calling themselves Chiga. They were under the hegemony of the Kitabatake Clan in Ise Province. They attacked the Kuki Family with 6 other samurai families in Shima Province, and drove the Kuki Family out of the province. However, during and after Oda Nobunaga’s invasion of Ise Province, they faced the counterattacks of Kuki Yoshitaka (1542-1600), and, this time, it was they who were driven out of the province. The Chiga Family flew to Mikawa Province, which was on the opposite side of Ise Bay, by 1570. After Nobunaga’s death in 1582, Chiga Shigechika (?-?) was ordered by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) to guard Mikawa Bay, and was appointed as a commissioner for Tokugawa Sea Forces. It means he had become Ieyasu’s vassal by the time. In 1590, Ieyasu was ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) to move to Edo. The Chiga Family followed Ieyasu, and moved to Misaki, Miura Peninsula, Sagami Province. The peninsula was located at the entrance to Edo Bay.