Toyotomi Hideyoshi ---The Third Pirate King of Japan--- (revised)

 

1  Naval Forces Before Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Warring States Period

     Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) was the third pirate king of Japan after the first, Fujiwara Sumitomo (?-941), and the second, Taira Kiyomori (1118-1181).  Hideyoshi succeeded Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), who had forced Ashikaga Yoshiaki (1537-1597), the 15th and last shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, to leave Kyoto.  Hideyoshi’s son, Hideyori (1593-1615), was killed by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), who started the Edo Shogunate.  Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu, half working together and half conflicting one another, brought the end to the Warring States Period, which had started in the middle of the 15th century.  In the process of national unification, Hideyoshi also unified pirates and naval forces, and even sent them to Korea.  That is to say, he became the biggest Wokou.  However, Ieyasu’s grandson, Iemitsu (1604-1651), drastically changed the national foreign policy, and adopted national isolation.  We are going to see how Hideyoshi’s unified naval forces were organized, and how they were dissolved.

     When Hideyoshi unified the Japanese Archipelago, he unified not only land of the islands but also waters around the islands.  Before his unification, there were various types of naval forces on the waters.  One extreme type of those naval forces was Kuki Yoshitaka (1542-1600).  He called himself a pirate warlord.  Another extreme example of those naval forces were coast guards.  Most of those who were called coast guards were direct vassals of land warlords.  Other neutral naval forces concluded various relations with geopolitically corresponding land warlords.  Some were almost independent, and played power games with and against surrounding land warlords.  That kind of independence was less likely to be seen in Eastern Provinces.  In other words, the naval forces in the west were more like pirates, while those in the east were more like coast guards.  In the west, the Seto Inland Sea was the main artery, and most of the sea was controlled by the Mori Clan at the end of the Warring States Period.  In the east, the Hojo Clan became the champion in the Kanto Plain, with their naval forces clashing against the other naval forces of the Imagawa, Takeda, Miura, and Satomi Clans.

     Ikko-ikki Uprisings and Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) made their biggest clash against each other around Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple in Settsu Province from 1570 to 1580.  Mori Terumoto (1553-1625) sent his naval forces there to break Oda’s blockade and supply the temple.  The naval forces commanded the Seto Inland Sea at that time.  Although they were lumped together as Mori Naval Forces, a range of naval forces were involved in fact.  They were each based in different sea areas, and had different origins and histories.  Some were organized by, or composed with, land samurais to guard their ports.  Others had been pirates for generations even from ancient times.  Let me describe 3 typical cases now as it is difficult to depict all their histories readily.

     The first type was Kawanouchi Coast Guards, who were based around the mouth of Ota River, which flowed into Hiroshima Bay, Aki Province.  They were under the direct supervision of the head family of the Mori Clan.  They were a kind of major-command naval forces.  The second was the coast guards who were based in Mihara, at the mouth of Nuta River, which ran along the border between Aki and Bingo Provinces.  They were supervised by Kobayakawa Takakage (1533-1597), the third son of Mori Motonari.  They might be named branch-family naval forces.  The third was genuine pirates based in the Geiyo Archipelago, including the Murakami Clan, the most notorious pirates in medieval times.  They were maneuvering between the Mori, Ouchi, and Kono Clans, who were based in Aki, Nagato, and Iyo Provinces respectively around the archipelago along the Western Seto Inland Sea.  The gangs of pirates were, to make matters more complicated, independent from one another, and were each bargaining with the surrounding clans for better rewards.

     Before we talk about Kawanouchi Coast Guards, we should understand, first of all, who the Mori Clan, their lord, were, and where they were from.

      Oe Hiromoto (1148-1225) was a competent bureaucrat.  In the early days of the Kamakura Shogunate, he was invited from Kyoto to Kamakura by Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the founder of the shogunate. Hiromoto played a critical role in establishing the shogunate system.  His fourth son, Suemitsu (1202-1247), inherited Mori Manor, Aiko County, Sagami Province, and started calling his family Mori.  During the Kamakura period, the Mori Family was one of prominent families who were direct vassals of the shogunate due to the fame of their ancestor Hiromoto.

     Suemitsu and most of his family members were killed in Hoji Battle, or Miura Rebellion, in 1247, but his fourth son, Tsunemitsu, narrowly escaped the death and barely secured their estates in Echigo and Aki Provinces.  He allocated Yoshida Manor in Aki Province to his fourth son, Tokichika (?-1341).

     Tokichika first governed Yoshida Manor in Aki Province remotely and indirectly as an absentee landlord.  He was such an able man as to make a member of the council of the Rokuhara Agency of the Kamakura Shogunate, which was based in Kyoto, and which ruled Western Japan as well as Kyoto and its surrounding areas on behalf of the shogunate.  However, he was living in the last days of the shogunate, hated the chaos, and retreated to Yoshida Manor in 1336 after the collapse of the shogunate in 1333 with his great grandson, Motoharu (1323-?), but couldn’t enjoy a peaceful retired life.  It was a time of upheavals, the period of the Northern and Southern Courts.  His son, Sadachika (?-1351), and grandson, Chikahira (?-1375), were fighting for the Southern Court, which was losing.  Tokichika had Motoharu fight for the Northern Court, or for Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358), calmed Takauji down, and invited his son and grandson to Yoshida Manor.  He built Koriyama Castle there, and ruled the manor.  At long last, Motoharu was guaranteed the ownership of the manor in 1376 by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the third Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate.

     From Tokichika’s time, the family generated branch families.  Through the competition and coordination among themselves, the families formed the base for the Mori Clan.  In addition, the fame as a nationally distinguished family enabled the Mori Family to lead other local families in Aki Province to form a union against warlords around them and against the central government as well.  It might have been during this process that the Kodama Family became dependent on and even subordinate to the Mori Clan.

     Kawanouchi Coast Guards were led and commanded by Kodama Narikata (1513-1586) and his son, Narihide (1544-1596).

     The Kodama Family had been one of the Kamakura Shogunate’s vassals who had been transferred to western provinces to bring the whole nation under the shogunate’s control.  The family was from the northern corner of Musashi Province, which adjoined Sagami Province, where Kamakura was located.  Their ancestors were members of one of the Musashi Seven Corps.

     The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing.  In ancient times, many of the naturalized Silla people were sent to Musashi Province, and engaged in farming.  On that base, many stock farms were set up there, including 6 imperial stock farms.  The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale samurai families.  By marriage, those samurai families composed 7 corps on the plateaus in the province.

     Some members of the Kodama Corp were transferred to Takehito Village, Toyota County, Aki Province, to prepare against the so-called Mongol invasion of Japan, or against the invasion by the allied forces of China and Korea.  The village was located in the mountains between Yoshida Manor and the Seto Inland Sea.

   

     Therefore, the Mori Clan and the Kodama Family were land samurai in their origins.  In 1554, however, the Mori Clan occupied Kusatsu Castle and Kusatsu Port, and got the gateway to the sea for the first time.  The port had been called Ikusa-tsu (literally Battle Port) in ancient times, and had been used as an important naval port in sending troops for the Battle of Baekgang in 663.  After the occupation, Kodama Naritaka was appointed to be the lord of the castle, and to lead the Kawanouchi Coast Guards there.

     As their name “Kawanouchi” (literally Among-Rivers) suggests, the coast guards were composed of local powerful families living in the Ota River Delta, and of Butsugo-ji Temple, which was located in the delta.  The temple had been founded in 1459 by the former lord of Kusatsu Castle as a Tiantai Buddhism temple, and had turned to True Pure Land Buddhism in 1496.  Such as they were, the coast guards were much less efficient in naval strength and mobility than the Murakami Clan, who were pirates born and living in the sea.  That was why the Mori Clan had to struggle to win the support of the Murakami Clan when they sought naval supremacy in the Seto Inland Sea.  Nevertheless, the coast guards were very loyal to the Mori Clan, and were the most reliable naval forces for the clan.

     Now let’s move on to the second type of the Mori Naval Forces: the Kobayakawa Naval Forces, whose main unit was the Tada-no-umi Coast Guards.

     The Dohi Family lived in Dohi County, Sagami Province.  Dohi Sanehira (?-1191) was the second son and started living in Kobayakawa Village in Dohi County.  His son, Tohira (?-1237), started calling his family Kobayakawa.  When Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) took up arms against the Taira Clan in 1180, the father and son followed him and fought against the Taira Clan.  Tohira was later appointed as a manorial steward samurai of Nuta and Takehara Manors in Aki Province.

     Tohira’s grandson, Shigehira (?-1264), built Takayama Castle in 1206, which kept being the clan’s stronghold until 1552 for 13 generations.  Shigehira also further exploited Nuta Manor.  He built embankments at the mouth of the Nuta River, and developed extensive rice fields called Nuta 1000 Cho Da, nominally (about) 1000-hectare rice fields in Nuta, with the cooperation of traders in Nuta Bazaar, which was formed on the natural levee at the Nuta Estuary.  He laid the foundations for the growth of the Kobayakawa Family thereafter.  The Kobayakawa Family at the time were changing their character significantly from eastern land samurai fighting on horses to sea samurai commanding sea people.

     The Kobayakawa Family’s 5th head, Tomohira (?-1343), half following Kamakura Shogunate’s orders and half answering Nuta Bazaar traders’ needs, actively performed a series of crackdowns on pirates around Nuta Port.  In 1314, he rounded up Uemon Goro and Saemon Jiro, and, in 1319, he even arrested a pirate of Iyo Province, Yagoro Hideie.  The Kobayakawa Family might have organized their own naval forces, to execute these duties against pirates.  Even after the collapse of Kamakura Shogunate in 1333, the family didn’t stop their jobs.  Tomohira’s 3 successors tried to expand their advance into the Geiyo Islands, the islands between Aki and Iyo Provinces, across the Seto Inland Sea even more eagerly and freely.

     Tomohira’s grandson, Sadahira (?-1375), started crossing the Seto Inland Sea with a reminder from the Muromachi Shogunate in his hand.  He and his brothers occupied Ikuchi and Yuge Islands, and invaded Inno Island.  They put Setoda Port on Ikuchi Island under their rule.  The port used to be one of the most important ports  in the Seto Inland Sea to wait for the changes of tidal currents.  The rule over the port enabled the family to keep the hegemony over the control of the transportation structures in the sea, and to trade even with Korea.  They later went further down to Osaki-Kami and Osaki-Shimo Islands, and even advanced to O Island in Ochi County, Iyo Province.

     Kobayakawa Ujihira, Sadahira’s younger brother and the 5th son in the family, came to be based originally in Koizumi Village in the mountains between Nuta and Takehara, and called his family Koizumi.  He repeatedly intruded on O Island, and misappropriated annual land taxes.  His son, Munehira, was finally authorized to be a steward samurai on the island.  Munehira’s son, Okihira, organized convoys of armed merchant ships, and smuggled with China and Korea.

     Kobayakawa Ujizane, Sadahira’s another younger brother and the 7th son in the family, came to be based in Ura District in Toyota County, Aki Province, and called his family Ura.  The area included Tada-no-umi Village, where Tada-no-umi Coast Guards was based.  The coast guards were directly supervised by the Kobayakawa Family.

     Kobayakawa Korehira, Sadahira’s another younger brother and the 8th son in the family, came to be based in Ikuchi Island, and called his family Ikuchi.  Korehira’s son, Kimizane, willingly and actively connected himself with the traders at Setoda Port in the island.  In 1422, he managed to be privileged by the Muromachi Shogunate not to pay toll taxes at Hyogo and other ports, although the privilege was confiscated next year as it was detected that he illegally distributed the privilege to the Setoda traders.  Morihira, who was the head of the family at the time, was authorized to be a steward samurai of the island by the Muromachi Shogunate in 1433.

     With those branch families, many of which had their own naval forces, and with the Tada-no-umi Coast Guards, the Kobayakawa Family grew up to be the Kobayakawa Clan.  Their naval forces were collectively called the Kobayakawa Naval Forces.  However, the clan’s 14th and 15th heads died young, and the clan adopted Takakage (1533-1597) from the Mori Clan to be subordinate to the Mori Clan.  Thus, the Kobayakawa Naval Forces became the second type of the naval forces of the Mori Clan.

     Kobayakawa Hirohira (1416-1473), the 10th head of the family, had 2 sons.  The elder, Takahira (1452-1499), became the 11th head of the family, and the younger, Korekage, started the Nomi Family.  The sea area the family based in had been called Nomi-no-ura (Nomi Inlet).  In 1129, Taira Tadamori (1096-1153) brought the area under his control and called it Tada-no-umi (Tada Sea).  Korekage picked up the older name for his family name.  In this respect, the Nomi family was older than the Ura Family.

     Nomi Masakatsu was adopted to the Ura Family, and his son, Munekatsu (1527-1592), succeeded to the headship of the Ura Family, although he preferred to be called Nomi Munekatsu.  Munekatsu built a castle on the west hill of the inlet.  The building was in the shape of “kagi” (the Japanese word for “key”), and the castle was called Kagi Castle.  Munekatsu commanded the Tada-no-umi Coast Guards there.

     The most remarkable contribution Nomi Munekatsu (1527-1592) made to the Mori Clan’s domination over the West Seto Inland Sea was that he mediated between the clan and Murakami Pirates.  Murakami Pirates were composed of In-no-shima Murakami Family, No-shima Murakami Family, and Kuru-shima Murakami Family from North to South.  Each family’s headquarters was based in In-no-shima Island, No-shima Island, and Kuru-shima Island respectively.  Munekatsu’s daughter was married to Murakami Yoshisuke (?-1596), who was the 7th head of In-no-shima Murakami Family.  Munekatsu made good use of the relationship by the marriage.

     Mori Motonari (1497-1571) and Sue Harukata (1521-1555), who had usurped the domain of the Ouchi Clan, clashed against each other around Itsuku-shima Island in 1555 over the hegemony in the Western Chugoku District.  The Kuru-shima Murakami Family wavered between the 2 clans just until the battle broke out.

     Itsuki-shima Island was a holy island, and thus used not to be inhabitable.  It was, however, the Warring States Period, and wars were always shameless.

     In May, 1554, Motonari built Miya-no-o Castle at the north-east corner of Itsuku-shima Island, the nearest spot in the island from his domain.  After fighting some preludes on the mainland, Harukata sent out his large army of 20,000 to Itsuku-shima Island on September the 21st, 1555, landed on the island on the 22nd, and pitched his main camp at To-no-oka, from where he could looked down at Miya-no-o Castle.  He started attacking the castle on the 23rd, cutting the source of the water supply and filling in the outer moats of the castle by the 27th.  On the very 27th, Motonari was still writing to Kobayakawa Takakage (1533-1597), his third son, grumbling whether Kuru-shima Murakami Pirates were going to support his clan or not.

     Nomi Munekatsu (1527-1592), a vassal of Kobayakawa Takakage (1533-1597), had been trying to lure Murakami Michiyasu (1519-1567), the head of Kuru-shima Murakami Family, into Mori’s side.  On the 28th, Mori Motonari (1497-1571) got scared that Miya-no-o Castle would fall to Sue Harukata(1521-1555), and sent out his forces from Kusatsu Port.  On the very day, as if they had been timing the moment, Kuru-shima Murakami Pirates appeared with a couple of hundreds of fighting boats.  On the 29th, Mori’s army landed on the island.  On the 30th, the two clashed against each other.  Murakami Pirates set fire to many of Harukata’s boats, and cut off land samurai’s retreat.  At that moment, supposedly 8,000 out of 20,000 of Harukata’s forces were on the island.  On October 1st, Harukata was maneuvered into getting isolated from his still active and fighting forces, and was cornered into committing suicide, with his head cut, buried, and hidden somewhere in the island all by only 3 out of 8,000 vassals left around him, Ikaga Fusaaki (?-1555), Kakinami Takamasa (?-1555), and Yamazaki Takakata (?-1555).  After the concealment of their lord’s head, the three, as the matter of course, killed themselves with their own swords.  3,000 of Harukata’s had been captured.  Harukata’s last force led by Hironaka Takasuke (?-1555) was finally destroyed 2 days later, on the 3rd day of October.  It is unknowable whether Takasue knew Harutaka’s death or not.  In total, 4,700 of Harukata’s were killed on the holy island where people had never been allowed even to reside. 

     We should notice that the pirates did not make the-last-moment entrance of the hero like Superman.  They just raised their market price, as was often the case.  Unlike the Kawa-no-uchi and Tada-no-umi Sea Guards, the Mori Clan always had to try to lure Murakami Pirates.

     We can find a good instance of pirates’ maneuvering behavior in the tug-of-war over Motobuto Castle.  The castle was located in Honjo, Kojima County, Bizen Province.  Kojima used to be an island in ancient times.  The island was between Bizen Province in Honshu and Sanuki Province in Shikoku.  It was also between Bizen and Bicchu Provinces and was an important water transportation center in the Eastern Seto Inland Sea.  Although Kojima became a peninsula with a sandbar connecting the island and Honshu by sometime in medieval times, Motobuto Castle kept strategically important.

     Although Kojima was in Bizen Province, it was under the hegemony of the Hosokawa Clan, which produced provincial guardian samurais in Sanuki and Awa Provinces in Shikoku.  The castle and its surrounding domain were managed by the Kozai Family.

     In 1567, the Mori Clan and No-shima Murakami Pirates invaded Motobuto Castle.  Shima Yoshitoshi (?-1602), a member of the pirates, killed Kozai Matagoro (?-1567) in the battle, and was appointed to be the lord of the castle.

     In 1569, Otomo Yoshishige (1530-1587) in Northern Kyushu, Uragami Munekage (?-?) in Bizen Province, and Amago Katsuhisa (1553-1578) in Izumo and Oki Provinces formed the military besiegement against the Mori Clan.  In February, 1571, Murakami Takeyoshi (1533-1604) and Shima Yoshitoshi (?-1602) went over to the besiegement.  Yoshishige might have lured Murakami Pirates with some rights and interests in Northern Kyushu.  In April, Kobayakawa Takakage (1533-1597) quickly occupied (took back?) Motobuto Castle.  In May, without the support from Murakami Pirates, Takakage suffered a crushing defeat against Ukita Naoie (1529-1582), a vassal of the Uragami Clan, who enjoyed the support from the Awa Naval Forces.  The castle fell into the hands of Nose Yoriyoshi, a vassal of Naoie.  This defeat demonstrated that the Tada-no-umi Sea Guards under the command of Takakage were no match for the Awa Naval Forces on their own.  The development of the battle also implied that Murakami Pirates didn’t support either side.  Unlike land samurai who tend to save their land at the risk of individual life, pirates, or more euphemistically sea samurai, tend to change sides rather carelessly.  The Mori Clan must have realized the market value of the pirates at the cost of the sea route.

     In 1574, Ukita Naoie betrayed Uragami Munekage, and went over to the Mori Clan.  Murakami Takeyoshi also shifted from the besiegement to the Mori Clan.  In 1576, Murakami Pirates helped the Mori Clan break the blockage and send military provisions to Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple, which was under siege by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582).

     Just an aside, in 1579, Ukita Naoie went over from the Mori Clan to Oda Nobunaga.  In 1582, the Mori samurai and the Ukita samurai clashed against each other in Kojima.  The Ukita  samurai were heavily beaten, and held Hachihama Castle and waited for reinforcements by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), a vassal of Nobunaga.  The fate of Motobuto Castle was not clear.  The castle, which was the witness to countless betrays, certainly existed until 1580.

2  How Toyotomi Hideyoshi “Organized” Naval Forces or Pirates in the Seto Inland Sea

     Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) and his lord, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), were both from Owari Province, and advanced to Kyoto by land.  They didn’t really have their own naval forces.  After Nobunaga’s death, Hideyoshi shifted his advance to Western provinces into high gear, which needed naval forces to advance through the Seto Inland Sea.  What Hideyoshi did was to win over pirates in the Seto Inland Sea.

     Hideyoshi first worked on the Kurushima-Murakami Family.  In Leap-March in 1580, he wrote to Murakami Yoshitsugu:

     “I haven’t replied, but I certainly received your message.  I will go to Mimasaka Province, leading the advance troop of Lord Nobunaga.  If you consult with Ukita Naoie and work for the lord, I will try to make your desire come true.  Naoie will contact you.”

     Naoie's grandfather, Yoshiie, was killed by the Shimamura Family in 1534.  Naoie's father, Okiie (1497-1536) narrowly escaped from their castle with Naoie (1529-1581).  Two years later after Okiie died, Naoie became head of the Ukita Family at the age of 7.  In 1543, he became subject to Uragami Munekage.  In 1559, he killed his father-in-law, Nakayama Nobumasa, by order of Munekage.  In 1569, Naoie went over to Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582).  Munekage fought back and gave Naoie a special pardon to return to serve him.  In 1574, Naoie allied with the Mori Clan and launched a rebellion against Munekage and ended Munekage's rule.  In 1576, Naoie’s vassal, Togawa Hideyasu, fought with the Mori Clan against Nobunaga in the Battle of Kizu Estuary, when Yoshitsugu was a pirate warrior serving the clan.  In May, 1579, Naoie killed Goto Katsumoto (1538-1579), who had gone over to Nobunaga, but in June in the same year, Naoie went over to Nobunaga.  Naoie seems to have sold his Hideyasu-Yoshitsugu link to Hideyoshi.

    Hideyoshi purchased the link and further developed it.  On March 29th, 1578, Hideyoshi laid siege to Miki Castle in Harima Province.  It took him about 1 year and 10 months to seize the castle.  However, he wasn't just besieging the castle.  He also fixed his eyes further westward.  He invited Kurushima-Murakami Yoshikiyo (1563-1638), a younger brother of the head of the Kurushima-Murakami Family, Michifusa (1562-1597).

     Hideyoshi developed the Hideyasu-Yoshitsugu link to the connection between Hideyoshi and Michifusa, the head of the Kurushima-Murakami Family.  Hideyoshi reported the grown-up connection to Nobunaga.  On December 3rd, Hideyoshi directly wrote to Michifusa, telling him Nobunaga’s contentment with Michifusa’s loyalty and the importance of serving to Nobunaga on his advance to Shikoku Island in the next coming Spring, which wasn’t realized though.

     The secret connection was sensed by the Mori Clan.  On March 3rd, Mori Terumoto (1553-1625) wrote to his vassal, Kodama Narikata (1513-1586), about the rumor over the Kurushima-Murakami Family and told him to watch the family.  On April 5th, Kobayakawa Takakage (1533-1597), Terumoto’s uncle, wrote to Nomi Munekatsu (1527-1592), who was a mediator between the clan and the Murakami Pirates, talking about their continued persuasion through Innoshima-Murakami Sukeyasu.  On the 7th, however, Takakage wrote to the head of the Innoshima-Murakami Family, Yoshimitsu, about the failure of the persuasion.

    Hideyoshi, of course, approached the other Murakami Families.  The most well-documented case was, however, his approach to the Nomi Family, who were the direct vassals of the Kobayakawa Family, and who were the mediator with the Murakami Pirates.  We can find some letters from Hideyoshi’s side to the Nomi Family.  By the way, who were the Nomi Family?

     In ancient times, precisely in March, 1129, Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa’s office and the office responsible for police and judicial duties under the Imperial Court ordered Taira Tadamori (1096-1153) to hunt down and kill pirates around the Seto Inland Sea.  The order of the cloistered emperor's office said, “These days, savage bandits are more and more rampant along the sea lane.  They sail tens of ships and crest millions of waves.  Some kill or abduct travelers to and from Kyoto, and others ruin or rob public and private cargo.  Evil deeds have piled, and hardly a day passes without violence.  That is because provincial officers are afraid of their savagery and are reluctant to hunt them down.”  Mysteriously enough, however, no records of such large-scale piracy at the time can be found.  Anyway, it was at that time that Tadamori brought the Nomi-no-umi area under his control and renamed it Tada-no-umi (Tada Sea).

     Later in the Warring States Period, Kobayakawa Hirohira (1416-1473), the 10th head of the family, had 2 sons.  The elder, Takahira (1452-1499), became the 11th head of the family, and the younger, Korekage, started the Nomi Family.  Korekage picked up the older name of the area for his family name.  Later, Nomi Masakatsu (?-?) was adopted to the Ura Family.  His son, Munekatsu (1527-1592), succeeded to the headship of the Ura Family, but preferred to be called Nomi Munekatsu.  The name “Nomi” might have been a brand name around the area.

     Munekatsu commanded his own naval forces in the area.  The most remarkable contribution he made to his master, the Mori Clan, was that he mediated between the clan and Murakami Pirates.  Murakami Pirates were composed of Innoshima Murakami Family, Noshima Murakami Family, and Kurushima Murakami Family from North to South.  Each family’s headquarters was based in In-no-shima Island, No-shima Island, and Kuru-shima Island respectively.  Munekatsu’s daughter was married to Murakami Yoshisuke (?-1596), who was the 7th head of Innoshima-Murakami Family, the northernmost one, that is, geopolitically the closest family to Nomi's.

     Let’s get back to the letters from Hideyoshi’s side to the Nomi Family.

     On March 17th, 1582, Hachisuka Masakatsu (1526-1586) and Kuroda Yoshitaka (1546-1604), who were Hideyoshi’s vassals, sent a jointly signed letter to Nomi Munekatsu and his first son, Morikatsu (?-1582), to tempt them to betray the Mori Clan, saying that any territory would be given.

     On the same day, Masakatsu and Yoshitaka jointly wrote to Morikatsu alone, pointing to specific terms: (1) Aki, Suo, and Nagato Provinces will be given as well as 500 taels of gold.  (2) Kojima cannot be given because it belongs to Bizen Province.  (3) If your father doesn’t hope to change sides, you alone can come to us.  In that case, one of the 3 above-mentioned provinces will be given to you.

     On the next day, Hideyoshi himself wrote to Munekatsu and Morikatsu, saying that any wish would be realized.

     It is unknown whether such fake terms (transparent lies?) really worked or not.  They might have worked as flattery at least to Morikatsu.  He died of “illness” soon and his younger brother, Kagetsugu (1561-1613), succeeded to Munekatsu.  Hideyoshi was said to be good at flattering people.  At least, he knew how to divide and conquer.

    What happened to the other hyphenated Murakami Families and all?  The Mori Clan themselves became subordinate to Hideyoshi, who became the ruler of Japan, swallowing all the divisions and subdivisions.

3 The Naval Forces under the Direct Supervision of Toyotomi Hideyoshi

     Hideyoshi not only invited native sea samurai but also had his own long-time subordinate land samurai master maritime affairs.

     Wakizaka Yasuharu (1554-1626) was born in Omi Province.  He was hired by Hideyoshi in 1569.  In October 1585, he was given Sumoto Castle in Awaji Province.  After that, along with Kato Yoshiaki (1563-1631), he served as the commander of the naval forces, and joined the Kyushu Campaign of 1586-1587 and the Third Siege of Odawara in 1590, mainly transporting military supplies.

In the Imjin War (1592–1598), he was ordered to mobilize 1,500 soldiers in 1594, and 1,200 soldiers in 1597.  He was initially in charge of sea transportation from Kyushu to Busan, but later fought in naval battles sometimes.  Yasuharu's navy of 1,500 soldiers was defeated by Yi Sun-shin (1545-1598) in the Battle of Hansan Island on July 8th, 1592.  Yasuharu also fought the Battle of Myeongnyang on October 26th, 1597.

     Kato Yoshiaki (1563-1631) was born in Mikawa Province.  His father, Noriaki, was subject to Matsudaira Hirotada (1526-1549).  When the Battle of Azukizaka broke out in 1564, Noriaki belonged to a league of monks, samurai, and peasants who believed in Pure Land Buddhism, and who were strongly against samurai rule.  The league lost to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), and Noriaki lost his job.  He wandered from one province to another with his baby, Yoshiaki (1583-1631).  Noriaki was hired by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), who was the lord of Nagahama Castle at the time.  Yoshiaki was named by Hideyoshi as a page of Hashiba Hidekatsu (1569-1592), Hideyoshi’s nephew, but became Hideyoshi’s warrior in 1576.  On November 2nd, 1586, Yoshikai was awarded Tsuna and Mihara Counties in Awaji Province, and became the lord of Shichi Castle.

     In 1587, he took part in the Kyushu Campaign of 1586-1587, leading the Awaji Naval Forces.  His forces entered Satsuma Province by sea and assisted in crossing the Sendai River. During the Third Siege of Odawara in 1590, he succeeded in attacking Shimoda Castle from the sea and besieging it.

     In 1592, he led 1,000 soldiers and went to Korea.  He engaged in many naval battles and often fought against the Korean naval forces commanded by Yi Sunshin.  In July, Yoshiaki first encountered a battle ship which looked like a turtle in the Battle of Angopo.  When Yasuharu was defeated in the Battle of Hansan Island on July 8th, 1592, Yoshiaki rescued Yasuharu's naval forces.

In January 1594, peace negotiations began between Konishi Yukinaga (1558-1600) and Shen Weijìng (?-1597) of Ming China, and some of the generals, including Yoshiaki, temporarily returned to Japan.  In July of the following year, he was awarded more territories in Iyo Province and moved to Masaki Castle there.

The peace negotiations broke down, and in March 1597, Yoshiaki went to war again, leading 1,600-strong naval forces.  In July of the same year, he took part in the Battle of Chilcheonryang.

    Hideyoshi also hired non-pirate sea merchants as samurai.  Konishi Ryusa (?-1592) was a wealthy merchant in Sakai, which was the most prosperous international port city in the Warring States Period (1467-1568).  His second son, Yukinaga (1558-1600), was hired by Hideyoshi when he laid siege to Miki Castle in Harima Province from 1578 to 1580.  In 1585, he led the naval forces in the Kishu Campaign, but was defeated by the Saika Family, but was awarded Shodoshima Island.  In 1588, he played an active role in suppressing the uprising of the people of Higo Province, and was given the three counties of Uto, Mashiki, and Yatsushiro in the southern half of the province.  In the Imjin War (1592–1598), he mainly fought on land.

     All in all, those naval forces under the direct supervision of Hideyoshi functioned as no more than cargo units.  Hideyoshi also lured or fixed powerful mercenary native pirates to have them become his direct vassals and function as his naval forces under direct supervision, taking advantage of their Warring-States-Period dream to become a lord of a province and a castle.  Kuki Yoshitaka was the biggest historic figure among them.

4 Hideyoshi’s Mercenary Pirates

     In the 4th century, Emperor Wakatarashi appointed the Shima Family as kuni-no-miyatsuko in Shimazu, namely Shima Port.  The family hereditarily provided the governor of Toshi County till the medieval days.  When provinces were established in the late 7th century under the Ritsuryo law system, the Shima area was included in Ise Province.  The area became independent at the turn of the 8th century with its largest territory which covered today's Owase City in the west and Shino, Himaka, and Saku Islands in the Mikawa Bay in the east.  In the 15th or 16th century, the Kira Family in Mikawa Province occupied the 3 islands.  In 1582, Horiuchi Ujiyoshi (1549-1615) in Ki Province and Oda Nobukatsu (1558-1630) in Ise Province divided the large western part of the province into their territories.  Even in the Edo Period (1603-1867), Shima Province remained as small as we think it is.

     Ugaya, whose ancestors had come from somewhere else which got called Takamagahara later, was ruling Hyuga Province in the eastern coast of Kyushu Island.  He had been abandoned by his mother in his infancy, and raised by his aunt, his mother’s younger sister.  When he came of age, he married the aunt, and had 4 sons, Itsue, Inahi, Mikenu, and Sano.

     Inahi drowned himself in the sea to see his mother.  Mikenu left eastward, that is, to the sea, for the land of the dead.  Itsuse left northward with his youngest brother, Sano.  The reason for the family breakdown is unknown and unknowable now.

     Itsuse first arrived ash Usa in Buzen Province, and stayed at another place in the province for a year.  He moved eastward along the Seto Inland sea to Aki Province, and stayed there for 7 years.  And then to Kibi Province, and stayed there for 3 to 8 years.  He finally reached the eastern end of the Seto Inland sea only to be faced by Nagasune, who was hostile against him.  Itsuse was shot, flew, got to O Port in Ki Province, and died there.  He was buried in Mt. Kama near the port.

     Itsuse’s younger brother, Sano, continued their eastward quest, and arrived at Kumano in the province.  Tempted by a local tribe, who had the token of a crow with 3 legs, he went upstream along Totsu river, crossed Yoshino River, beat his way through the bush, and reached Uda in Yamato Province.

     The 3-legged-crow tribe helped Sano rival other local tribes there, and successfully split one tribe.  Sano’s men committed an underhanded murder of another local tribe.  Sano also maneuvered pork-barrel politics against other tribes, and established his ruling in Iware.  He was later called Iware, related to his domain name.  Until the end of World War II, the series of events was widely believed in Japan to have taken place more than 2 millennia before.

     Sano’s offspring eventually unified Yamato Province.  They even further continued the brothers’ eastward quest.  After Kumano, they reached Ise.  They built their advanced base, Ise Shrine, at the southern end of the Ise Plains and developed a saltworks in Futami nearby.  In the 13th century, a manor was formed around the saltworks.  The saltworks became a kind of a shrine and kept various documents from the later Heian Period to the beginning of the Edo Period.

    The origin of the Kuki Family is not so clear.  The family used to live in and be based in Kuki Bay in Kii Province.  It means that they used to be one of the Kumano Pirates.  The family advanced to Shima Province with some other Kumano Pirates.  The Kuki Family first appeared in the documents kept in the shrine of the Futami Divine Manor.  They did violence and brutality against manor workers over the octopus fishing grounds off Obama from 1358 to 1360.

     The Kuki Family seemed to become a local administrator of Shoren-ji Temple's manor in Toshi Island.  In 1403, Kuki Gensho complained to the temple that the Toki Family, who was the guardian samurai of Shima Province, occupied half the island illegally.  In the middle of the 15th century, the Kuki Family, supported by Hosokawa Katsumoto (1430-1473), conflicted with Isshiki Yoshinao over the position of the local administrator of Tomari Port, which was owned by Daigo-ji Sanpo-in Temple.

     Kuki Yoshitaka (1542-1600) was born as Sadataka’s third son.  Sadataka died in 1551, and his eldest son, Kiyotaka (?-1560), succeeded the family headship.  After Kiyotaka’s death, his son, Sumitaka (?-1584), succeeded the family headship at the age of 8.  Yoshitaka killed Sumitaka and became the head of the family.

    In the same period, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) gained momentum after his victory over the Imagawa Clan in the Battle of Okehazama in 1560.  In 1568, Nobunaga started invading Ise Province, fighting against its ruler, Kitabatake Tomonori (1528-1576).  During the invasion, Yoshitaka headed his naval forces, attacked Oyodo Fortress in Taki County along Ise Bay, and occupied it.  In 1569, the peace talks between Nobunaga and Tomonori were concluded.  Tomonari adopted Nobunaga’s second son, Nobukatsu (1558-1630), who married Tomonari’s daughter, Yukihime.

     In the 1570’s, Yoshitaka wrote a defense letter to Nobukatsu, saying that he was embarrassed because he was accused of treating Kiyotaka inconsiderately.  Yoshitaka also tried contacting Nobunaga through Takigawa Kazumasu (1525-1586).

     After Kitabatake’s practical surrender to Nobunaga, Yoshitaka kept fighting against the local samurai families in Shima Province, defeating them one by one, while he also fought for Nobunaga in the Third Siege of Nagashima in 1574, in the First Battle of Kizu River Estuary in 1576, and the Second Battle of Kizu River Estuary in 1578.  After the Second Battle of Kizu River Estuary, Yoshitaka was given a letter of appreciation by Nobukatsu, so Yoshikatsu presumably fought under the command of Nobukatsu.  That made his position delicate after Nobunaga’s death.

     Anyway, let’s see how Yoshitaka unified Shima Province.

    Shima Province was dividedly ruled by 7 to 13 powerful sea samurai families.  The Kuki Family was one of them, and those families formed a kind of a commonwealth.  In 1482, for example, when Tomari Harutaka in Tomari Bay and Wada Takazane in O Bay conflicted with each other over collecting tolls in Tomari Bay, Kuki Kagetaka, Osa Takakage, Arashima Sanemori, Wagu Hisamune, and Koga Munenori jointly asked Shinto Head Priests of Ise Shrine to mediate the two sides.  They also persuaded the two to stop fighting.

     However, after the Oda Family started ruling Ise Province, Yoshitaka approached Oda Nobukatsu (1558-1630) while the other powerful families liked to keep independent.  Nobukatsu disliked those families disturbing his ambition.  Yoshitaka respected Nobukatsu’s wishes, and attacked the other families to realize his own wishes.

     The Ura Family lost to Yoshitaka and killed themselves.  The Arashima Family made peace.  The Obama Family escaped to Mikawa Province.  The other 5 families gave in.  Nobunaga admitted Yoshitaka’s supremacy over those 7 families.  Yoshitaka expressed his gratitude through Takigawa Kazumasu (1525-1586).

   Now, let’s see how the First and the Second Battles of Kizu River Estuary were fought.

     Nobunaga lost heavily to the naval forces of the Mori and Kono Clans in the First Battle of Kizu River Estuary in July, 1576.  In June and November, 1578, however, he fought against the sea forces of the Mori Clan and the Soga people again, which ended as his overwhelming victory.  Let’s see how the Kuki Naval Forces contributed to Nobunaga’s victory, comparing two entries about the two naval battles from the Biography of Lord Nobunaga.

     “They stopped our ships, and shot many earthenware explosives to burn the ships down.  We were heavily outnumbered, and lost veteran samurai such as Manabe Sadatomo, Numa Iga, Numa Den’nai.  Western forces won a victory in the battle, shipped military provisions into Osaka Hongan-ji Temple, and sailed their forces back to the western provinces.”

     The first quotation describes how the naval battle in July, 1576, was fought.  In the battle, the naval forces of the Mori and Kono Clans, whose de facto main force was the Murakami Pirates, surrounded Oda Naval Forces, threw in many earthenware explosives, and burnt down Oda’s ships and boats.  The tactics to cut off each enemy ship from others by surrounding them with small fast boats and to attack with earthenware explosives used to be common in battles in the Seto Inland Sea.  An earthenware explosive was a round fire bomb which had black powder and iron pieces or lead balls in it with earthenware cover.  The earthenware explosives were popularly used in the Warring States Period.  Later, even small rockets with 3 plumes which were fired with guns, cannons, or wooden cylinders came to be employed.  The explosive powder in their tips exploded when they struck ships.

     Oda Naval Forces were severely beaten by the naval forces of the Mori and Kono Clans, and could not stop the enemy’s shipping military provisions into Osaka Hongan-ji Temple.

     After the first battle, Nobunaga ordered the Kuki Family to build armored ships.  The armored ships were to be armored with iron plates to shield the enemy attacks with earthenware explosives and guns.

     Another quotation about the Second Battle of Kizu River Estuary in June and November, 1578, tells us that, in June, the armored ships which had sailed to Osaka Bay via the Sea of Kumano-nada encountered the besieging enemy naval forces from Soga and Tan’nowa which were shooting arrows and guns, but defeated the enemy with big guns this time.

     “On June 26th, in the 6th year of Tensho, our ships sailed out to the Sea of Kumano-ura, sailed to Osaka.  They rowed numerous boats out of Soga, Tan’nowa and as such against our big ships off Tan’nowa.  They shot arrows and guns, and pressed attacks on us from all sides.  Kuki Yoshitaka, who had decorated the 7 ships like mountains, fought restrictively first, waited for the enemy boats to come closer, then fired big guns all at once, and destroyed many of the enemy boats.  Afterward, the enemy boats could hardly find ways to approach our ships, and we could easily sail to Sakai on July 17th.”

     Those big guns showed their power in November as well to defeat the naval forces of the Mori and Kono Clans, whose de facto main force was the Murakami Pirates again.

     “On November 6th, more than 600 ships and boats from western provinces advanced to Kizu areas.  Kuki Yoshitaka intercepted the enemy ships and boats.  They besieged our ships, sailing southward, and fought a sea battle from 8 in the morning till around noon.  Kuki seemed to be having a hard battle at first, but, having many big guns in their 6 ships, waited for the enemy ships and boats to come closer, and fired the guns to the enemy flagship to strike it down.  They panicked and couldn’t approach us any more.  Kuki finally drove hundreds of the enemy ships and boats into Kizu Estuary, and all the audience praised Kuki Yoshitaka for his military exploits.”

     Just 2 years witnessed a big change in navy battles; from throwing in earthenware explosives to shooting big guns.  The armored ships were not only armored with iron plates to shield the enemy’s attacks of shooting arrows and guns.  The Correspondences of the Society of Jesus in Japan also reported that the ships were also equipped with 3 cannons.  We may well call them battleships with heavy guns.

     Kano Mitsunobu (1565-1608), a painter of the Kano school, one of the most famous schools of Japanese painting, painted Nagoya Castle in Hizen on a byobu with 6 panels in detail years later.  The castle was a base to sally forth to the Korean Peninsula at the time.  The byobu represents armored ships as well with two-storied or three-storied donjons on top of them.  Those donjons might have been spaces for a commander, and symbols of authority and power.  The ships had sails, but were usually driven with oars.  Small-sized armored ships were said to have 50 oars, while big-sizes to have more than 150 oars.  They were equivalent to ships with 75-300 of net tonnage, and were equipped with heavy guns, and were crenelated.

     The structure of the armored ships suggests that they could not sail so fast.  They went to battles with small fast boats guarding them.  In terms of modern navy battles, an armored ship fought as a battleship, a medium-sized boat as a cruiser, and a small boat as a destroyer.  Navy battles were definitely changing, and surpassing in firepower was coming to play more decisive roles than maneuverability, which the Murakami Pirates were good at.  Big ships with a high-rise building on top of them and with a lot of guns to shoot from there at enemy ships and boats were opening a new era on the sea as well.  I just wonder how much iron they should have imported to meet the need.

    In 1582, Nobunaga was cornered by Akechi Mitsuhide (1528-1582) to commit suicide in the Honno-ji Incident.  In the confusion after Nobunaga’s death, Yoshitaka was said to be admitted as the ruler of Shima Province sometime between 1582 and 1584.  It is, however, not clear by whom he was appointed.  Yoshitaka’s nomination could have been planned and carried out by himself.

    After Nobunaga’s death, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) fought against each other to become the actual successor.  Hideyoshi installed Nobunaga’s grandson as a nominal leader, while Ieyasu supported Nobukatsu.  Yoshitaka seems to have changed sides from Nobukatsu to Hiheyoshi for unknown or unrecorded reasons.

     When Hideyoshi and Ieyasu fought the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584, Yoshitaka attacked Matsugashima Castle in Ise Province.  He also crossed Ise Bay and burned down the ports of Yoshigo and Waji in the Atsumi Peninsula on April 17th.  In May, the Obama and Mamiya Naval Forces under Ieyasu attacked Yoshitaka from behind.  They fought in Oizu and Matsumura along the south-western shore of Ise Bay.  On June the 16th, Takigawa Kazumasu attacked Kanie Castle at the mouth of the Nikko River.  Yoshitaka supported Kazumasu with his naval forces including an armored ship.  Kazumasu failed and Yoshitaka retreated to Shimoichiba Castle, which fell on the 18th.  On the 19th, Yoshitaka failed in breaking the naval blockade by Ieyasu's naval forces.  On November 12th, peace was reached, and Yoshitaka became Hideyoshi’s vassal.

     We should notice that Yoshitaka’s armored ship functioned well in naval blockade, but didn’t work in breaking a naval blockade.  Its mobility might have been limited, and it could have only functioned as a mobile fort in the sea.

     After the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, Hideyoshi invaded Shikoku and Kyushu with the Kuki Naval Forces as his main naval unit.  However, those naval forces only functioned as means of transportation.  Without experiencing full-scale real naval battles, Yoshitaka’s naval forces crossed the Tsuhima Straits to the Korean Peninsula in 1597.

    Hideyoshi also tried fixing other powerful mercenary pirates: Kan Michinaga, Kajiwara Yasuke, Majima Hyoe, and  Ishii Yojibe around Awaji Province or Awaji Island.  They turned out to be just minor historic figures though.

     At the turn of the 16th century, the Atagi Family of Kumano Pirates built Sumoto Castle.  They are said to have organized Awaji Naval Forces.  When the Miyoshi family advanced to Kyoto from Awa Province, the naval forces functioned as military transportation.  In 1528, the family adopted Miyoshi Huyuyasu (1528-1564).  It means the Atagi Family was swallowed by the Miyoshi Family.

     As the Mori Clan gained hegemony in the Chugoku Region and Oda Nobunaga ruled Kyoto and its surrounding areas, their clash was inevitable.  Awaji Island lay at the forefront between the two powers, so the people of Awaji were at a loss as to which side to take.  Atagi Nobuyasu and other local samurai in the province, such as Funakoshi Kagenao, were still undecided.  Under such circumstances, in 1576, the army of Mori Terumoto (1553-1625), by siding with Ashikaga Yoshiaki (1537-1597), the 15th Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, captured Iwaya Castle on Awaji Island and Kan Michinaga (?-1615) became the lord of the castle.  The Atagi Family might have been wiped out.  When the Mori Clan supported Ishiyama-Hongan-ji Temple, which was under siege by Nobunaga, Michinaga fought for the Mori Clan.  However, in November, 1581, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) attacked Awaji as a general of Nobunaga to gain a foothold to invade Shikoku, and Iwaya Castle fell in one day.  Michinaga escaped and went into hiding.

     After June 3rd, 1582, when Nobunaga was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide (1528-1582) in the Honnoji Incident, Michinaga joined forces with Mitsuhide and seized Sumoto Castle, which belonged to Sengoku Hidehisa (1552-1614), who was subject to Hideyoshi, at that time.  

    On June 9th, in Himeji Castle on his way back from the Chugoku Region to Kyoto, Hideyoshi wrote to Oda Nobutaka (1558-1583), Nobunaga’s third son, that Michinaga entered Sumoto Castle.  He also wrote to the Hirota Family, a local samurai in Awaji, that he was going to sail to the island to destroy Michinaga the next day.   He wrote to Atagi Nobuyasu, the leader of Awaji Naval Forces, that Michinaga would evacuate from the castle even that night.  On the 11th, he wrote to Matsui Yukan, who was in the highest position among Nobunaga’s secretaries, that Hideyoshi dispatched a troop to Sumoto Castle and killed Michinaga’s all soldiers.  As Yukan also worked as Nobunaga’s diplomat, Hideyoshi cared about information networks Yukan had.  All in all, Hideyoshi, who was attacking Mitsuhide, seemed to be worried about Michinaga’s military actions for Mitsuhide.  What if Michinaga would cut the marine transport between Himeji and Osaka minimum or cross Akashi Channel to interfere with Hideyoshi’s advance to Kyoto at worst?

     Actually, Michinaga wasn’t killed but fled to Shikoku and became a vassal of Kosokabe Chikayasu (1543-1594), a member of the Chosokabe Clan.  In the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584, Michinaga attacked Kishiwada Castle on March 18th, but was defeated.

     In 1585, the Chosokabe Clan surrendered to Hideyoshi and Michinaga automatically surrendered to him.  Under the Toyotomi Regime, Michinaga was granted some territories in Awaji Province but was transferred to Iyo Province soon.  It wasn’t a demotion but was a part of Hideyoshi’s preparation to invade Kyushu.  After that, Michinaga led his naval forces under Hideyoshi’s supervision, and sent the forces to the Kyushu Campaign of 1586–1587, the Third Siege of Odawara in 1590, and the Imjin War (1592–1598), in which  Michinaga served mainly as guards for the transport fleet.  The only major naval battle Michinaga took part in was the Naval Battle of Chilcheollyang on August 28th, 1597.

     Michinaga didn’t accomplish any spectacular achievement in actual fighting, but compiled Kan-ryu Suigun Yoryaku, the Kan Style Naval Technique, which was handed down from generation to generation by his offspring.

https://iiif.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/repo/s/kaishi/document/5f5bd74c-2805-26da-038c-d6d56d2250d2#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-680%2C-209%2C6974%2C4160

     Kumano sea people appeared on the sea between Kii Province and Shikoku as pirates, and stretched their action even into the eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea.  Kumano Pirates sent Wakiya Yoshisuke (1307-1342), a western general of the Southern Court, to Iyo Province in 1342, supported by the sea people of Nushima Island in Awaji Province.  The members of the Kajiwara Family lived in Nushima Island and Takasago in Harima Province.  It is unknown from which Kajiwara Yasuke was from.  After Hideyoshi invaded Awaji Island, Yasuke became subject to him.

     In April, 1583, Hideyoshi ordered Sengoku Hidehisa to start invading Shikoku.  Hidehisa first sailed to Shodoshima Island and then attacked Kioka and Yashima Fortresses in Sanuki Province, Shikoku.  However, he couldn't seize them and retreated to Shodoshima.  He then attacked Hikita Fortress in the east part of Sanuki Province and captured it.  The Chosokabe Clan's rescue corps including Kuwana Chikamitsu (?-1587) re-seized the fortress, and Hidehisa retreated to Shodoshima and Awaji.  He concentrated on keeping naval superiority in the Seto Inland Sea for a while.  Yasuke was mentioned in the documents related to those military operations as a member of naval transportation.

    At the end of the Warring States Period, the Mori Clan gained hegemony in the Chugoku Region and Oda Nobunaga ruled Kyoto and its surrounding areas.  Their clash was inevitable.  Harima Province lay at the forefront between the two powers, so the people of Harima were at a loss as to which side to take.

     In February, 1578, Bessho Nagaharu (1558-1580) and other local samurai there decided to fight against Nobunaga.  Majima Ujitsune, who was based in Fukunaka, Akashi County, Harima Province, fought for Nagaharu, and his son, Ujikatsu fought for Nobunaga.

     After the Bessho Family was destroyed, Ujikatsu was hired by Hideyoshi.  Ujikatsu successfully had Hideyoshi believe that Ujikatsu was good at naval actions.  He was appointed to be the lord of Iwaya Castle in Awaji Province in 1583.  In 1588, he was ordered to transport stones to build the stone walls of Osaka Castle.  He took part in the Kyushu Campaign of 1586–1587, the Third Siege of Odawara in 1590, and the Imjin War (1592–1598), after which he was dismissed from the lord of Iwaya Castle in February, 1594.  Presumably, he proved his incompetence as an admiral in the war.  He moved to Chikuzen Province, counting on Kuroda Yoshitaka (1546-1604), who was also from Harima Province.

     Ishii Yojibe (1527-1592) was from Funagami, Akashi County, Harima Province, and was an active pirate.  He became subject to Hideyoshi when he advanced into Hrima Province as a military commander of Nobunaga.  In 1584, Yojibe transported provisions to Sogo Castle in Sanuki Province.  He took part in the Kyushu Campaign of 1586–1587, the Third Siege of Odawara in 1590, and the Imjin War (1592–1598).  In 1592, when Hideyoshi returned to Kyoto because his mother was dying, Yojibe shipped Hideyoshi.  When they were sailing through the Kanmon Straits, their ship ran aground.  He was suspected that he was assassinating Hideyoshi and was ordered to commit suicide.  In the Kanmon Straits, the reef he grounded was called Yojibei Reef.  The reef was destroyed in the Meiji Period to widen the strait.  The stone monument was erected there but has been relocated several times.  Finally, it settled down in Mekari Park.

    Let’s get back to Hideyoshi’s days.  As far as we have seen, we can hardly find big differences among the naval military records of the mercenary pirates who were hired by Hideyoshi.  Why, then, Yoshitaka alone realized his Warring-States-Period to become a lord of a province and a castle, however small Shima Province might have been?  He alone provided  armored ships to Nobunaga and Hideyoshi.  He had the armored ships built in Ominato.  What was Ominato like then?

     The Miya River's source is on Mount Odaigahara in Mie Prefecture.  It flows through the Osugi Valley, namely Big Japanese Cedar Valley, and then flows northeast-wards down the mountains.  It reaches its delta and flows into Ise Bay.  As its name, namely Shrine River, suggests, it provided big Japanese cedar trees to Ise Shrine.  The Seta River flows through Ise City.  The Isuzu River flows through Ise Grand Shrine.  The 3 rivers flew into an inlet along Ise Bay.  A sandbank formed at the entrance of the inlet, and the inlet or the inland sea now became a good port, Ominato, namely Big Port.

     Ominato belonged to Watarai County, Ise Province.  The whole county was dedicated to Ise Shrine, and there was a saltworks under the direct control of the shrine.  Ominato became a port even before the Kamakura Period.  Annual tribute from the shrine's manors in the Tokaido and Kanto Regions were landed in the port.  The port also functioned as a gateway for visitors to the shrine from the eastern part of Japan.

The port also prospered as a shipbuilding town for a long time, and in connection with shipbuilding, the iron industry such as house nails, ship nails, and locks also developed.

     In the Muromachi Period, Ominato came under the control of the Kitabatake Family, but in exchange for the payment of money, autonomy by the assembly of 24 townspeople was guaranteed.  In 1498, the tsunami caused by the Meio Earthquake destroyed 1,000 houses and killed 5,000 people, but the port recovered.  In the winter of 1565, a total of 119 ships entered the port in a month, and they paid the port entry tax.  Ominato had strong ties not only with the Kitabatake Family, but also with influential war lords such as the Oda Family in Owari Province, the Tokugawa Family in Mikawa Province, the Imagawa Family in Suruga Province, and the Later Hojo Clan in Sagami Province.  Ominato at that time was one of Japan's most prosperous commercial towns, along with Sakai in Izumi Province and Hakata in Chikuzen Province.

     At the end of the Warring States Period, Oda Nobunaga defeated Kitabatake Tomonori and ruled Ise Province.  Ise Bay came to be under the control of Nobunaga.  Although Ominato resisted, it finally yielded to the Oda Regime and was placed under the control of Kuki Yoshitaka.  It was his control over the shipbuilding in Ominato, which was provided with big enough cedar trees to build big ships, that distinguished Yoshitaka from other mercenary pirates.

     How did the Tokugawa Shogunate cope with armored ships?  In September, 1609, the Second Shogun, Hidetada (1579-1632), prohibited the following western lords to newly build armored ships, and what they had were confiscated: Ikeda Terumasa (1564-1613) in Harima Province, Mori Hidenari ((1595-1651) in Nagato Province, Hachisuka Yoshishige ((1586-1620) in Awa Province, Ikoma Kazumasa (1555-1610) in Sanuki Province, Tomita Nobutaka (?-1633) in Uwajima, Iyo Province, Kato Yoshiaki in Matsuyama, Iyo Province, Yamanouchi Yasutoyo (1549-1625) in Tosa Province, Hosokawa Tadaoki (1563-1654) in Buzen Province, Inaba Norimichi (1566-1626) in Bungo Province, Kuroda Nagamasa (1568-1623) in Chikuzen Province, Terasawa Hirotaka (1563-1633) in Karatsu, Hizen Province, Nabeshima Katsushige (1580-1657) in Saga, Hizen Province, and Shimazu Iehisa (1547-1587) in Satsuma Province.  In June, 1635, the prohibition was imposed nationwide.  The shogunate adopted a national isolation policy and never tried to be a pirate king, and it was the Japanese Imperial Navy that tried to be the 4th Japanese pirate king in East Asia after about 2 centuries.