ABSTRACT
RISE OF THE OUCHI CLAN.-In the middle of the 16th century, when Roman Catholicism entered Kyushu, a great dukedom grew up between Kyushu and Kyoto, which, in concentration of power and money, formed a Government resembling the Shogunate. It was the realm of Ouchi Yoshitaka of Nagato Province, who held the seven provinces of Nagato, Suwo, Aki, Bingo, Iwami, Buzen, and Chikuzen. His wealth came from mining, shipping, the fishing industry, and in trading with China and Korea. Besides, as Shimonoseki and Moji were in his possession, no ship from the middle part of Japan and Shikoku could pass without his leave, and the sovereign of China only permitted trade under the permit of the Ouchi family. Korea, too, fell under the Ouchi influence, and the merchant ships which plied between Japan and Korea were generally put under his authority. The Court nobles of Kyoto who were sharp enough to see the transition of political power went down to Nagato one after another to pay court there. The Ouchi family, while contending with the Amako family in the north-east, became intimate with the Mori family on the east and allied with the Otomo family on the south-west. The powerful families in Satsuma, Osumi, Hyuga, Iki, and Tsushima Provinces submitted voluntarily to Otomo, and the Otomo family entered into matrimonial relations with Ouchi. The Ouchi family was the richest in the country, having been for a long while engaged in trade with China and Korea, and being a backer of the wako; and as their forefathers were often in Kyoto, and sometimes even in the administration, this family was very familiar with the civilized conditions of the capital town and was always in hope of becoming Court nobles, for which purpose Ouchi used to contribute to the Imperial Court and the Government more than 1,000 kwan of coin every year. When Court nobles began to swarm round him at Nagato, Yoshitaka began to copy the fashions of Kyoto and held meetings for reading or composing odes and poems just as in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. He also took a fancy to the fashion of the Ming Court of China, and sending for clothes from there, wore them himself, and made his attendants wear them, besides learning the Chinese language, thinking it a mark of civilization.
