Mōri Motonari  Motonari is known as a great strategist who began as a small local warlord (jizamurai) of Aki Province who extended his clan's power to nearly all of the Chūgoku region through war, marriage, adoption and assassination. Sandwiched between the powerful Amago and Ōuchi clans, Motonari led the clan by carefully balancing actions and diplomacy. Eventually, Motonari succeeded in defeating both and controlled the entire Chūgoku region. In his later years, he crushed the Ōtomo clan of Bungo Province in Kyūshū. Motonari ruled from Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle, the clan's main bastion since the early 14th century. His descendants became lords of the Chōshū Domain. Mōri Motonari was born on April 16, 1497, under the childhood name Shōjumaru (松寿丸) in a small domain of Aki Province. He was the second son of his father, Mōri Hiromoto. His mother was a daughter of Fukubara Hirotoshi (福原広俊), but her name is unknown. His birthplace is said to be Suzuo Castle (鈴尾城), the base of the Fukubara clan and his mother's home. Today, there are stone monuments at the ruins of Suzuo Castle to commemorate the birthplace of Motonari at the castle. In 1500, his father was involved in a power dispute with the Ashikaga shogunate and the Ōuchi clan and decided to retire. He handed over the head position of the clan to his eldest son, Mōri Okimoto and moved to Tajihi-Sarugake Castle (多治比猿掛城) with his son Shōjumaru. Okimoto then took over Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle, the main stronghold of the clan. History remembers the young Mōri Shōjumaru as a fearless daredevil. It is said he escaped by night with some other kids from the castle of his father, and met lord Amago Tsunehisa and his troops. Shōjumaru thought they were the ghosts of the Heike clan samurai, and so tried to become famous with a ghost hunt, a kind of practice favored for the education of the youth of "buke" families.