The Collapse

Abstract This chapter recounts the process between 1551 and 1557 whereby Ōuchi rule collapsed, under the rule of Yoshinaga, the last lord, who hailed from the Ōtomo lands. It reveals his appeals to Ōuchi ethnicity, and early successes in governing, and defeating Amago rivals, before the cataclysmic defeat at Itsukushima, and the ensuing collapse of integrated Ōuchi rule, with the western regions falling under the control of the Ōtomo and the eastern regions the Mōri. The chapter discusses efforts of early Christian missionaries, their successes and failures in Yamaguchi, as well as enduring Myōken worship. Finally, it recounts Yoshinaga’s flight and death, the end of Ōuchi rule in western Japan, and the onset of widespread piracy after the fall of the Ōuchi.