Early life He was born in 1533 with the childhood name
Tokujumaru (徳寿丸) as the third son of
Mōri Motonari and his main wife Myōkyū. In 1541 the 13th head of the Takehara branch of the
Kobayakawa clan, Kobayakawa Okikage (小早川興景), got ill and died while attacking Sato-Kanayama Castle (佐東銀山城). In November, 1543 since he had no heir Tokujumaru was declared successor because he was a cousin of Okikage's wife. So at twelve years of age he had become the 14th head of the Takehara-Kobayakawa clan (竹原小早川氏) and received the name Kobayakawa Takakage (小早川隆景). In 1547, when
Ōuchi Yoshitaka attacked Kannabe castle (神辺城) in
Bingo Province, Takakage served as one of his commanders and was highly commended for capturing Kannabe castle's support castle (支城), the Ryuoyama Fort (龍王山砦) with the Kobayakawa army alone. The other branch of the Kobayakawa clan was the Numata-Kobayakawa clan (沼田小早川氏). The head of the family, Kobayakawa Shigehira (小早川繁平) was young and blind due to an eye disease so in 1550 it was decided that Takakage would become heir of the Numata branch and finally merge the two rival branches of the clan. then retreated so he could be in a position to return the following day, his attack synchronized with the overland assault. At dawn, Takakage and his 1,500 troops landed before the small fortress, and the sound of
shell trumpets signalled that all units were in position and the attack commenced. As Takakage's force rushed the front gate of Miyao Castle, Mōri and his troops hit the Ōuchi position from behind. Caught completely by surprise, many of the Ōuchi troops scattered in disarray. Hundreds tried to swim to the mainland and drowned in the attempt. Many more saw that defeat was inevitable and committed
seppuku (honorable suicide). By 18 October 1555, resistance had ended at a cost of about 4,700 dead among the Ōuchi army.
Sue Harukata escaped from the confines of Miyao Castle, but when he saw that escape from the island was not possible, he also committed suicide by seppuku. In 1557 Takakage took part of the Conquest of Bōcho (防長経略) and the Mōri forces took both
Suō Province and
Nagato Province of the
Ōuchi clan and
Ōuchi Yoshinaga committed suicide. They took Yoshinaga's
Moji Castle in 1558 but in September, 1559 it was retaken by
Ōtomo Yoshishige. Then in 1561 Kobayakawa again led the Mōri navy in the recapture of the castle in the
Siege of Moji. During the same year his father,
Mōri Motonari retired in favor of his first son and heir apparent (Takakage's eldest brother),
Mōri Takamoto. Under Takamoto, Takakage continued to be a main force of the Mōri along with his second older brother
Kikkawa Motoharu. In 1561 In 1563
Mōri Takamoto suddenly died of illness and his son (Takakage's nephew)
Mōri Terumoto became head of the
Mōri clan. While the 2nd brother
Kikkawa Motoharu was in charge of military affairs, Takakage took responsibility of political affairs. He worked on diplomacy, taking advantage of the information gathering capabilities of the military. In the
Siege of Toda Castle (1562–1566) they destroyed their enemy, the
Amako clan (尼子氏). During the following year of 1567 he was dispatched to help the Kôno clan (河野氏) of
Iyo Province and at the Battle of Torisaka captured Ozu Castle (大洲城) forcing Utsunomiya Toyotsuna (宇都宮豊綱) to surrender. Takakage was then also dispatched to fight the
Ōtomo clan (大友氏) in
Kyūshū. When Murakami Michiyasu (村上通康) died that year Takakage sent his widow who was a daughter of Kôno Michinao to marry Shishido Takaie. In 1568 Kobayakawa Takakage fought in the Battle of Torisaka and the 1568
Battle of Tatarahama. In 1570 he fought in the Battle of Nunobeyama. In 1571, Takakage was sent to help the Mimura clan (三村氏) of Kojima (児島),
Bizen Province against Urakami Munekage (浦上宗景) but the Murakami and Awa Pirates helped and Takakage was forced to withdraw to
Aki Province. After the death of Mōri Motonari in 1571, "Mōri's Two Rivers" (Kobayakawa Takakage and
Kikkawa Motoharu) became more important as assistants to
Mōri Terumoto against the remnants of their enemies, the
Ōtomo clan (大友氏),
Amako clan (尼子氏), and
Ōuchi clan (大内氏).
Conflict against Ōtomo clan In 1556 at May 19, Dōsetsu's forces finally manage to quell the rebellions incited by Akimoto, and he later sent recommendation letters of his subordinates who gave outstanding performance during this operation, such as Korenobu Yufu, Takano Daizen, Adachi Sakyō, and Ando Iesada. In 1557, the
Akizuki clan rebelled due to their collaboration with
Mōri Motonari, to which Sorin responded by sending
Tachibana Dōsetsu and Usuki Akisumi with 2,000 soldiers to quell their rebellion. Dōsetsu besieged the Akizuki clan which was led by Akizuki Kiyotane in . In the end, Kiyotane and his son committed
seppuku inside their castle. In the next year of 1558, Dōsetsu fought Mōri clan sent Takakage in the first siege of Moji castle. In this battle, Dōsetsu had 800 of his archers shower Kobayakama's army with arrows. As the Dōsetsu continues his siege until 1562, Dōsetsu entered the last phase of this
Siege of Moji, where he enlisted the help of traders from
Portuguese Empire In this battle, the Portuguese merchants assisted Dōsetsu with three ships weighted between 500-600 tons, The bombardment from the ships allowed the Ōtomo troops to establish themselves around Moji castle. However, the castle defenders manage to break the siege after the Portuguese has spent all their ammunitions and withdrew from this operation. Despite the Ōtomo forces under Dōsetsu launching another attempt at besieging the castle in 10 October 1561, they failed to subdue the castle. In 1562 of July 13, Dōsetsu and his subordinate Korenobu Yufu, Later, Dōsetsu stormed Moji castle on October 13 and they managed to subdue the castle which was defended by Reizei Mototoyo, a former Ouchi clan vassal who was 25 years old. On November 26, there was a battle all day long near Moji Castle, leaving hundreds injured and dead with an unclear result. In 1564 July 25, the mediator from the Shogunate secured an agreement of temporary peace treaty between the Mōri clan and the Ōtomo clan. However, this truce did not last long as on March 25, Dōsetsu once again fought the Mōri clan army which was led by Koremaki Yufu in The Fourth Battle of Yanagigaura. In 1569, Dōsetsu was involved in the failed defense of the
Siege of Tachibana castle, where the army under Mōri Motonari beat Dosetsu forces with the extensive use of cannons. Later in the same year, Dōsetsu personally led the Otomo forces against the
Mōri clan in Tatara area (located in modern day
Higashi-ku, Fukuoka), where they engaged in at least four battles which ended in deadlocks. army at the Battle of Tatarahama In May 18, after several engagements at the
Battle of Tatarahama, the Ōtomo army led by Dōsetsu, Usuki Akisumi, and Yoshihiro Akimasa clashed against 40,000 soldiers under
Kikkawa Motoharu and Kobayakawa Takakage. During the fierce battle between the two sides, Dōsetsu lead the charge into the enemy formation and killed more than ten enemies and manage to beat the vanguard of Motoharu which was led by Yoshikawa Motoharu's vanguard led by Nobuki Narazaki. Then, Yoshikawa Motoharu used iron cannons to counterattack. The situation was described as dire for the Ōtomo side before Dōsetsu charged towards a gap in the formation of Takakage's army, allowing other Dōsetsu generals to reorganize themselves and rearrange their artillery. Dōsetsu rode his horse and charged forward unto the enemy camp while drawing his sword.The army of Motoharu and Takakage was unable to resist and was pushed back. Following the battle of Tatatahama, there are about 18 more clashes in the area from 21–26 May, between Dōsetsu army against Takakage and other Mōri generals with undetermined results. However, in the end Takakage forced to relinquish the castle of Tachibana again to Dōsetsu, since the Mōri and Ōtomo clan sign truce peace negotiation with the result that Mōri clan should give back the Tachibana castle to Ōtomo. The supply lines were broken, and the Hongan-ji fell soon afterwards. However, during this battle an interesting flaw was discovered in the
ō-adakebune design. As Mōri samurai rushed to board the large ship, all the defending warriors ran to that side of the deck, to defend themselves, and the ship capsized as its center of gravity shifted. Also in 1578 the "2nd Oda Encirclement Plan" falls apart when
Uesugi Kenshin suddenly dies and the
Ishiyama Hongan-ji monks made peace with
Oda Nobunaga. Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴秀吉) who is later known as
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a general under
Oda Nobunaga in charge of the push into the
Chūgoku region. He had increasingly intense tactics and the Mōri forces continued to be pushed backwards. In 1579,
Ukita Naoie of
Bizen Province believed the fight against Nobunaga was hopeless and claimed illness, only sending a small token force to aid the Mōri. In 1580, Miki Castle (三木城) of
Harima Province which had held off the Oda forces for two years falls. In addition in 1581, Tottori Castle (鳥取城) of
Inaba Province falls after falling prey to starvation and the castle master, Kikkawa Tsuneie (吉川経家) commits suicide. In 1582 the
Siege of Takamatsu on
Takamatsu Castle of
Bitchū Province begins. Takakage led the main force of the Mōri along with
Mōri Terumoto and
Kikkawa Motoharu leading 30,000 men. However, Hashiba Hideyoshi, who also had 30,000 men was faring well and
Oda Nobunaga's main army who had just finished defeating the
Takeda clan were marching towards the
Chūgoku region. Takekage began secret negotiations with Hideyoshi using his diplomats
Hayashi Narinaga and
Ankokuji Ekei. In June of that year Hideyoshi hears about Oda Nobunaga's demise at the
Honnō-ji incident by the hands of his former retainer
Akechi Mitsuhide and hurries back to
Kyoto to get revenge for his master.
Akechi Mitsuhide had sent a secret letter to
Mōri Terumoto promising him great things but Hideyoshi's men intercepted the messenger. Hideyoshi then sent for Mōri diplomats
Hayashi Narinaga and
Ankokuji Ekei not telling them that Nobunaga had been assassinated. He proposed peace if the Mōri would cede to him the provinces of Hoki, Mimasaka and Bitchu. The diplomats thought that Mimasaka had already basically fallen, and Hoki was just a matter of time. Also
Shimizu Muneharu, the defender of Takamatsu Castle must commit suicide.
Mōri Terumoto had found out about the
Honnō-ji incident and wanted to attack Hideyoshi but was stopped by the advice of Kobayakawa Takakage and the two diplomats who were well respected in the Mōri clan. Takakage is said to have said, "It is a shame for the samurai to make peace before the blood of our friends has dried on their swords." That year in 1582, Takakage had moved his main castle of
Niitakayama Castle (新高山城) to
Mihara Castle facing the
Seto Inland Sea.
Service under Hideyoshi In 1583 when Hideyoshi defeated
Shibata Katsuie at the
Battle of Shizugatake the Mōri had retained neutrality but they abandoned the opportunistic line and reached out to become subordinates of Hideyoshi. At this time Kobayakawa Takakage offers up his adopted son, Kobayakawa Hidekane, who is really his younger brother as hostage to Hideyoshi. After this Takakage cooperates positively with Hideyoshi and in 1585 during Hideyoshi's
Invasion of Shikoku he defeats Kaneko Motoie (金子元宅) of
Iyo Province. For his service he was given Iyo Province as his fief and that year he moved into
Yuzuki Castle (湯築城) and
Ōzu Castle (大洲城) but keeps
Mihara Castle as his main base. He also took the former secretary of the Kaneko clan, Saionji Kinmochi (西園寺公広) as a vassal. In addition, the control of Iyo by Takakage is excellent and the Portuguese missionary,
Luís Fróis, praises that "
Takakage governs the country quietly with a deep thought and it is unusual in Japan that there is no terror or rebellion in the country of Iyo". Starting in 1586 Takakage took part in Hideyoshi's
Kyūshū Campaign and after the campaign Hideyoshi awarded him with
Chikuzen Province,
Chikugo Province and
Hizen Province of
Kyūshū totalling 371,300
koku. However, Takakage tried to object saying that it was impossible for the three clans of Mōri, Kikkawa and Kobayakawa to administer these provinces adequately since they already had seven to eight provinces in the Chugoku region and now on top of that the three in
Kyūshū. On the contrary, Hideyoshi tried to make him administer the provinces by making two of them public but Takakage repeatedly decline and said that his nephew
Mōri Terumoto was still too young and his brother Kikkawa Motoharu had already died. He proposed to install substitute officers in Chikuzen and Chikugo and also would alternate with
Sassa Narimasa (佐々成政) every half a year or year. Hideyoshi refused his resignation of the provinces and this was an opportunity for Takakage to become an independent lord under the Toyotomi administration. In 1587, his retainer Kōno Michinao (河野通直) who he had transferred to Takehara died. This left Takakage with the problem of taking care of the provinces in
Kyūshū without help and by the suspicious nature of his death he may have been assassinated by Hideyoshi himself. Since Saionji Kinmochi (西園寺公広) was also killed at the same time, during Takakage's transportation of men to
Kyūshū it seems Hideyoshi was trying to take power away from the Kobayakawa clan by eliminating his best supporters. Hideyoshi was known to do this on separate other occasions. The Toyotomi uji was simultaneously granted to a number of Hideyoshi's chosen allies, who adopted the new uji "豊臣朝臣" (Toyotomi no asomi, courtier of Toyotomi). In July, 1588, he gave this to Takakage. Two years later he participated in the
Siege of Odawara (1590) when he took
Tokugawa Ieyasu's
Okazaki Castle. In 1592 when Hideyoshi orders the
Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98), Takakage mobilizes 10,000 soldiers as captain of the 6th division and attacks
Jeolla Province but he is met with resistance and unable to capture the province completely. He was then relocated in 1593 to
Gyeonggi Province where he fought in the
Battle of Byeokjegwan with
Tachibana Muneshige where they repelled the reinforcement forces of the
Ming dynasty. In 1594 there is a letter sent to the commanders of the Mōri forces in Korea. It was addressed to Kobayakawa Takakage from
Katō Kiyomasa saying that Hideyoshi wanted to give his nephew Hashiba Hideaki (羽柴秀俊) as an adopted son to the Mōri clan for adoption.
Mōri Terumoto was already 40 years old and had no heir. Fearing that this would make the heir to the Mōri clan someone without Mōri blood he adopted Hideaki himself and he became known as
Kobayakawa Hideaki. ==Death==