Ankokuji Ekei

Ankokuji Ekei
Ankokuji Ekei and Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Native name	安国寺 恵瓊
Born	1539 (1539) Aki Province
Died	November 6, 1600 (aged 60–61) Kyoto
Allegiance	Mori clan Toyotomi clan Western Army
Battles/wars	Siege of Takamatsu Invasion of Shikoku Kyushu Campaign Siege of Shimoda Korean  Campaign Battle of Sekigahara

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Ankokuji Ekei (安国寺 恵瓊, 1539 – November 6, 1600) was a military monk and descendant of the Takeda clan of Aki province. He served the Mōri clan and later the Toyotomi clan.

Biography

Although it is certain that he was from the Aki Takeda clan, there are various theories about his birth year and father, and the former is said to have been in 1537 or 1539. There are two theories about the father: one says that Takeda Nobushige († 1541) was his father, and the other says that Takeda Shigekiyo († 1541), the father of Nobushige, was his father. In 1541, when the Aki Takeda were destroyed by Mori Motonari, he was taken away by faithful vassals and put in a safe place in Ankokuji Temple in Aki Province. He became a Rinzai Buddhist monk, and a diplomat of Mōri clan.

In 1582, during the Siege of Takamatsu, Mori sent Ekei to Kuroda Kanbei, offering peace negotiations with Hideyoshi.

In 1585 he was praised by Toyotomi Hideyoshi for his negotiation when the Mori clan formally served Hideyoshi, and become a close adviser of Hideyoshi. He was given a fiefdom of 23,000 koku in Iyo Province as a reward after the invasion of Shikoku (1585).

In 1587, after he took part of the Kyushu Campaign, his holdings were expanded to 60,000 koku.

In 1590, he participated in the Odawara Campaign at siege of Shimoda.^[1]

In 1592, he participated in the Imjin war, and lost the Battle of Uiryong to Gwak Jae-u.^[2]

In 1600, at the Battle of Sekigahara, he fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was later taken prisoner and condemned to death in Kyoto, along with Ishida Mitsunari and Konishi Yukinaga.^[3]

See also

• Buddhism in Japan
• List of Rinzai Buddhists

References

Further reading

This page was last edited on 30 March 2024, at 11:01