The was a family of Japanese people

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 descended from the Seiwa Genji

Seiwa Genji

The ' were the most successful and powerful of the many branch families of the Japanese Minamoto clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto warriors, including Minamoto Yoshiie, also known as "Hachimantaro", or God of War, and Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, were descended...

. Their line descended from Minamoto no Yoshiie

Minamoto no Yoshiie

Minamoto no Yoshiie , also known as Hachimantarō, was a Minamoto clan samurai of the late Heian period, and Chinjufu shogun...

 (also known as Hachimantaro) through his seventh son, Minamoto no Yoshitaka, proprietor of Mori-no-shō

Shoen

A was a field or manor in Japan. The Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese term zhuangyuan.Shōen, from about the 8th to the late 15th century, describes any of the private, tax-free, often autonomous estates or manors whose rise undermined the political and economic power of the...

 in Sagami Province

Sagami Province

was an old province in the area that is today the central and western Kanagawa prefecture. It was sometimes called . Sagami bordered on Izu, Musashi, Suruga provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Sagami Bay...

. His son, Minamoto no Yoritaka, took Mori as his surname when he retired, and Yoritaka's son Yorisada continued to use the surname.

During the Sengoku period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

, the Mori served under Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

. Mori Yoshinari

Mori Yoshinari

was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period and the head of the Mori family, who served the Saitō clan. The Saitō were the lords of the Mino province. When the Saitō clan were overthrown by the Oda clan Yoshinari and his family became retainers of Oda Nobunaga....

 fought with Nobunaga for Kiyosu Castle, and with his son Mori Yoshitaka joined the campaigns against the Saitō, Azai, and Asakura

Asakura clan

The ' are descendants of Prince Kusakabe , son of Emperor Temmu .The family was a line of daimyō which, along with the Azai clan, opposed Oda Nobunaga in the late 16th century...

. Father and son died in the battle against the Azai-Asakura armies, and Mori Nagayoshi

Mori Nagayoshi

was an officer under the Oda clan following Japan's 16th-century Sengoku period, and the older brother of the famous Mori Ranmaru.Nagayoshi was known to have such a bad temper and to be particularly ruthless in battle that he came to be known as the "Devil." Nagayoshi's efforts for Toyotomi...

, second son of Yoshinari, became head of the house.

Yoshinari's son Nagasada, known as Mori Ranmaru

Mori Ranmaru

, born Mori Nagasada , was the son of Mori Yoshinari, and had 5 brothers in total, from the province of Mino. He was a member of the Mori Clan, descendants of the Seiwa Genji....

, died with Nobunaga in the Incident at Honnō-ji.

The family became daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 under Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

, and for five generations headed the Tsuyama Domain

Tsuyama Domain

The was a feudal domain in Mimasaka Province of Japan during the Edo period.- History :In 1600, the territory that became the Tsuyama domain formed part of the territory ruled from Okayama by Kobayakawa Hideaki...

 in Mimasaka Province

Mimasaka Province

or was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today northeastern Okayama Prefecture. Mimasaka bordered Bitchū, Bizen, Harima, Hōki, and Inaba Provinces....

 as tozama daimyo. Nagayoshi had lost his life in the battle of Komaki Nagakute. Their descendants became viscount

Viscount

A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...

s in the Meiji

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 peerage.

Source

This article is based on 森氏 (Mori-shi) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on November 28, 2007.