Bronze statue of Maori Terumoto

Mori Terumoto was born in 1553 in Koriyama Castle (present-day Aki-Takata, Hiroshima Prefecture). He inherited the family headship at a young age due to the early death of his father Takamoto, and was supported by his grandfather Motonari, and after Motonari's death, his uncles Kikkawa Motoharu and Kobayakawa Takakage. In 1576, he came into conflict with Oda Nobunaga after accepting Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who had fled to Tomoura, Bingo Province, within his domain, but while confronting Hashiba Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) over Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu, the Honnoji Incident occurred, and Nobunaga was killed, leading to the establishment of a peace agreement. Terumoto then became a vassal to Hideyoshi, who became Nobunaga's successor, and became a great daimyo with 1.12 million koku of rice in nine provinces in the Chugoku region. In 1588, Terumoto met Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and upon seeing Jurakudai and Osaka Castle built by Hideyoshi, he keenly felt the need for a castle as a political and economic center integrated with the castle town. In 1589, he began construction of Hiroshima Castle in the delta of the Ota River, and entered the castle in 1591. Under the Toyotomi government, Terumoto was ranked as one of the Five Elders and held an important position. In the Battle of Sekigahara that broke out in 1600 after Hideyoshi's death, he became the commander-in-chief of the Western Army opposing Tokugawa Ieyasu, but after the defeat of the Western Army, he was reduced to the two provinces of Suo and Nagato. In 1604, he built Hagi Castle and entered it. He died in 1625 at the age of 73. The castle and castle town built by Mori Terumoto in Hiroshima are the origins of the present-day Hiroshima City. [Date of Construction] April 27, 2025