Tainei-ji incident

The graves of Ōuchi Yoshitaka and his valet in the grounds of Tainei-ji, Nagato, Yamaguchi

Date	September 28 - 30, 1551
Location	Tainei-ji temple, Nagato Province (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture), Japan
Result	Sue victory; Ōuchi Yoshitaka commits suicide

Belligerents

Ōuchi forces under Sue Takafusa

Close retainers of Ōuchi Yoshitaka

Commanders and leaders

Sue Takafusa,
Sugi Shigenori,
Naitō Okimori

Ōuchi Yoshitaka †

Strength

5000

Originally 3000, but only 20 left in the end after defections and desertions

The Tainei-ji incident (大寧寺の変, Taineiji no Hen^?) was a coup in September 1551 by Sue Takafusa (later known as Sue Harukata) against Ōuchi Yoshitaka, hegemon daimyo of western Japan, which ended in the latter's forced suicide in Tainei-ji, a temple in Nagato Province. The coup put an abrupt end to the prosperity of the Ōuchi clan, though they would rule western Japan in name for another six years under the figurehead Ōuchi Yoshinaga, who was not related to the Ōuchi by blood.

The Ōuchi clan was one of the most powerful and important families in Japan during the reign of the Ashikaga shogunate in the 12th to 16th centuries. Expanding out from Suō Province towards the western end of Honshu, the Ōuchi domains comprised six provinces at their height. They were among the primary families to be involved in foreign trade and relations, particularly with China. Under the patronage of the 31st family head Ōuchi Yoshitaka, the Ōuchi home city Yamaguchi prospered greatly from the cultivation of the arts and foreign trade, attracting famed artists, Chinese merchants, and Portuguese missionaries (such as Francis Xavier) to his city.

At the same time, Yoshitaka fostered a close relationship with Emperor Go-Nara in Kyoto, and sponsored many imperial rites that the imperial court could not have afforded otherwise. In March 27, 1551, the embattled emperor appointed Ōuchi Yoshitaka as Acting Governor of Yamashiro (山城権守), the home province where the imperial capital Kyoto was located, in a bid to leverage the Ōuchi against the ravages of the warlord Miyoshi Nagayoshi, who occupied the capital. Yoshitaka, as Acting Governor of Yamashiro and, by extension, the protector of the court, embarked on a daring plan to relocate the emperor and the court to Yamaguchi. High-ranking courtiers and performers of imperial rites moved to Yamaguchi, including dignitaries such as former regent (kampaku) Nijō Tadafusa and retired Grand Minister (Sadaijin) Sanjō Kin'yori (三条公頼; father-in-law of Takeda Shingen). By the end of the eighth month of 1551, nearly the whole court, save for the emperor himself and the palace ladies, was in Yamaguchi.

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