Sue Harukata

Who was Sue Harukata?

Sue Harukata was a retainer of the Ōuchi clan in the Sengoku period in Japan. Harukata would later become a daimyo. He was the second son of Sue Okifusa, senior retainer of the Ōuchi clan. His childhood name was Goro. Before Harukata he had the name of Takafusa. He is also erroneously known as Harutaka.

Harukata was born to the Sue clan, which was related to the Ōuchi clan, and served as shugodai of Suo Province. As a boy, he served Ōuchi Yoshitaka, a childhood friend. After genpuku, he was given the name Takafusa after Ōuchi Yoshitaka. In 1539, after his father Okifusa died of illness, he became the head of the Sue clan. Being an able retainer, he became known as the Samurai General Without Peer in the Western Provinces.

From 1540 to 1542, he worked as the general, replacing Ōuchi Yoshitaka, in the war with the Amago clan. However, when Ōuchi's troops lost heavily in 1542, Yoshitaka's interest in war faded, and he began to incline to cultural activities. Because of this, the civil official Sagara Taketō became close to Yoshitaka, and Harukata's relationship with Yoshitaka declined.

In 1551, Harukata succeeded in the coup against Ōuchi Yoshitaka, killing Sagara Taketō and leading Yoshitaka to commit suicide. The next year Harukata secured the control of the Ōuchi clan by making the adopted son of Yoshitaka, Ōuchi Yoshinaga, the head of the clan. At this time he changed his name from Takafusa to Harutaka, as his master changed from Yoshitaka to Haruhide. Subsequently, he conducted a large military expansion, but this led to discontent among the retainers of the Ōuchi clan. In 1554 Yoshimi Masayori of Iwami Province, Yoshitaka's brother-in-law, and Mōri Motonari of Aki Province rebelled against the Ōuchi clan.