Original subtitles

I want the whole country.

Amago Tsunehisa, lord of Izumo Province.

The Amago were extending power like a star in the ascendant...

...with their military and financial strength.

Izumo was a production center of high quality iron.

The Tatara iron making method, which made steel out of iron sand, was widespread in the province.

Iron is the raw material for weapons, such as swords and spears.

It was a rare material back then.

Also, the Amago were exporting iron to Korea and China from their port of Miho-no-seki.

Enormous taxes coming from this port was the Amago's abundant source of funding.

Why don't you join hands with me?

If I say no, arrows will fly, won't they?

Tsunehisa was pressing Motonari with power. How did Motonari confront him?

MORI MOTONARI

Episode 13: A Child of the War-torn Era Was Born

Screenplay by: Uchidate Makiko

Original Story by: Nagai Michiko

Music by: Watanabe Toshiyuki

Theme Song Performed by: NHK Symphony Orchestra Music Performed by: Concert Regnie

Title Calligraphy by: Mori Motonari Narration by: Hirano Keiko

CAST

Mori Motonari: Nakamura Hashinosuke

Lady Mii: Tomita Yasuko

Fujino: Kaga Mariko

Katsura Hirozumi: Kusakari Masao

Inoue Motokane: Kataoka Tsurutaro

Watanabe Suguru: Enoki Takaaki

Fukubara Hirotoshi: Sasano Takashi

Aio Mototsuna: Nishijima Hidetoshi

Lady Yuki: Ichiro Maki

Hisa: Matsukane Yoneko Lady Matsu: Azusa Mayuko

Sue Okifusa: Natsuyagi Isao

Naito Okimori: Onodera Akira

Lady Aya: Azuma Chizuru

Ouchi Yoshitaka: Kazama Toru

Ouchi Yoshioki: Hosokawa Toshiyuki

Shishido Motoyoshi: Ishida Taro Uyama Hisakane: Isobe Tsutomu

Kikkawa Kunitsune: Kusanagi Kojiro Kamei Hidetsuna: Kawahara Sabu

Kikkawa Mototsune: Duncan Kurata Naonobu: Numata Baku

Komatsumaru: Kitao Wataru Senboshi: Mitsuhashi Yosuke

Lady Sugi: Matsuzaka Keiko

Amago Tsunehisa: Ogata Ken

Produced by: Kida Yukinori

English Subtitles: Koala Fansubs

Directed by: Kobayashi Takeshi

KIKKAWA MOTOTSUNE'S MANSION

A head-to-head battle between the Ouchi and the Amago was about to begin in Aki.

Meanwhile, Kikkawa Mototsune, Mii's brother, died in action when he attacked Mibu Castle.

KIKKAWA MOTOTSUNE (Kikkawa Clan Head) His son with Matsu, Senboshi...

...was only 5-years-old.

Senboshi.

Your father had a very honorable end.

His face looks peaceful, doesn't it?

Mototsune-dono is gone.

The Kikkawa clan must be supported by their in-laws, including Amago Tsunehisa.

Now is the time for their in-laws to take each other's hands tightly.

- How true. - So...

UYAMA HISAKANE - My master, Amago Tsunehisa, is thinking...

...of attacking an Ouchi castle, Kagamiyama Castle.

The castle is not far from the Mori fief.

When the time comes, will the Mori and the Kikkawa side with the Amago...

...to fight against the Ouchi?

Please wait.

The Kikkawa clan is in mourning.

- You shouldn't talk about such things now. - I'm going to tell you...

...what my master said.

- I'm telling you to wait. - Motonari-dono.

KAMEI HIDETSUNA - When we attack Kagamiyama Castle,

he wants the Mori clan to side with us.

The Mori have been working for the Ouchi since my father's days.

- Are you telling us to break away with them? - We want you to promise.

We want you to promise to break away from the Ouchi and side with the Amago.

I think we should help the Amago.

Amago Tsunehisa...

He is a dreadful man.

He betrays people at the last moment...

...and cuts people off at the last moment.

That's how he developed power.

Even if we side with him...

...we might meet the same end.

Motonari, are you saying we should side with the Ouchi, when a battle comes?

That's not what I'm saying.

I'm just saying...

...that Amago Tsunehisa has no faith in extreme situations.

AIO MOTOTSUNA (Motonari's Half-brother) - Motonari.

A general without power cannot win.

Are you saying you can do anything for that?

We have no choice.

Betrayal and maneuvering... Those are not evil.

They are imperative during the turbulent times...

Faithless acts are evil.

KAGAMIYAMA CASTLE (Aki Province) Shortly after...

Motonari and the others were secretly called over by Sue Okifusa, the Ouchi's key vassal.

The place was Kagamiyama Castle in Aki Province, which Amago Tsunehisa was trying to attack.

Thank you for having come all the way here.

Kagamiyama Castle is a pivotal castle of the Ouchi. I'm impressed with the sturdy structure.

I'm flattered to hear that.

I am Kurata Fusanobu. I am in charge of Kagamiyama Castle.

I am his uncle, Kurata Naonobu.

Thanks to Lord Ouchi's considerations,

this castle is always well-maintained.

The lord is very considerate.

SUE OKIFUSA - He's being so for the Mori clan.

Okimoto-dono worked great for the Ouchi when he was alive.

The lord said he would never forget that.

When we were in Kyoto, the philosophy of samurai changed a lot.

Some samurai do whatever, to develop power.

They aren't ashamed of continuous betrayals. They just try to become leaders.

They have no faith as samurai.

Are you talking about Amago Tsunehisa?

In such a war-torn era, trustworthy friends are like treasure.

We called you over, knowing that Kagamiyama Castle will be exposed to your eyes.

That's because we trust the Mori clan.

By the way,

how old is your young lord, Komatsumaru-dono?

He turned 9-years-old.

I called you over because...

...we want you to consider his marriage with Princess Kiku.

Princess Kiku?

Isn't she a daughter of one of the Ouchi's key vassals, Sugi Shigekiyo-dono?

Right.

- We're very honored, sir. - You must be.

It'll be so beneficial for the Mori clan.

I'm so envious.

The lord already knows that...

...the Mori will remain faithful to the Ouchi, even without such an engagement.

That's exactly right.

I heard the Amago are trying to get all the constables of Aki.

Such a ragtag band has no faith.

Unlike them,

the Ouchi have the Mori, a clan of honor. How dependable.

Thank you very much for your kind words.

The lord said, "I want to strengthen the faithful bond between us, through this engagement."

We're looking forward to your positive reply.

KORIYAMA CASTLE (Aki) - Great Lady.

Do you want to break away from the Ouchi, to side with the Amago?

I wish we could.

The Amago have the advantage. It's safer to side with them.

However...

...I witnessed the late lord risking his life to be faithful to the Ouchi.

It's hard for me to betray the late lord.

South of Kagamiyama Castle is Itsukushima, a maritime stronghold of the Ouchi.

I don't think the Amago can attack the castle easily.

LADY YUKI - Which side should we take...?

I'll leave it to you, Motonari-dono.

Please guide the Mori clan in the right direction.

Please.

Motonari-dono will end up accepting this offer of marriage.

He wants to strengthen our bond with the Ouchi.

But it'll be the cause of demise for the Mori.

Motonari is talking about faith. He is too naive.

Everybody is now using power to bring other clans to the ground.

It's the time of the Amago.

We should take this chance to break away from the Ouchi...

KATSURA HIROZUMI - and side with the Amago.

This is a golden opportunity to show our strength to Tsunehisa-dono.

WATANABE SUGURU - You're right, but...

...the Amago became too strong.

I fell in love with Tsunehisa-dono's sharpness in maneuvering other clans.

That's why I joined hands with you, Katsura-dono.

But...

Look at what Tsunehisa-dono is doing now.

Far from being sharp.

He is just intimidating the weak ones with power.

With him being like that,

we can use his power to control the Mori.

He won't let us use him.

The Mori will be just engulfed by him.

No.

I'm going to make our time come.

SARUKAKE CASTLE (Aki Province)

LADY MII (Motonari's Wife)

Sire.

What did you say?

Mii.

What did you say just now?

Baby.

I have your baby.

- Really? - Yes!

Aren't you happy?

How strange.

Until recently, everybody was afraid of the Kikkawa clan as "Demon Kikkawa."

Now, the Kikkawa clan is led by the 5-year-old Senboshi-dono.

In contrast,

the Mori clan, which could have been crushed at any time, survived.

And now, you're having a baby.

Don't you think it's strange, Mii?

Well...

Nobody knows what will happen in the future.

How strange.

Where are you going?

I'm going back to my home clan.

Because you aren't happy!

Wait!

Wait, wait, wait.

- Are you happy? - Yeah.

I'm more than happy.

I have to let my father know!

In April of the following year, 1523 (Taiei 3),

Mii gave birth to a healthy boy.

The baby was named "Chiyojumaru (Prince of One Thousand Years)."

He is later known as Mori Takamoto.

Sire.

The neck.

Good boy.

Mii-sama.

Would you let me hold him?

- Here, Motonari-sama. - Ready?

What a handsome boy.

May I hold him?

How cute.

What a handsome lord.

- I want to hold him again. - That's it.

It's time for him to be held by his comfort arms. Or he will cry.

Oh, he doesn't seem to be comfortable.

FUJINO (Mii's Maid) - He's crying, because he knows I'm going out.

Chiyojumaru-sama, you're so smart.

I didn't go out yet.

You're crying good.

Good boy.

Thank you so much for your gifts. We accepted them gratefully.

Those are return gifts from Her Ladyship.

Thank you.

Has Chiyojumaru-dono grown bigger?

Yes.

He's drinking a lot and growing healthy.

Motonari-dono can't die leaving him behind.

To fight a winning battle,

he must have started thinking about siding with the Amago.

I don't know.

I haven't heard anything.

I'm ugly.

I'm only smart.

Sire.

Sire?

Don't look at me.

You must have made up your mind, to accept Ouchi-dono's offer.

You're so perceptive.

That's why I told you not to look at me.

You're related to the Amago.

- You don't want me to side with the Ouchi. - I am...

...not related to the Amago, nor a daughter of the Kikkawa.

I'm Chiyojumaru's mother.

You became a full-fledged member of the Mori, because you have a child?

Yes, I am.

This is from Auntie Amago.

She wants me to talk you into siding with the Amago, when the battle comes.

I'm not going to do it.

You should do whatever you want, sire.

You should be a bit stressed out, being torn between the two clans.

I'm not stressed out at all.

Sire.

I'm fine with whichever side you're taking.

But I don't want you to die.

You don't have to distinguish yourself. Just run away, when you're in danger.

As Sun Tzu writes in "The Art of War,"

"Run away when you are understrength."

Do you know about Sun Tzu?

I only know, "When you run away, you actually win."

You're right.

Survival is what matters the most.

As long as you are alive, you're almost winning.

You got guts, Mii.

You can't die.

You and Chiyojumaru are the most important to me.

I'm going to write a report to your father.

Did you find out which side the lord is going to take?

- I don't know. - Mii-sama.

Help me spy on him.

I'm a Mori member. I'm not going to spy on him.

After you married into a different clan, your job is to send reports to your home clan.

- I hope you haven't forgotten. - I haven't.

But I'm not going to do it.

The lord and my son are the most important to me.

You're totally wrong!

You can do it, during peacetime.

But you live in a time, when you don't know who will ruin you.

A woman's mission determines the survival of your home clan.

A woman's mission is to give birth to her loved one's baby.

I have never been happy like this.

I have never slept with men.

But I am happy.

Because I have a big mission.

Sorry.

I'm disappointed with your skittishness, Mii-sama.

You will have to send a report to your home clan. Something will happen.

You don't want to suffer, when that happens.

Don't fall too much in love with Motonari-dono.

You can't moderate the depth of your love.

You can't moderate the depth of your love...

I am a sad woman, aren't I?

I've never met a woman like you, who isn't sad at all.

Shut up.

Everybody looks better than me.

People change their mind-set, with age.

But I haven't changed at all.

That's right.

After Her Ladyship had a child, she became more supportive to the lord.

That's what I mean.

I've never had a child.

I moved over here as a concubine. I've never worn a white wedding kimono.

I've never had women's rituals.

That's why I can't mature as a wife or a mother.

Since I never had those rituals, I'm still a girl in my mind.

I'm getting closer to a grandmother's age.

But I don't understand their feelings.

I can understand the feelings of 12-year-old girls so well.

What a sad woman I am.

Oh, my.

That means, Sugi-sama.

You'll stay young until you die.

People age from their minds.

But, Sugi-sama, you're almost winning in a woman's life.

I see.

You might be right.

Yeah! You are absolutely right!

Hisa.

- Here. - Sugi-sama.

Hisa.

Once again.

OUCHI YOSHIOKI'S MANSION (Yamaguchi) - The Mori will agree...

...to accept the engagement with Princess Kiku.

It was clear that they couldn't trust Amago Tsunehisa.

If we get the Mori,

we can easily conquer Aki from Kagamiyama Castle.

And if our navy can send provisions to Kagamiyama Castle from Itsukushima,

OUCHI YOSHIOKI - everything will be perfect.

Sire!

Sire.

Sire.

Please forgive me.

Sire!

Oh, Father and Mother.

OUCHI YOSHITAKA (Yoshioki's Heir) - We were playing kai-awase (matching game),

...but one of the girls cheated. So I was punishing her.

Go!

Yoshitaka!

The Ouchi are the most powerful daimyo in the western provinces.

We have influence even in Kyoto.

But you...!

He already knows.

I'm telling you once again.

Wealth and power decline someday.

Your job is to prevent that.

He is thinking a lot.

Right, Yoshitaka?

I told you to learn music, dance and poem writing as much as you want.

But I told you to learn how to fight as a samurai, too.

After his first battle, he might become busy with battles.

Why don't you let him play now, as much as he wants?

Yoshitaka.

A man, who only knows how to fight and govern, is a shame.

But a man, who only knows how to play, is a shame, too.

Excuse me!

NAITO OKIMORI - Sire.

A rebellion against the Ouchi occurred in Itsukushima.

What?

Itsukushima is our fort to conquer Aki Province.

With this rebellion,

our Kagamiyama Castle will be isolated.

Send a messenger to the Mori now.

If the Amago tries to attack Kagamiyama Castle,

they must side with us. Tell them so.

Immediately!

Yes, sir!

GASSAN-TODA CASTLE (Izumo Province)

Attack!

The rebellion in Itsukushima is an unexpected false step for the Ouchi.

They haven't realized it had been caused by you.

They must be in a panic now.

Send an urgent messenger to the Mori.

AMAGO TSUNEHISA - We're going to attack Kagamiyama Castle.

Tell them to side with us.

- Right now. - Yes, sir.

Capture Kagamiyama Castle and make the Ouchi suffer from the deep wound.

That's my first step to become the ruler.

I, Amago Tsunehisa...

...will capture Kagamiyama Castle.

The Amago army took no time going to battle at Kagamiyama Castle in Aki.

Meanwhile, Kurata Fusanobu, who was in charge of the castle for the Ouchi,

decided to hold up in the castle.

The Ouchi and the Amago sent us a messenge to side with them.

- Join the Amago now. - Right, go for the Amago.

The rebellion in Itsukushima is threatening Kagamiyama Castle from behind.

The Ouchi has no chance of winning now.

Motonari-dono, go for the Amago.

Most of our neighboring constables are with the Amago now.

Siding with the Ouchi now is like dying.

I want him to go for the Ouchi.

Their real strength is incomparable.

Give me a little longer to think about it.

The Ouchi might quell the rebellion right away.

So, I need a little more time.

It's coming down to crunch time.

He must fight as the young and sickly lord's representative. So I can't press him.

Motonari-dono, I'll leave everything to you.

Are you trying to procrastinate?

Are you hoping that the battle will be over while you buy time?

If you focus on this battle at Kagamiyama Castle, it is beneficial for us to side with the Amago.

But, if you take a long view,

you have no worries about the Amago?

Can you trust Amago Tsunehisa?

Tsunehisa is trying to get...

...something bigger than Aki Province.

He wants to become the ruler.

To that end, he will do anything.

He went to Kyoto with the Ouchi, saw the Ouchi's power there,

and betrayed the Takeda at the last moment.

I don't feel like siding with the Amago...

...only for an immediate victory.

They will just use us to conquer the country

and dump us. It's obvious.

So, are you going to side with the Ouchi?

Of course!

Go for the Amago now. Or I don't know what Tsunehisa will do.

If Tsunehisa moves now, nobody can stop him.

Amago Tsunehisa advanced his grand army to Kita-Ikeda, an area right outside the Mori fief.

He set a fire there.

This was his armed intimidation to the Mori.

Sire.

Sire.

The Amago's grand army is coming near the Mori fief.

Without all the other Aki constables, we can do nothing by ourselves.

Motonari-dono.

Sire?

Mii.

Does only power matter in this world?

You obey the strong ones, curry flavor with the strong ones,

and are taken in by the strong ones?

Only power matters?

Isn't there any faith?

I don't want to be...

...forced down by Tsunehisa.

But...

But I...

...have no power to beat him off.

As long as you are alive,

you don't know what will happen in the future.

Stay alive. Just stay alive and...

...make a world of faith, sire.

It's fun to think about your future, because you don't have much power now.

He already has power, which means, he is only going downhill from now.

Uyama-dono is here.

I, Mori Motonari...

...will join Amago Tsunehisa-dono's army as the lord's representative.

This is what my lord said.

"If you are siding with the Amago,"

"make Komatsumaru-dono lead your army and take the vanguard."

What!?

Please wait.

The lord is only 9-years-old.

- And he is physically weak. - Because you didn't join us earlier!

Make Komatsumaru-dono lead your army and take the vanguard.

Please wait!

I'm very sorry for the crude move by my uncle, Tsunehisa.

Please forgive him.

This is how war-torn eras are.

I have no thought of blaming Tsunehisa-dono.

As a mother like you, it is simply heart-breaking.

Please forgive him.

Great Lady.

Why didn't you refuse flatly, saying, "I'm not sending the sickly lord to the battlefield!"

If I were his mother, I'd never let him go!

Smart women act so dumb, at a time like this.

- My lady. - Shut up!

Motonari-dono is dumb, too!

A man is supposed to stop them, even with his own body!

Tsunehisa's foolishness is just outrageous!

He's harassing the weak ones,

because he's twisted!

I'm envious of you, Sugi-dono.

Sugi-dono, you haven't changed a bit.

With age, people start living as if they are becoming enlightened.

But we are only human. We can't attain enlightenment that far.

Maybe humans are not supposed to become enlightened.

I agree with you.

"I'm not sending Komatsumaru to the battlefield!"

I wish...

...I could say that.

Hurry!

Oh, no. Don't cry.

Chiyojumaru.

I know.

Listen.

Daddy has to help out and fight again.

I know.

Daddy wants to cry, too.

Hey, don't cry.

You want to go to Mommy now?

All right?

What's wrong?

What's wrong?

What are you crying for?

I'll come home alive.

I'm happy crying. It's a pre-victory celebration.

Right?

In June, 1523 (Taiei 3),

the Mori left to attack Kagamiyama Castle, with 9-year-old Komatsumaru as the commander.

AMAGO TSUNEHISA'S HEADQUARTERS

Motonari-dono.

We've been waiting for you.

I'm glad you made up your mind.

Mori Motonari.

Aren't you ashamed of coming this late?

End of Episode 13