Mononobe no Moriya

Mononobe no Moriya was a senior minister at the late sixth-century Yamato court. The Nihon shoki, a royal chronicle completed in 720, records his continuation as ōmuraji, one of the court's leading ministerial positions, when Emperor Bidatsu acceded in 572. He served alongside Soga no Umako. Their rivalry developed within a government whose ministers had their own relatives, armed followers and royal allies. [S01, S02]

In 585, the chronicle reports Moriya's opposition to Umako's Buddhist worship during an epidemic. Bidatsu authorized its suppression; Moriya destroyed the temple and image, and officials imprisoned and flogged the nuns whom Umako supported. The episode involved the ruler's orders and the treatment of a small religious community. The text's claims that worship or its destruction caused disease belong to its religious explanation of events. [S01]

After Emperor Yōmei's death in 587, Moriya supported Prince Anahobe's claim to the throne. Umako's coalition killed Anahobe and then attacked Moriya, who was killed in the fighting. The coalition included Prince Hatsusebe, subsequently Emperor Sushun, and Prince Umayado, later known as Shōtoku. The chronicle describes the transfer of Moriya's land and enslaved dependants to victors and a temple, while some relatives escaped. His defeat altered both succession and the resources available to rival households. [S02]