Migita Hiroaki (右田弘詮)
Hiroaki MIGITA (year of birth unknown - December 1, 1523) was a military commander in the Sengoku period (period of warring states). He was a senior vassal of the Ouchi clan. He was originally of the Tatara clan. His family lineage was the Migita clan, a branch line of the Ouchi clan which was allegedly in the line of the Tatara clan, a clan of the settlers of which ancestor was allegedly King Shomyoo in Baekje. Hiroaki was from the Sue clan, a branch line of the Migita clan, but inherited the Migita clan which was the head family. He was the son of Hirofusa SUE. His mother was a daughter of Morisato NIHO. Hiroaki was a younger maternal half-brother of Hiromori SUE. His official court rank was Awa no kami (Governor of Awa Province) jugoi (Junior Fifth Rank). He was the lord of Suwayama-jo Castle in Nagato Province. It is said that he was also the lord of Yata-jo Castle in Nagato Province. Hiroaki was also called himself Hiroaki SUE or Hiroaki ASAKURA. His sons were Takayasu SUE and Okinari SUE. His daughter became a wife of Okifusa SUE.
Biography
Hiroaki served the two generations of Masahiro OUCHI and Yoshioki OUCHI. Hirofusa SUE, his father, had succeeded Hiroatsu MIGITA of the same clan but returned to the original family name of Sue because Hiromasa SUE, his older brother, was killed in battle, and transferred the Migita family to his son Hiroaki in 1465.
In August 1478, Hiroaki moved to Kyusyu with Hiromori, his older brother, to fight with the Shoni clan and destroyed them. In the following year, he replaced his older brother as Shugodai (deputy military governor) of Chikuzen Province.
In 1482, his older brother Hiromori SUE, unexpectedly died at the young age of 28, and as his children were still young, Hiroaki returned to the original family name of Sue and used the name of Sue Hyogo no kami (Sue, the head of the armory). Hiroaki served as Bandai (deputy and guardian of the family head) until Okifusa SUE, the third son of Hiromori, his older brother, attained manhood and also as Shugodai in Suo and Chikuzen Provinces, while holding a fort and attending to government affairs in the domain when Yoshioki OUCHI, his lord, visited Kyoto. The family name is written as 'Sue clan, the tentative name' in family trees and it is said that he returned to the family name of Migita, but it is not possible to confirm this using surviving documents, and it is therefore considered that he kept the family name Sue. At first Hiroaki took the name Nakatsukasa no taifu (Senior Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Central Affairs), but was appointed to Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) Awa no kuni no kami (Governor of Awa Province) in 1518. Moreover, it is said that he transferred the family estate to his son Takayasu in the previous year. He later took the name (Hogosingen) Shosui and this became his Buddhist name after his death. Hiroaki died at Hakozaki in Chikuzen Province due to illness in December 1, 1523.
The wife of Okifusa SUE, to whom Hiroaki acted as guardian was his daughter and her son was Harukata SUE (Takafusa). Twenty-eight years after the death of Hiroaki, this Harutaka rebelled against his lord Yoshitaka OUCHI (the son of Yoshioki) and Takayasu, the son of Hiroaki who was a close associate of Yoshitaka, and Takahiro, Takayasu's legitimate son, resisted this, but died on the battlefield (the revolt of Taineiji).
Collection and revision of "Azumakagami" (The Mirror of the East)
Hiroaki MIGITA (Hiroaki SUE) was also known as a man of literature and had a close friendship with the leading men of culture of the time such as Sogi and Kensai INAWASHIRO. Hiroaki had heard from these men of culture that 'there is a record of the Kanto region entitled "Azumakagami"' which was 'a paragon of the literary and military arts' but it is said that he was unable to see it for himself.
However he was able to obtain a 42 volume copy circa 1501 and employed several writers to transcribe the text and he hid them. The text covered of the currently known period from 1180 to 1266 but there is a period of more than 20 years missing.
Therefore, Hiroaki entrusted monks on pilgrimages throughout the country and guests who came and went as well as personally traveling to not only Kyoto but also as far as the Kinai, Togoku, and Hokuriku regions to finally obtain the five volumes of the missing portion. Hiroaki had these volumes transcribed in the same format as the previously transcribed volumes to create a complete 47-volume set plus an additional contents and chronology volume to make 48 volumes. This was in October 4, 1522. The afterword of this collection is as follows.
After the above revolt of Taineiji, Motohiro, Takayasu's second son who had escaped trouble took refuge with Motonari MORI in Aki Province. Hiroaki's "Azumakagami" was also presented to the Mori clan at that time, and consequently handed down to the descendants of Motoharu KIKKAWA, the second son of Motonari. Therefore Hiroaki's "Azumakagami" is called the "Kikkawa bon" (the copy of Azumakagami owned by the Kikkawa family) today. Even though a three year section is missing, it is now regarded as the best version Azumakagami.