Hayashi Narinaga - Early Life and Background

Early Life and Background

Hayashi Narinaga was born 1517 in Doi, Kawajiri. It is not part of Mihara in Bingo Province. His birth year is estimated from his age at death. Narinaga died in 1605 at the age of 89 but in Japanese counting an infant is counted as already one year old at birth. During his younger years he was known as Hayashi Saburozaemon Shigesato. His father is named as Kikuchi Takenaga who was adopted into the Hayashi clan as Hayashi Moku-no-jō Michiaki, his mother is unknown. His father's title of Moku-no-jō (secretary of the Bureau of Carpentry) is passed down in the Hayashi clan for a few generations. Takenaga is likely descended from the powerful Kikuchi clan that had ruled Higo-no-kuni for generations during the Muromachi period. Sometime after the fall of the Kikuchi in Hoki he was taken into the Hayashi family and he changed his name. The Kikuchi had been overthrown by the Otomo of Kyūshū.

His father Kikuchi Takenaga came from the Kikuchi family that were the koku-jin-shu (Ji-samurai) of Hoki Province. Their relationship with the Kikuchi of Higo Province is unclear, but there is a tradition that the father of Takenaga was Kikuchi Takekuni of the Higo line but researchers can see that their lifetimes do not fit. It is more likely that he was a grandson of Takekuni. Certainly the ancestor of the Hayashi clan must have come from Kyūshū to work for the Mōri clan. Some new research has linked the Kikuchi clan descended from Gwisil Jipsa, a refugee from the ancient Korean kingdom of Paekche.

Kikuchi Otohachi is a famous figure from the Kikuchi family of Hoki. He was well known as a "mosho" a strong busho but was killed by Yamanaka Yukimori. They were retainers of the Yukimatsu clan of Izumo Province who in turn were retainers of the powerful Yamana. The Kikuchi lived at Odaka-jō. Amako Clan attacked and took over. Narinaga and his father join the campaign to secede from the Amago Clan. In 1562 Odaka-jo fell to Mori's general, Sugihara Morishige. After this the Yukimatsu for whom the Kikuchi were retainers left to Bingo-no-kuni and Aki-no-kuni to become retainers of the Mori. Some of the Kikuchi left with them such as Kikuchi Takenaga and it seems it was then that he entered the Hayashi clan. The reason why he changed Family name to Hayashi is not clear. There is a record that Hayashi Yajiro in Kawajiri died in 1552. This Hayashi Family had big power in that area. So, there is a story some say that Takenaga married with one of the daughters of that Hayashi family. Narinaga received the character "nari, 就" from his new lord Mōri Motonari and "naga, 長" from his father Kikuchi Takenaga.