Ouchi Hiroyo was the 24th head of the mighty Ouchi clan, which was influential as provincial military lords in western Japan during the Middle Ages. As a chief vassal of the Muromachi shogunate, the second of Japan’s three military regimes, Hiroyo was often in Kyoto and grew fond of the capital’s elegance. He developed a town modeled on Kyoto in the Yamaguchi basin, which has similar topography to Kyoto.
This was the start of Yamaguchi, which came to be called the Kyoto of the West.
Ouchi Hiroyo was a great commander well versed in literary and military arts who played a role in central government politics, governed his territories, loved literature, and built and patronized temples and shrines.