Born the eldest son of Chōsokabe Kunichika of Tosa (Kōchi). Fair and gentle, he was reportedly nicknamed "the princess boy".
In a rather late first battle at Nagahama he fought spear in hand and amazed everyone. That year his father died and he succeeded him.
He defeated the Aki of eastern Tosa. He organized the ichiryō gusoku, farmer-warriors who could be mustered quickly.
Defeating the Ichijō at the Shimanto River, he unified Tosa. He also allied with Oda Nobunaga and set his sights on all of Shikoku.
His expansion in Shikoku put him at odds with Nobunaga, whose invasion of Shikoku loomed. The Honnō-ji Incident, just before it set out, called it off.
He had brought most of Shikoku under his sway (extent debated), but when Toyotomi Hideyoshi's huge army attacked he surrendered and kept only Tosa.
Sent to Bungo for Hideyoshi's Kyushu campaign, he was defeated by the Shimazu at the Hetsugigawa. His promising eldest son Nobuchika was killed, and Motochika was grief-stricken.
He issued the Chōsokabe Motochika Hyakkajō, a code for governing his domain. Naming his fourth son Morichika heir, among other things, caused strife within the house.
He died of illness at Fushimi. The next year Morichika joined the Western Army at Sekigahara, and the Chōsokabe lost their domain.
Oda NobunagaToyotomi HideyoshiToyotomi Hidenaga
Ashikaga YoshihideImagawa UjizaneNabeshima NaoshigeHonda MasanobuHasegawa TōhakuToyotomi HidenagaKuki YoshitakaTokugawa Ieyasu
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.