High-ranking courtiers and performers of imperial rites moved to Yamaguchi, including dignitaries such as former regent (kampaku) Nijō Tadafusa and retired Grand Minister (Sadaijin) Sanjō Kin'yori (三条公頼; father-in-law of daimyō Takeda Shingen).

[7] This faction, represented by Sue Takafusa, also felt that Yoshitaka had become "weak" due to his complete obsession with the arts to the detriment of military matters after the failed siege of Gassantoda Castle in 1543 against the Amago clan.

[6] He was also supported financially by the merchants of Sakai, who were incensed at Yoshitaka's tolerance and patronage of the Murakami pirates collecting tolls on the Seto Inland Sea's traffic lanes.

However, unfavourable winds pushed them back, and the entourage had to return to shore and seek refuge at the temple Tainei-ji (大寧寺) in Nagato.

[1] The rest of his entourage, including his prepubescent sons, his close retainers, and courtiers from the imperial court, soon perished, either following Yoshitaka in suicide or killed by the rebel forces.

Mōri Motonari bided his time until 1554, when he declared that the emperor ordered him to punish those who killed Yoshitaka, and rebelled against the nominal Ōuchi government.

The Jesuit Juan Fernández, who was at the scene of the chaos in Yamaguchi with Cosme de Torres, described the ensuing violence as "so destructive and deadly that the town was on fire and overflowed with blood for the space of eight days; for with the laws in abeyance, victorious wickedness raged everywhere with impunity, murder and plunder in all directions".

[11] Much was lost when the Ōuchi manor was sacked, including the family archives, countless artifacts, and documents of court rites brought from Kyoto by the courtiers anticipating the move of the capital.

)[5] Despite efforts at rebuilding, the city was burned again in 1557 and 1569, respectively, in the warfare between the Mōri and the Ōuchi claimants, such that in a space of thirty years after the coup, "no sign of its earlier prosperity remained".

[18] The once-peaceful Ōuchi territories in northern Kyushu descended into warfare among the Ōtomo, the Shimazu, and the Ryūzōji, who struggled to fill the vacuum.

[17] The Ōtomo came to control much of these former Ōuchi domains in northern Kyushu, and their city of Funai flourished as a new centre of trade after the fall of Yamaguchi.