Rinoie Motohiro (Japanese: 李家元宥; 1589–1647) was a samurai from Joseon who served the Mōri clan and retainer of Chōshū Domain in the early Edo period. He was the son of Korean commander and politician Yi Bok-nam.
In 1589, Rinoie was born in Joseon as Yi Gyeong-bu (Korean:이경보;Hanja:李聖賢). When he was a child, the Imjin War occurred. In 1597, his father was killed in the Siege of Namwon.
He was captured by Asonuma Motonobu, the retainer of Mōri and brought to Japan.[1] He brought his military equipment with the Chinese letter 李家龍虎 (Dragon and Tiger of Yi clan) engraved on it.[1]
He learned the Japanese language in Japan. He was summoned by Mōri Terumoto and given the territory of 100 koku in Katsuma, Kumage District.[1] He also became the otogishū (adviser) of the Mōri clan.[2]
He became a Buddhist priest and took the name Motohiro using the character 元 (moto) given by Terumoto from his own name. His surname Rinoie (李家) means "house of Yi" in Japanese.