Ishida Mitsunari was a
samuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
who led the Western army in the
Battle of SekigaharaThe , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...
following the
Azuchi-Momoyama periodThe came at the end of the Warring States Period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place. It spans the years from approximately 1573 to 1603, during which time Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, imposed order...
of the 17th century. Also known by his court title,
Jibunoshō (治部少輔)
He was born in the north of
Ōmi Provinceis an old province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. It is nicknamed as .Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, is located at the center of the province...
(which is now
Nagahamais a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa. The city center was developed and renamed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi when Hideyoshi moved his center of administration from Odani Castle...
,
Shiga prefectureis a prefecture of Japan, which forms part of the Kansai region on Honshu Island. The capital is the city of Ōtsu.- History :Shiga was known as Ōmi Province or Gōshū before the prefectural system was established...
), and was the second son of
Ishida Masatsuguwas a Japanese samurai of the late Sengoku period who served the Azai clan. He was the father of Ishida Mitsunari....
, who was a retainer for the Azai clan. His childhood name was
Sakichi . The Ishida withdrew from service after the Azai's defeat in 1573. According to legend, he was a monk in a Buddhist temple before he served
Toyotomi Hideyoshiwas a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
, but the accuracy of this legend is doubted since it only came about during the
Edo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
.
Mitsunari met Toyotomi Hideyoshi when the former was still young and the latter was the
daimyois a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of Nagahama. When Hideyoshi engaged in a campaign in the Chūgoku region, Mitsunari assisted his lord in attacks against castles like the
Tottori Castle' was the central castle of the Tottori han in feudal Japan. It was a yamashiro, or 'mountain-castle', built into the mountain itself, using natural obstacles and defenses to a greater extent than man-made walls...
and
Takamatsu CastleTakamatsu Castle of Bitchu Province was a Japanese castle located in what is today the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture. Like most Japanese castles, it was built in the late 16th century, during the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history.The castle, of the hirajō type, was built very...
(in present-day
Okayamais a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama.- History :During the Meiji Restoration, the area of Okayama Prefecture was known as Bitchū Province, Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province.- Geography :...
).
After Hideyoshi seized power, Mitsunari became known as a talented financial manager due to his knowledge and skill at calculation. From 1585 onward, he was the administrator of
Sakaiis a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the Medieval era.Following the February 2005 annexation of the town of Mihara, from Minamikawachi District, the city has grown further and is now the fourteenth most populous city in...
, a role he took together with his elder brother Ishida Masazumi. He was appointed one of the five
bugyo', often translated as "commissioner" or "magistrate" or "governor," was a title assigned to government officers in pre-modern Japan; other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given commissioner's tasks or jurisdiction....
, or top administrators of Hideyoshi's government. Hideyoshi made him a
daimyois a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of Sawayama in
Ōmi Provinceis an old province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. It is nicknamed as .Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, is located at the center of the province...
, a five hundred thousand
kokuThe is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
fief (now a part of Hikone).
Sawayama Castleis a castle in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. This castle was an important military stronghold of Ōmi Province. The Azai clan held this castle in the Sengoku Period. Ishida Mitsunari held it at the end of the 16th century after the ruin of the Azai clan.This castle was attacked by...
was known as one of the best-fortified castles during that time.
Mitsunari was a leader of bureaucrats in Hideyoshi's government, and was known for his rigid character. Though he had many friends, he was on bad terms with some daimyo that were known as good warriors, including Hideyoshi's relative
Fukushima Masanoriwas a Japanese daimyo of the late Sengoku Period to early Edo Period who served as lord of the Hiroshima Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the battle of Shizugatake in 1583, and soon became known as one of Seven Spears of Shizugatake which also included Katō Kiyomasa and...
. After Hideyoshi's death, their conflict worsened. The central point of their conflict was the question whether
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
could be relied on as a supporter of the Toyotomi government, whose nominal lord was the child
Toyotomi Hideyoriwas the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga....
.
In 1600, the
Battle of SekigaharaThe , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...
was fought as a result of this political conflict. Mitsunari succeeded in organizing an army led by
Mori TerumotoMōri Terumoto , son of Mōri Takamoto and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, fought against Toyotomi Hideyoshi but was eventually overcome, participated in the Kyūshū campaign on Hideyoshi's side and built Hiroshima Castle, thus essentially founding Hiroshima.Terumoto was a...
. But the coalition following
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
was greater, and the battle resulted in Mitsunari's defeat.
After his defeat, he sought to escape, but was caught by villagers. He was beheaded in Kyoto. After execution, his head, severed from his body, was placed on a stand for all the people in Kyoto to see. However, a rumor has it that after a few days, his head mysteriously disappeared . Other daimyo of the Western army, like
Konishi YukinagaKonishi Yukinaga was a Kirishitan daimyō under Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was the son of a wealthy Sakai merchant, Konishi Ryūsa...
and
Ankokuji Ekeiwas a diplomat of Mōri clan, a powerful feudal clan in the Chūgoku region, Japan, as well as a Rinzai Buddhist monk following the Azuchi-Momoyama period of the 16th century. He went with Toyotomi Hideyoshi on his invasion of Korea, was named abbot of Tōfuku-ji in Kyoto Prefecture, and was given a...
were also executed.
Mitsunari had three sons (Shigeie,
Shigenariwas a Japanese samurai of the early Edo era. He was also known as . The son of Ishida Mitsunari, Shigenari served as a retainer of the Tsugaru clan of Hirosaki....
and Sakichi) and three daughters (only the younger girl's name is known, Tatsuko) with his wife, and another child from a mistress.
Ishida Mitsunari in Fiction
See People of the Sengoku period in popular culture
Further reading
- Bryant, Anthony. Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle for Power. Praeger Publishers, 2005
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External links
- SengokuDaimyo.com The website of Samurai Author and Historian Anthony J. Bryant
-Biography:Anthony J. Bryant is the author of four books for Osprey Military Publishing on samurai history. He is an historian of Japan specializing in Kamakura, Muromachi, and Momoyama period warrior culture. His areas of interest also include Heian-period court structure and society and Japanese...
- SamuraiArchives.com