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Ishida Mitsunari ( 1560 - November 6, 1600) was a samurai
Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial society Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character ? 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 Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Ieyasu to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate,...
 following the Azuchi-Momoyama period
Azuchi-Momoyama period

The came at the end of the Sengoku period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place....
 of the 17th century. His childhood name was Sakichi .

He was born in the south of Omi Province
Omi Province

is an old provinces of Japan of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tosando Circuit . It is nicknamed as ...
 (which is now Shiga prefecture
Shiga Prefecture

is a Prefectures of Japan of Japan which is part of the Kansai region on Honshu Island. The capital is the city of Otsu, Shiga....
), and was the second son of Ishida Masatsugu
Ishida Masatsugu

was a Japanese samurai of the late Sengoku period who served the Azai clan. He was the father of Ishida Mitsunari.ja:????...
, who was a retainer for the Azai clan. 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 Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a Sengoku period daimyo who unified 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, after Hideyoshi's castle....
, but the accuracy of this legend is doubted since it only came about during the Edo period
Edo period

The , or , is a division of History of Japan running from 1603 to 1868. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu....
.

Mitsunari met Toyotomi Hideyoshi when the former was still young and the latter was the daimyo
Daimyo

The were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. The term derives from a shortening of the title , which literally means "great named land" and originally simply referred to the owner of a large estate....
 of Nagahama.






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Ishida Mitsunari ( 1560 - November 6, 1600) was a samurai
Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial society Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character ? 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 Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Ieyasu to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate,...
 following the Azuchi-Momoyama period
Azuchi-Momoyama period

The came at the end of the Sengoku period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place....
 of the 17th century. His childhood name was Sakichi .

He was born in the south of Omi Province
Omi Province

is an old provinces of Japan of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tosando Circuit . It is nicknamed as ...
 (which is now Shiga prefecture
Shiga Prefecture

is a Prefectures of Japan of Japan which is part of the Kansai region on Honshu Island. The capital is the city of Otsu, Shiga....
), and was the second son of Ishida Masatsugu
Ishida Masatsugu

was a Japanese samurai of the late Sengoku period who served the Azai clan. He was the father of Ishida Mitsunari.ja:????...
, who was a retainer for the Azai clan. 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 Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a Sengoku period daimyo who unified 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, after Hideyoshi's castle....
, but the accuracy of this legend is doubted since it only came about during the Edo period
Edo period

The , or , is a division of History of Japan running from 1603 to 1868. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu....
.

Mitsunari met Toyotomi Hideyoshi when the former was still young and the latter was the daimyo
Daimyo

The were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. The term derives from a shortening of the title , which literally means "great named land" and originally simply referred to the owner of a large estate....
 of Nagahama. When Hideyoshi engaged in a campaign in the Chugoku region, Mitsunari assisted his lord in attacks against castles like the Tottori Castle
Tottori Castle

was the central Japanese castle of the Tottori, 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 Castle
Takamatsu Castle (Bitchu)

Takamatsu Castle of Bitchu Province was a Japanese castle located in what is today the city of Okayama, Okayama in Okayama Prefecture. Like most Japanese castles, it was built in the late 16th century, during the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history....
 (in present-day Okayama
Okayama Prefecture

is a Prefectures of Japan of Japan located in the Chugoku region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Okayama....
).

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 Sakai province, a role he took together with his elder brother Ishida Masazumi. He was appointed one of the five bugyo
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 daimyo
Daimyo

The were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. The term derives from a shortening of the title , which literally means "great named land" and originally simply referred to the owner of a large estate....
 of Sawayama in Omi Province
Omi Province

is an old provinces of Japan of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tosando Circuit . It is nicknamed as ...
, a five hundred thousand koku
Koku

The is a unit of volume in Japan, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres....
 fief (now a part of Hikone). Sawayama Castle
Sawayama Castle

is a castle in the city of Hikone, Shiga, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. This castle was an important military stronghold of Omi Province. The Azai clan held this castle in the Sengoku Period....
 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 Masanori
Fukushima Masanori

was a samurai of the late Sengoku Period to early Edo Period. 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 Kato Kiyomasa and others....
. After Hideyoshi's death, their conflict worsened. The central point of their conflict was the question whether Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu

Japanese name|Tokugawa}} 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....
 could be relied on as a supporter of the Toyotomi government, whose nominal lord was the child Toyotomi Hideyori
Toyotomi Hideyori

Toyotomi Hideyori , 1593 - June 5, 1615, was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan....
.

In 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Ieyasu to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate,...
 was fought as a result of this political conflict. Mitsunari succeeded in organizing an army led by Mori Terumoto
Mori Terumoto

Mori Terumoto was the son of Mori Takamoto and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mori Motonari, fought against Toyotomi Hideyoshi but was eventually overcome, participated in the Kyushu campaign on Hideyoshi's side and built Hiroshima Castle....
. But the coalition following Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu

Japanese name|Tokugawa}} 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....
 was greater, and the battle resulted in Mitsunari's defeat.

After his defeat, he sought to escape, but was caught by villagers. He was executed by a particularly brutal decapitation
Decapitation

Decapitation , or beheading, is the cutting off of the head of a person or animal. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or capital punishment; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by means of a guillotine....
 in Kyoto
Kyoto

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, whereby he was buried up to his shoulders in the ground and locals were invited to saw at his neck with a bamboo saw. 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 Yukinaga
Konishi Yukinaga

Konishi Yukinaga was a Japanese Christian daimyo under Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was the son of a wealthy Sakai merchant, Konishi Ryusa.In 1587, during the Invasion of Kyushu, he quelled the local uprising in Higo province and was awarded a fief in that province....
 and Ankokuji Ekei
Ankokuji Ekei

Ankokuji Ekei was a daimyo of Aki Province in Japan, as well as a Rinzai Buddhism monk following the Azuchi-Momoyama period of the 16th century....
 were also executed.

Mitsunari had three sons (Shigeie, Shigenari
Ishida Shigenari

was 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 Domain....
 and Sakichi) and three daughters (only the younger girl's name is known, Tatsuko) with his wife, and another child from a mistress.

In fiction

See People of the Sengoku period in popular culture
People of the Sengoku period in popular culture

Many significant Japanese historical people of the Sengoku period appear in works of popular culture such as anime, manga, and video games....
.

Further reading

  • Bryant, Anthony. Sekigahara 1600: The Final Struggle for Power. Praeger Publishers, 2005.


External links

  • The website of Samurai Author and Historian Anthony J. Bryant
    Anthony J. Bryant

    Anthony J. Bryant is the author of four books for Osprey Military Publishing on samurai history. He is an amateur History of Japan specializing in Kamakura Period, Muromachi Period, and Momoyama period warrior culture....