| Akechi Mitsuhide | |
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Real Name |
Akechi Mitsuhide |
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Born |
March 10, 1528 |
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Died |
July 2, 1582 |
Origin[]
Akechi Mitsuhide, first called Jūbei from his clan and later Koretō Hyūga no Kami from his title, was a Japanese samurai general of the Sengoku period. Mitsuhide was originally a bodyguard of Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later, one of the trusted generals under daimyō Oda Nobunaga during his war of political unification in Japan.
Akechi Mitsuhide was believed to be born on 10 March 1528 in Tara Castle, Mino Province (present-day Kani, Gifu Prefecture). However, there are no primary historical sources that supported this claim. His father is listed as Akechi Mitsutsuna in various genealogies from the Edo period. Mitsuhide is rumored to be a childhood friend or cousin of Nōhime.
Mitsuhide began serving the "wandering shōgun" Ashikaga Yoshiaki as one of his guardians under Hosokawa Fujitaka. Later, Yoshiaki appealed to Mitsuhide, who suggested Oda Nobunaga instead.
In 1567, after Nobunaga conquered Mino and Ise Province, Mitsuhide and Nobunaga also Yoshiaki marched through Omi province to Kyoto. In 1568, Nobunaga, Yoshiaki and Mitsuhide arrived in Kyoto, Nobunaga made Yoshiaki the next shogun and turned Honkoku-ji Temple into a temporary Shogun palace.
In 1569, the Miyoshi clan triumvirate (Miyoshi Saninshu) attacked Ashikaga Yoshiaki at Honkoku-ji temple. In this battle, Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Fujitaka defended the shōgun and repulsed the Miyoshi clan. As he was tasked as magistrate to manage the government affairs of Kyoto and the surrounding areas under the control of Oda Nobunaga.
In 1570, at the Siege Kanegasaki in Echizen Province. Mitsuhide leading the rearguard of the Oda forces when Nobunaga gave order to retreat. During the conflict between Oda clan against the forces of Saika Ikki, Mitsuhide was assigned to guard the Usayama castle.
In 1571, after the successful attack at the Ikkō-ikki Enryaku-ji temple, Mitsuhide received the area of Sakamoto area and built Sakamoto Castle. On July, after Yoshiaki defeated in the battle of Makishima Castle, he became exiled, and the Muromachi Shogunate was virtually abolished. Thereby, Many of the former Shogunate vassals, entered service as vassals of Mitsuhide.
In 1572, Mitsuhide continued serving Shogun Yoshiaki by contributing to the campaign in Kawachi Province under Ashikaga Yoshiteru. Mitsuhide was a strong general of the Oda, and he also became an ally of the Chosokabe daimyo Motochika Chosokabe, fighting alongside him in the 1579 Second Battle of Kizugawa and defeating the Mori. Mitsuhide also fought the Hatano and Isshiki in Tango Province.
In 1579, his mother was killed by Hideharu Hatano's men after Nobunaga tricked Hideharu into surrendering peacefully after an offer of peace before executing him anyway. This act of revenge by the Hatano struck Mitsuhide's heart, and Nobunaga was alleged to have insulted his mother. Mitsuhide's 13,000-strong army marched east in 1582 instead of fighting the Mori, and they surrounded Nobunaga at Honnoji. There, they set fire to the castle and killed Nobunaga.
Mitsuhide now had to oppose the forces of Nobunaga's vassals, Ieyasu Tokugawa and Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and in July 1582 the Toyotomi army of Hideyoshi meet him at the Battle of Yamazaki. At Yamazaki, Mitsuhide's army (supported by the Chosokabe clan) held strategic positions, but Hideyoshi sent his trusted strategist, Kanbei Kuroda to seize Mt. Tenno, using it to throw rocks down onto the Akechi forces. The forces of Mitsuhide crumbled as the Toyotomi army attacked him, and his army was destroyed in battle. Mitsuhide tried to flee from the battle, but he was beheaded by bandits at the age of 54.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Tales from Old Japanese Dramas
- The Game of Go
- Encyclopædia Britannica (1911)
- Japan: Its History, Arts, and Literature
Notes[]
- The 13-days short reign of Mitsuhide is listed as the inspiration for the yojijukugo set phrase mikkatenka (short-lived reign).
- The Tensho Koshirae sword was first forged during the Azuchi-Momoyama Era and was meant to be a replica of Akechi Mitsuhide's sword. These katanas were made for practical use and thus had a simplistic design philosophy and the metal tempered to be strong and durable. The Akechi family was able to trace their heritage to the Toki clan and from there to the Minamoto clan.
- Akechi Mitsuhide, appears as a character in Pokémon Conquest for the Nintendo DS.
See Also[]
- Wikipedia
- Wikipedia (in popular culture)
- Comicvine
- Historica Wiki