The True Story of Ishido Kazunari | Ishida Mitsunari

Ishida Mitsunari is presented to us in the Shogun TV show as Ishidō Kazunari. The real man that was Ishida Mitsunari did live during the blood-stained dawn of the Sengoku period, a time characterised by powerful samurai lords vying for the ultimate prize, the esteemed title of the military ruler of Japan, the Shogun. Ishida Mitsunari would emerge as a legendary politician during this era, and he would oppose one of the most powerful and warlike daimyo in Japan, that being Tokugawa Ieyasu. Their rivalry would breed one of Japan's most famous and studied periods. Ishida would rise to prominence during one of the most turbulent times in Japanese history, this is his story. Ishida Mitsunari was born in the year 1559 in the Omi province. He was the second son of Ishida Masasugu, who was a retainer of Azai Nagamasa, the head of the Azai clan. However, in the 1560s, Oda Nobunaga, the head of the Oda clan, was launching a war against the other daimyo in order to unify all Japan. This would culminate in the siege of Odani castle, which was the last stand of the Azai clan. Nagamasa had no hope of winning and committed seppuku. After the destruction of the Azai clan, the Ishida clan withdrew from their service. Oda Nobunaga would later overthrow the ruling shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and drove him into exile. He then became a Buddhist monk and shaved his head. During this time, a young Ishida Mitsunari would grow up knowing the de facto ruler of Japan had destroyed the clan which his family once served. According to one legend, a young Mitsunari was a monk in a Buddhist temple in his youth. He worked and lived in the temple since he was a child, and was a thoughtful person. One day, a samurai named Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a servant of Oda Nobunaga, who had considerable power in Japan at the time, visited the temple. Mitsunari would serve tea to Hideyoshi. The first cup, served in a large chawan tea cup, contained an unusually generous portion of warm green tea. Hideyoshi found the amount and temperature perfectly satisfying, consuming it all at once. The second cup served in the same chawan was slightly hotter and was offered in a reduced quantity. Hideyoshi now at ease savoured this cup more leisurely. The third cup, presented into a smaller bowl and considerably hotter than the previous two, allowed Hideyoshi to enjoy it in a composed manner. Impressed by Mitsunari's skill, Hideyoshi appointed him to his staff, initiating a loyal service. Mitsunari would quickly rise through the ranks and would become a samurai officer in the service of Hideyoshi, who recognised the youth's intellect. By the year 1580, Oda Nobunaga's campaign to consolidate power in Japan had not ended. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, an Oda clan general, would bring a young Mitsunari along to the siege of Tottori. The siege lasted two hundred days, and the people inside the castle would starve. The lord of the castle committed seppuku, to avoid his garrison from cannibalism, and this was Mitsunari's first taste of war. A year later, Mitsunari fought in the Battle of Takamatsu. Oda Nobunaga commanded Hideyoshi to subdue the Chugoku region. This led Hideyoshi to besiege Takamatsu castle, defended by Shimizu Munharu, who was the vassal of Mori Terumoto, of the Mori clan. Hideyoshi diverted a nearby river, which surrounded and flooded the castle. He then began building towers from which his archers and gunmen could fire at his enemies, not being affected by the flood. At the end of the siege, Shimizu Munharu committed seppuku on a boat on the lake created by the flood. Soldiers on both sides of the army saw Munharu surrendering himself to his blade, thus ending the battle. Ishida Mitsunari was building up his stripes as a samurai, and was growing in reputation. However in June, Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful daimyo in Japan at the time, and his eldest son and heir, Oda Nobutada, were both slain at the Honnoji incident after being betrayed by their most trusted general, Akechi Mitsuhide. The shocking and surprising death of Nobunaga created a power vacuum and a succession crisis within the Oda clan. Nobunaga's second and third eldest sons, Oda Nobukatsu and Oda Nobutaka would begin to quarrel over who would succeed their late father. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Nobunaga's loyal retainer, would summon a council to settle the succession crisis. However, the council declared that Nobutada's three-year-old son, Oda Hidenobu was the rightful heir, as Nobutada was the eldest son of Nobunaga, although both were now dead. Hideyoshi would defeat Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki, avenging his lord. During the Oda succession crisis, he emerged as a powerful general and political figure. Hideyoshi would position himself to succeed the late Nobunaga until his grandson Hidenobu came of age. However, Shibata Katsue, another one of Nobunaga's most trusted generals, would not support Hideyoshi's decision. He in turn allied himself with Oda Nobutaka and Takewa Kazumatsu to start a war against Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi would give Mitsunari a mission of grand importance. He was sent to spy on the army of Shibata Katsue. He knew that if captured, it would mean death. But Mitsunari would complete his mission and reported back details to Hideyoshi, which would prove useful in the Battle of Shizugatake which took place in the year 1583. During the battle, Mitsunari would fight in the front lines and was reported to be the first man to thrust a spear during the battle, initiating combat. At the end of the battle, Katsue retreated to Kinotosho castle which was quickly besieged by his enemies. Katsue implored his wife Oichi and his daughters to leave, but his wife decided to stay and die with him while letting their daughters escape. After setting fire to his castle, Katsue committed seppuku. The aftermath of the battle was that Toyotomi Hideyoshi had consolidated his position and now had full influence over the Oda clan. In turn, Mitsunari had gained much praise due to his prowess on the battlefield and was now the vassal of one of the most powerful men in Japan. Oda Nobunaga's second surviving son, Oda Nobukatsu, was invited to Hideyoshi's residence at Osaka castle, as were other samurai generals, in order for them to pay homage to Hideyoshi. However, Nobukatsu broke his ties to Hideyoshi and allied himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was growing in influence and power. The growing tension escalated and resulted in the battle of Komaki and Nogakate, however these campaigns would prove fruitless and all sides would make peace with each other. Although having served in his youth in battle, much of Ishida Mitsunari's reputation would be lost as Hideyoshi promoted Mitsunari to become a financial manager for which he would be remembered for later in life. From the years 1585 and onwards, Mitsunari would become an administrator. He was so useful to Hideyoshi that he was made the daimyo of Sawayama castle, one of the best fortified castles in Japan during the time. Mitsunari had grown rich, due to his intellect and friendship with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he would hire Shima Sakon, a famous samurai and commander to enter into the service of the Toyotomi clan. Mitsunari was soon placed in charge of the famed sword hunt, in which armies would scour the country confiscating the weapons of all potential enemies of the new regime. In this particular sword hunt, Hideyoshi forbade peasants from owning weapons, their swords would be confiscated in order to stop peasant revolts and ensure greater stability of the land. Mitsunari's influence was growing within the Toyotomi clan and Hideyoshi would soon dispatch Mitsunari to subdue some fortresses whose retainers were still loyal to the Hojo clan, who were resisting Hideyoshi's effort to unify Japan. Mitsunari at this point, was one of Hideyoshi's senior retainers. In the year 1590, Mitsunari would lead 23,000 troops to Tatebayashi castle and his forces captured it. Three days after, Mitsunari led his men to Oshi castle and surrounded it. Following the castle's refusal to surrender, it steadfastly repelled multiple assaults launched by Ishida's forces. Mitsunari attempted to emulate Hideyoshi's renowned siege of Takumatsu by flooding the defenders. Despite Mitsunari's remarkable efforts, which involved constructing 28 kilometres of dikes, the castle defiantly withstood the onslaught for over a month. Eventually, the defenders surrendered and Oshi castle gained fame and became known as the Floating Castle. Hideyoshi would also finally achieve his unification of in the year 1591. He became the de facto ruler of the country and acquired the position of Chancellor of the Realm. Mitsunari being his retainer would also rise in influence during this period, now serving and being in the favour of the most powerful man in Japan. Mitsunari held a prominent position among the bureaucrats in Hideyoshi's government, esteemed for his unwavering character. He fostered many friendships, with two notable figures being the renowned samurai Otani Yoshisugu, a samurai who was known for two main reasons, his leprosy and his alliance and friendship with Mitsunari. His other close confidant was Shima Sakon, a man he had hired and a samurai renowned for his wisdom and knowledge of strategy. Upon consolidating his control over Japan, Hideyoshi dispatched envoys to Korea with the aim of restoring diplomatic relations which had been strained by decades of unchecked Japanese pirate raids on Korean ports. The envoys proposed normalising relations to King Sonjo, albeit with the condition of allowing Japanese military passage through Korea for an invasion of China. While Korea sought to mend ties with Japan, it was unwilling to jeopardise its long-standing vassalage to China, consequently, the request was outright denied. Despite the refusal, King Sonjo remained wary of Hideyoshi's intentions and dispatched envoys to Japan to ascertain the truth. Upon their return, conflicting reports emerged, opting to heed the envoy who suggested Japan wouldn't attack Korea, King Sonjo refrained from preparing any military defences for the Korean peninsula. Meanwhile, Hideyoshi marshalled a formidable army of 225,000 soldiers for a spring invasion in the year 1592. The force comprised of a significant contingent of samurai, renowned for their prowess as elite horsemen and foot soldiers, all battle-hardened from a lifetime of war living through the Sengoku period. Ishida Mitsunari was sent as one of the three bureaucrats to negotiate with the Korean officials, along with Mashita Nagamori, the lord of Koriyama Castle, and Asano Nagamasa, who was Hideyoshi's brother-in-law and one of his chief advisors. The invasion of Korea, also known as the Imjin War, involved two brutal invasions, one in the year 1592 until a truce was made in the year 1596 and a second invasion in the year 1597. Although Mitsunari was highly accomplished within Hideyoshi's court, he found himself at odds with certain daimyo renowned for their martial prowess, such as Kuroda Nagamasa who hated Mitsunari due to him allegedly not rewarding all those who took part in the Korean invasions for his own benefit. Among those who disliked Mitsunari, there was also Hashisuka Iemasa, the lord of Tokushima, and also there was Hideyoshi's nephew, Kobayakawa Hideaki. Kobayakawa Hideaki harboured resentment toward Mitsunari due to a letter written by Mitsunari to Hideyoshi expressing a negative opinion on his nephew's reckless action on the battlefield during the invasions of Korea. Tokugawa Ieyasu, an ambitious and battle-hardened daimyo, would spread rumours that Mitsunari was behind Hideyoshi's decision to not reward his nephew Hideaki with the province of Chikugo due to his reckless behaviour at the siege of Ulsan. Although it was a Japanese victory, they took heavy casualties, but war is war and Mitsunari was getting more of a reputation as Toyotomi Hideyoshi would soon accuse his closest adult male relative, Toyotomi Hidesugu of attempting to stage a coup after the birth of Hideyoshi's son, Toyotomi Hideyori. Hidesugu was then ordered to commit seppuku and his entire family including his children were slain on Hideyoshi's orders. Just three years later, Hideyoshi's health would begin to fail and he would soon die in the year 1598. On his deathbed, he created a regency government known as the Council of Five Elders to ensure his heir Hideyori could succeed him as Hideyori was but five years old. With Hideyoshi's death, the Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan. Due to Hideyoshi wiping out his own family prior to his death, his clan was left weak and the rising power of Tokugawa Ieyasu was beginning to become a concern to the remaining Council of Elders who were unsure if he could be relied upon as a supporter of the Toyotomi government. As Hideyoshi's rule waned and after his passing, two primary factions emerged. Tokugawa Ieyasu stood unchallenged in terms of seniority, rank, reputation and overall sway within the regency government. He commanded the loyalty of numerous lords in eastern Japan and on the opposing side was Ishida Mitsunari, who garnered support from the loyalists of the Toyotomi clan and lords from western Japan. When the respected member of the council, Maeda Toshi died, the situation took a turn for the worst and Tokugawa Ieyasu began recruiting retainers of the Toyotomi clan. Ieyasu was to do this as the Toyotomi had no adult male samurai representing them. Mitsunari however, loyal to the Toyotomi cause, owed the late Hideyoshi everything and would take advantage of the chaos following his master's demise. He created an alliance to challenge Ieyasu's supporters. Mitsunari would rally the Toyotomi loyalists at his residence in Sawayama Castle and convened with many of his old friends, one being Otani Yoshisugu, famous for his leprosy. He would also meet with Mashita Nagamori, who served with him as a diplomat during the Korean war and he also met Ankokuji Ekei, a military monk and a descendant from the famous Takeda clan. It was here that they solidified their alliance and extended an invitation to Mori Terumoto, the head of the Mori clan to lead them. Together, they established what would become known as the Western Army. Terumoto secured Osaka Castle as their headquarters, taking advantage of the absence of the Tokugawa forces who had vacated to attack another area. Many daimyo would also rally to Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose army became known as the Eastern Army. On September the 8th, Ieyasu learned that Mitsunari had captured Fushimi Castle and his allies were on the move. On October the 20th, in the year 1600, Ieyasu would find out that Mitsunari had deployed his troops at Sekigahara in a defensive position. As dawn broke on October the 21st, the Tokugawa advance guard encountered Ishida's army amid the thick fog lingering from the earlier rain. Neither faction initially spotted the other due to the dense mist. Startled, both sides hastily retreated, yet this encounter heightened their awareness of each other's proximity as the wind swept away the fog, revealing the positions of both sides. Last minute commands were issued and the battle commenced. Fukushima Masanori, the leader of the Tokugawa guard, would charge and attack the Western Army's flank, led by Yukida Haide. The earth remained sodden from the rain of the preceding day, plunging the conflict into a more primal struggle. Fukushima's advance was steadily progressing, yet it left their flank vulnerable to Otani Yoshisugo's attack from across the Fuju River. Sensing an opportunity, Yoshisugu exploited this weakness to strike. Koboyakawa Hideyuki, Hideyoshi's nephew, would remain neutral during the battle, however as the fighting grew more intense, he eventually joined in the carnage and charged at Otani's position. At this point, Otani was now outnumbered. Seeing this, many daimyo would switch sides in the heat of battle, betraying Mitsunari and turning the tide of the slaughter. Heavily outnumbered, Otani had no choice but to retreat. Thus, Ishida's right flank was destroyed and his centre was being pushed back, so he retreated. Shimasakon, Mitsunari's close friend and ally, was shot and was fatally wounded. Otani Yoshisugu, the leper samurai, would commit seppuku, and many other of Mitsunari's allies were captured. Mitsunari would manage to escape the would go on the run. Not long after the battle, he was caught by peasant villagers and was seized. He was handed in to the authorities who now answered to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the winner of the battle of Segigahara. Mitsunari was then taken prisoner and was condemned to death, along with The three were executed publicly. After Ishida's death, his head was severed from his body and was placed on a stand for all the people in Kyoto to see. In traditional Japanese historiography, Mitsunari's legacy was often overlooked due to his defeat by Tokugawa Ieyasu, with Mitsunari being depicted as a feeble bureaucrat. However, his reputation has seen a resurgence in recent times. Later historians acknowledge his strategic prowess and previous battlefield successes. Many speculate that the outcome of Segigahara could have tilted in his favour had a few more lords remained loyal to him. Although the Ishida name would die, Mitsunari's bloodline would manage to live on, even though his enemy Tokugawa Ieyasu ascended to become the Shogun. One of the sons of Ishida Mitsunari changed his family name to carry on living, ending the Ishida legacy and leaving the name in the devastating era of the Sengoku period. I hope you all enjoyed the video, if you did be sure to like, subscribe and share and I'll see you all soon for another history profile.