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Top 10 Astonishing Facts about Akechi Mitsuhide

Portrait of Akechi Mitsuhide. Courtesy: Gameposo.

Akechi Mitsuhide first called Jubei from his clan and later Koreto Hyuga no Kami was a Japanese samurai general of the Sengoku period best known as the assassin of Oda Nobunaga.

Mitsuhide was a bodyguard of Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later a successful general under daimyo Nobunaga during his war of political unification in Japan.

Let’s take a look at some of the most astonishing facts about him;

1. He was born in 1528 to the Toki-Akechi Family of the Shugo Toki Clan

Akechi Mitsuhide was believed to be born on 10 March 1528 in Tara Castle, Mino Province (present-day Kani, Gifu Prefecture) Mitsuhide was a descendant of the Toki-Akechi family of the Shugo Toki clan.

Mitsuhide is rumoured to be a childhood friend or cousin of Nohime. It is believed that he was raised to be a general among 10,000 by Saito Dosan and the Toki clan during their governorship of the Mino Province.

When Dosan’s son, Saito Yoshitatsu, rebelled against his father in 1556, Mitsuhide sided with Dosan.

2. He Served under Ashikaga Shogunate and Oda Clan

Mitsuhide began serving the “wandering shogun” Ashikaga Yoshiaki as one of his guardians under Hosokawa Fujitaka.

Shogun Ashikaga ordered Asakura Yoshikage to be his official protector, an offer which Yoshikage declined. Yoshiaki appealed to Mitsuhide, who suggested Oda Nobunaga instead. 

He came into the service of Oda Nobunaga following Nobunaga’s conquest of Mino in 1566. He was among the first samurai who included Shibata Katsuie and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. 

3. Mitsuhide was Responsible for the Death of Oda Nobunaga

Mitsuhide rebelled against Nobunaga for unknown reasons in the Honno-Ji Incident in 1582, forcing the unprotected Nobunaga to commit seppuku in Kyoto. 

Akechi Mitsuhide was one of the three Samurai highly regarded by Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese warrior and official in the government. 

He is mostly best remembered as the traitor responsible for the death of his master and leader Oda Nobunaga. 

Mistuhide directed his 13,000 samurai to the Honno-Ji, a temple in Kyoto where Nobunaga was billeted with just a handful of bodyguards.

Mitsuhide’s troops surrounded the Honnoji, and in the melee, Nobunaga was wounded. Nobunaga.  The Great General retired to the burning temple where he is believed to have committed seppuku amongst the flames. 

4. He was Treated Severely by his Master Oda Nobunaga

Another portrait of Akechi Mitsuhide. Photo by: Utagawa Yoshiko.

He was treated severely by Nobunaga often reprimanded and publicly humiliated in of his peers and even foreign travellers of the day who recorded such insults in their journals.

This mistreatment is one of the reasons for his treachery. Another reason put forward is the so-called Hatano incident. 

He was however the first of these samurai to be awarded a castle, Sakamoto in Omi (Shiga Prefecture), by Nobunaga, and later received Kamiyama in Tamba. 

5. He was Defeated by One of his Master’s Servants before he could Take Over 

File:Nobunaga strikes Mitsuhide. Photo by: Utagawa Toyonobu.

He declared himself Shogun after the death of his master and looted Azuchi castle to reward his men and maintain their loyalty.

Mitsuhide attempted to make gestures of friendship to a panicked Imperial Court; he also made many attempts to win over the other clans but to no avail. 

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, another one of his most prominent servants, went to war and won against Mitsuhide. He had heard of Matsuhide’s coup d’etat. 

Hidesy decided against being detained fighting with the Mori and was unable to respond to Mitsuhide’s coup d’état. 

6. His Mother was Killed by the Surviving Retainers of Hideharu 

During the capture of Yakami castle in 1579, his mother was killed. Mitsuhide had taken Hatano Hideharu’s mother hostage in exchange for the castle, ending the fighting on peaceful terms.

Nobunaga terminated this treaty and had Hatano Hideharu’s mother crucified, and executed Hideharu.

The surviving retainers of Hideharu turned on Mitsuhide and killed his mother. The death of his mother made him hungry for revenge.

7. Mitsuhide Served Different Clans before Serving Oda Nobunaga 

Before he started working under Oda Nobunaga, Mitsuhide served several other clans. First, he served the Toki clan, the military governors of Mino, as a member of a branch family. 

Mitsuhide Akechi then worked for Sengoku Daimyo Dosan Saito serving as an entertainer but later in the army, he served the Wakasa Takeda clan, on his mother’s side, and then the Asakura clan in Echizen Province.

Mitsuhide served as a commander of ashigaru or lightly armoured foot soldiers. Mitsuhide joined the main contingent to burn down the temples on Mount Hiei and was awarded governance of the Shiga District of Omi Province. 

8. He Received Several Awards before his Death

During his time in the service under Nobunaga, he received numerous awards including; the Court titles of Junior Fifth Rank (Lower), Governor of Hyuga and the honorary title of Koreto Hyoga-no-kami. 

This was during the time Mitsuhide served as a dual magistrate, assessing taxes on temple holdings in Kyoto and its environs.

9. Mitsuhide’s Sister was Nobunaga’s Consort

His sister was his master Nobunaga’s consort and she was killed under Nobunaga’s watch by his enemies. Mitsuhide became severely depressed after the death of his younger sister, Tsumaki, in the summer of 1581.

Her passing may have been one of the contributions to the later separation between Mitsuhide and Nobunaga. 

In the fifth month of 1582, Mitsuhide was relieved of his duties to concierge guests of Tokugawa Ieyasu and was ordered to support Hashiba Hideyoshi in the campaign against the Mori. 

10. He was Killed by Local Peasants on 2nd July 1582

The Grave of Akechi Mitsuhide. Photo by; Kenpei.

He lost the battle after being unable to stop the army from advancing to the shores of the Yodo River. In any event, Mitsuhide then attempted to flee under cover of darkness to the safety of Sakamoto Castle but suffered a serious injury when pierced with bamboo spears by peasants. 

They were engaged in Ochimushagari, a practice whereby locals captured and killed wandering samurai as a means to protect their villages while bartering away the belongings of their victims.

Wounded and with nowhere to turn, Mitsuhide took his own life, while his retainer, Mizo-o Shigetomo, simultaneously decapitated him according to practice and discarded his head in a bamboo forest.

This was located by local peasants who delivered it via Murai Seizo to Oda Nobutaka. His head was displayed along with that of Saito Toshimitsu at Awataguchi in Kyoto and then buried near a path east of the site.