Saitō Dōsan , also known as Saitō Toshimasa, was a Japanese samurai during the Sengoku period.
He was also known as the Viper of Mino for his ruthless tactics.
Originally a wealthy merchant from Yamashiro Province (modern-day Kyoto Prefecture), he entered the service of Nagai Nagahiro of Mino Province (southern half of modern-day Gifu Prefecture), assuming the name Nishimura Kankurô.
Dosan became a retainer of the daimyo of Mino, Toki Yorinari.
He married Ômi no kata, a daughter of Akechi Mitsutsugu.
He eventually succeeded in becoming the magistrate of Mino Province and settled in Inabayama Castle. Using his power and wealth, he drove Toki Yorinari out of Mino Province in a coup d'état in 1542, and claimed the region as his own, becoming a daimyo in his own right. Afterwards, Toki Yorinari allied with Oda Nobuhide of Owari Province, which was on the southern border of Mino Province, but their defeat at the Battle of Kanōguchi, in 1547, solidified Dōsan's domination of Mino. And then, Dōsan became the father-in-law of Oda Nobunaga after sending his daughter Nōhime as Nobunaga's bride.
Around 1555, rumors began to circulate that Saitō Yoshitatsu was not in fact Dōsan's son; it was said that he was Yorinari's. It does not appear that Yoshitatsu had been aware of that possibility himself until he heard the rumors.
The circumstances surrounding this are unclear, however. One belief is that Dōsan, having had a number of sons after Yoshitatsu, had decided to name one of them heir (despite having officially retired by this point in favor of Yoshitatsu). Another theory holds that Yoshitatsu simply assumed that he would be disinherited, and decided to move first. A further idea is that Saitō Yoshitatsu just elected to usurp his father's power.
Relations at any rate quickly soured between Yoshitatsu and Dōsan, leading up to the Battle of Nagaragawa, where Dōsan was heavily outnumbered.
In desperation, Dosan is alleged to have named Nobunaga as lord of Mino in his will and sent this document to Nobunaga. Nobunaga, however, was unable to provide help.
Dōsan was defeated and his head was taken by a certain Komaki Genta, a retainer of Yoshitatsu's son Tatsuoki.
In 1561 Yoshitatsu died of leprosy and his son, Saitō Tatsuoki, succeeded to the leadership of the clan. At the time Tatsuoki was young but, as he attained adulthood, he was eventually considered incapable of effective leadership by his peers and retainers, viewed with contempt by his subordinates, and even despised by the local peasantry. After the Oda and Matsudaira clans allied and then defeated the Imagawa clan at the 1560 Battle of Okehazama, Nobunaga was in a more secure position to focus on their northern neighbor, the Saitō clan. Nobunaga's plans for an invasion of Mino were ostensibly motivated by revenge for the death of his father-in-law, Saitō Dōsan, but Yoshitatsu died before Nobunaga could attack. As a result, Nobunaga reasoned that Yoshitatsu's heir, Tatsuoki, likewise benefited from Dōsan's demise, and thus continued with his plans for invasion, using revenge as a pretext.
Oda Nobunaga mounted forays into Mino territory in 1561 and 1563, which resulted in brief battles. In each expedition Nobunaga and his 700 troops were outnumbered by rapidly assembled forces under local daimyo, who would muster up to 3,000 men. Caught in the open and unable to organize a defense, he fell back each time to his home territory. The local history of Gifu city states that in 1564 Nobunaga went so far as to attack Inabayama Castle, the headquarters of the Saitō clan. The castle was situated atop Mount Inaba, which had a ruggedly steep northern face with the bank of theSunomata River at its foot, and accessed by a winding avenue up the southern slopes. Although it was considered nearly impregnable,Tatsuoki fled the parapets and hid within the castle while his retainers Takenaka Shigeharu (called Hanbei) and Andō Morinari commanded the defense. Nobunaga then left or was driven out soon afterward. In later years Nobunaga had this setback expunged from records and omitted from the Nobunaga Chronicles.
Starting in 1564, Oda Nobunaga began dispatching his loyal retainer, Kinoshita Tōkichirō, to convince, with liberal bribery, many of the warlords in the Mino area to defect to the growing alliance under the Oda clan. Kinoshita even approached Takenaka Hanbei, who was considered a brilliant strategist but lived in pious seclusion, to persuade him to defect. Although the Saitō retainer was frustrated by the ignominious behavior of Tatsuoki, he did not want to appear capricious with his loyalty, and declined Kinoshita's offers on behalf of his lord. Kinoshita was impressed with the integrity of the retainer and invited him to an extended stay in his home, as a guest. Hanbei admitted that the Saitō clan could not survive for much longer under Tatsuoki, and accepted Kinoshita's invitation in exchange for a promise of leniency if ever the Saitō leadership fell into Kinoshita's hands.
In 1566, in anticipation of the upcoming campaign, Kinoshita proposed that a castle should be built somewhere near Inabayama Castle to serve as a staging point for the Oda forces. Nobunaga agreed and charged Kinoshita with the task. To this end Kinoshita built Sunomata Castle on the bank of the Sai River opposite Saitō territory. The advantage of the castle's proximity to the enemy was also a problem during construction. Until the castle was complete, Kinoshita's men and the construction site were vulnerable to an amphibious attack from across the river.According to legend, Kinoshita built the castle in one night; however it is more likely that it was the tower's skeleton with a facade that was seen from the opposite bank. The result of the hasty construction was meant to give his own men a vantage point and to surprise and impress the enemy. Stalled by the enemy's caution, Kinoshita's men were able to quickly transform the fragile framework into a functioning fortification, and then into a complete castle. Nobunaga then ordered Kinoshita to remain as steward of the castle, and bestowed upon him the name Hideyoshi.
At the outset of the siege, Nobunaga organized the troops of his allies and retainers into several divisions, with a reserve and a vanguard:
- Main Division
- 3,000 troops under Oda Nobunaga
- First Division
- 2,000 troops under Shibata Katsuie
- 2,000 troops under Ikeda Tsuneoki
- Second Division
- 1,000 troops under Mori Yoshinari
- 1,000 troops under Maeda Toshiie
- 1,000 troops under Sassa Narimasa
- Others
- Reserve Division
- 2,000 troops under Sakuma Nobumori
- Vanguard
- 1,000 troops under Kinoshita Hideyoshi
- Mino forces, unspecified numbers under:
- Ujiie Naotomo
- Andō Morinari
- Inaba Yoshimichi
- Others
Source: Wikipedia
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