Saitō Dōsan

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Wikipedia

Saitō Dōsan
斎藤道三
Head of Saitō clan
In office
1542–1556
Succeeded bySaitō Yoshitatsu
Lord of Mino
In office
1542–1556
Preceded byToki Yorinari
Succeeded bySaito Yoshitatsu
Personal details
Born1494
DiedMay 28, 1556(1556-05-28) (aged 61–62)
Battle of Nagaragawa, Mino Province
RelationsOda Nobunaga (son in law)
Akechi Mitsutsuna (brother in law)
ChildrenSaitō Yoshitatsu
Nōhime
Nickname"Viper of Mino"
Military service
Allegiance Toki clan
Saitō clan
RankDaimyo
Unit Saitō clan
CommandsInabayama Castle
Battles/warsMino Campaign (1542)
Battle of Kanōguchi (1547)
Battle of Nagara-gawa (1556) †

Saitō Dōsan (斎藤 道三; 1494 – May 28, 1556), also known as Saitō Toshimasa (斎藤 利政), was a Japanese samurai lord and daimyo during the Sengoku period.[1] He was also known as the "Viper of Mino" (美濃の蝮, Mino no Mamushi) for his ruthless tactics.[2] He was appointed Governor of Yamashiro by the Imperial Court. After entering monkhood in his later years, he was also called Saitō Yamashiro-nyudō-no-kami (斎藤山城入道守).

He has historical reputation as one of Japan's Three Great Villains (日本三大梟雄), a nickname which he shared with Matsunaga Hisahide and Ukita Naoie, due to their ambitious and treasonous personality, along with the habit of resorting to underhanded tactics and assassinations to eliminate their opposition.[3][4][5][6][7][8][a]

Biography

Saitō Dōsan has long been regarded as a symbolic figure of "Gekokujō" (the rise of those of lower status to positions of power), rising from a humble oil merchant to the ruler of Mino Province. However, recent research suggests that it was actually Dōsan's father who was the oil merchant. This implies that Dōsan's "Gekokujō" was a two-generation achievement involving both father and son.[12]

He became a daimyo through Gekokujō of Toki Yorinari at Mino Province in 1542. Yorinari was forced out of Mino by Saitō Dōsan.[1]

The Saito fortress was located at Inabayama castle.[13][14][15] He married Omi no kata, a sister of Akechi Mitsutsuna (Akechi Mitsuhide's father).

He defeated Oda Nobuhide at the Battle of Kanōguchi in 1547.[16]

In 1549 Oda Nobuhide was defeated by Dōsan. Nobuhide made peace with Dōsan by arranging a political marriage between his son and heir, Oda Nobunaga, and Dōsan's daughter, Nōhime. Dōsan, therefore, became the father-in-law of Oda Nobunaga.[1][13] Dōsan supported the marriage which allowed Nobuhide to focus on facing Imagawa Yoshimoto.

Inabayama Castle (later renamed Gifu Castle by Nobunaga), used as headquarters by Dōsan

Several years later, rumors had started to circulate that Dōsan's firstborn son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, was not his natural son and Dōsan started to consider another son, Saitō Kiheiji, or even his son-in-law Oda Nobunaga, as his heirs. This caused Yoshitatsu to rebel and kill his two younger brothers. In 1556, the forces of Dōsan and Yoshitatsu clashed in the Battle of Nagara-gawa which resulted in the death of Dōsan.[1][13]

Dōsan's head was taken by a man called Komaki Genta, a retainer of Yoshitatsu's son Saitō Tatsuoki. His remains were originally interred in Sōfuku-ji, but they were later moved to Jōzai-ji because the Nagara River kept overflowing and covering his burial mound.[17] Both temples are located in the city of Gifu which celebrates Dōsan with an annual festival.[18]

Pseudonyms

Saitō Dōsan is known for having a large number of pseudonyms and for frequently changing his name. Some believe that this is because there were two Saitōs Dōsan, father and son, and the son adopted his father's name after his death. Other names of Saitō Dōsan are Minemaru (峰丸), Hōrenbō (法蓮坊), Matsunami Shogorō (松浪庄五郎), Nishimura Kankurō Masatoshi (西村勘九郎正利), Shinkurō (新九郎), Nagai Norihide (長井規秀), and Saitō Sakondayu Toshimasa (斎藤左近大夫利政). The name Saitō was adopted from the former shugodai of Mino who had been overcome by the Nagai clan in the 1520s.[citation needed]

Notable retainers

Family

  • In the Action RPG Nioh 2 he's reimagined as a retired Yokai hunter that fell in love with a female Yokai who bore him two children; Saito Yoshitatsu and the main protagonist "Hide". He's killed by Yoshitatsu's forces at the end of the first act.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Not to be confused with Ashikaga Takauji, Dōkyō and Taira no Kiyomori; who also known with similar sobriquet as Japan's Three Great Villains by Confucian-minded history scholars due to their lack of loyalty to the throne.[9][10][11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Saitō Dōsan" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 809.
  2. ↑ Glenn, Chris (May 28, 2015). "The Viper of Mino, Saito Dosan". Japan World.
  3. ↑ 荒木祐臣 (1976). 備前藩宇喜多小早川池田史談 (in Japanese). 日本文教出版. pp. 8, 25. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  4. ↑ 打開天窗說亮話: 吳錦發論政治 (in Japanese). 前衛出版社. 1991. p. 145. ISBN 9579512418.
  5. ↑ 市川俊介 (2010). 岡山戦国物語 (in Japanese). 吉備人出版. p. 13. ISBN 978-4860692643. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  6. ↑ 大西泰正 (2010). 豊臣期の宇喜多氏と宇喜多秀家 (in Japanese). 岩田書院. p. 2. ISBN 9784872946123. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  7. ↑ Yasutsune Owada (小和田泰経) (2016). ビジュアルワイド 図解 日本の城・城合戦 (in Japanese). 西東社. p. 143. ISBN 978-4791681099. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  8. ↑ 佐藤和夫 (1986). 戦国武将の家訓 (in Japanese). 新人物往来社. p. 69. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  9. ↑ Hurst, G. Cameron (2001). "Death, Honor, and Loyalty: The Bushidō Ideal". InYo: Journal of Alternative Perspectives on the Martial Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2025-12-01. Originally published in Philosophy East and West, vol. 40, no. 4 (October 1990), pp. 511–527. Copyright © 1990 University of Hawai‘i Press. Reprinted by permission.
  10. ↑ "Ashikaga Takauji — One Of Japan's 3 Great Villains". More Than Tokyo. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  11. ↑ "Dokyo—The Rasputin Of Japan Who Almost Became Emperor". More Than Tokyo. n.d. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  12. ↑ "今では親子2代で成り上がったというのが定説". NIPPON JITSUGYO PUBLISHING. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 Turnbull, Stephen (1987). Battles of the Samurai. Arms and Armour Press. p. 57. ISBN 0-85368-826-5.
  14. ↑ Sengoku Bushō Retsuden 12: Saitō Dōsan Archived 2012-03-30 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed September 20, 2007.
  15. ↑ Buke Kaden - Mino Saitō-shi. Harimaya. Accessed September 20, 2007.
  16. ↑ Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. Cassell & Co. p. 211. ISBN 1-85409-523-4.
  17. ↑ Gifu City Walking Map. Gifu Lively City Public Corporation, 2007.
  18. ↑ "Dosan Festival". Visit Gifu. Gifu Prefecture Tourism Federation. Retrieved 6 September 2021.