Torii Mototada

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In this Japanese name, the surname is Torii.
Torii Mototada
鳥居 元忠
Head of Torii clan
In office
1572–1600
Preceded byTorii Tadayoshi
Succeeded byTorii Tadamasa
Personal details
Born1539
Okazaki, Aichi
DiedSeptember 8, 1600
Fushimi, Kyoto
RelationsHonda Shigetsugu (brother in law)
ChildrenTorii Tadamasa
Military service
Allegiance Tokugawa clan
CommandsTanimura Castle
Battles/wars

Torii Mototada (鳥居 元忠, 1539 – September 8, 1600) was a Japanese Samurai and Daimyo of the Sengoku period through late Azuchi–Momoyama period, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Torii died at the siege of Fushimi where his garrison was greatly outnumbered and destroyed by the army of Ishida Mitsunari. Torii's refusal to surrender had a great impact on Japanese history; the fall of Fushimi bought Ieyasu some time to regroup his army and eventually win the Battle at Sekigahara.

Early life[edit]

Torii was born in Okazaki, the son of Torii Tadayoshi.[1] As a boy, he was sent as hostage to the Imagawa clan.[1] The young Mototada served the then-Matsudaira Takechiyo as a page.[1] After Ieyasu's return from the Imagawa clan, and his unification of Mikawa Province, Mototada served as one of his chief generals.

In 1572, Mototada succeeded the Torii family headship, following the death of his father.[citation needed]

Service under Ieyasu[edit]

He participated in the siege of Terabe Castle in 1558,[2] and The Battle of Anegawa in June of 1570.[3]

In 1573, He fought at the Battle of Mikatagahara[4] and Battle of Suwahara Castle the following year and was wounded in the legs, which rendered walking difficult for him from then on.

In 1582, Tenshō-Jingo War broke out between the Tokugawa clan and Hōjō clan in a contest to gain control the area of Shinano Province, Ueno region, and Kai Province Kai Province (currently Gunma Prefecture),, which has been vacant since the destruction of Takeda clan and the death of Oda Nobunaga. Ieyasu lead an army of 8,000 soldiers entering Kai, Shinano Province, and Ueno, to annex it.[5] In the battle of Wakamiko, 8,000-10,000 Tokugawa soldiers fought against around 50,000 soldiers of Hojo soldiers led by Hōjō Ujinao.[6][7] This conflict lasted for 80 days.[8] In the final phase of this conflict, Naomasa participated in the battle of Kurokoma,[9] At some point of this war, Hōjō Ujikatsu leading a detachment of 10,000 soldiers encircling the rear of Tokugawa army to entrap them. Sensing this, Torii Mototada lead a raid group of 2,000 to repel their attempt, leading to the battle of Kurokoma.[7] The Hōjō army also failed to launch trap Tokugawa's army from the rear.[7]

Later, in 1585, he joined Ōkubo Tadayo and Hiraiwa Chikayoshi in laying siege to the Sanada clan's Ueda Castle. However, his forces were repulsed and suffered heavy losses.[10]

Later during the confict between Toyotomi against Hōjō clan, Mototada participated in the siege of Iwatsuki Castle.[10] After Ieyasu's move to the Kantō region, a former territory of Hōjō clan, Mototada was granted the 40,000 koku fief of Yasaku in Shimōsa Province, which made him a Daimyō.[citation needed]

Death[edit]

Main article: Siege of Fushimi

With the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598, the remainder of the Council of Five Elders & the rest of the Toyotomi government, had Mōri Terumoto as its titular head, though he stayed entrenched in Osaka Castle, so leadership fell to Mitsunari in the field. In August 1600, Mototada was forewarned by spies that an army of 40,000 battle-hardened followers of Toyotomi Hideyori, now under Mitsunari formed a coalition against Tokugawa, and were annihilating everything in their path on their march to Fushimi Castle. Date Matsamune by Tokugawa Ieyasu's order, was holding off forces in the North against Uesugi Kagekatsu, while Ieyasu was racing east to Edo to gather his forces, but he needed time. All Ieyasu's hopes now rest on the fate of his castle at Fushimi, a fortress that controls all roads that lead east. Torii Mototada and his 1800 men garrison were badly outnumbered, and it should be mentioned that escape for the men inside was still possible.[citation needed]

In an act of loyalty to his lord Tokugawa Ieyasu, Torii chose to remain behind, honoring his friend & lord's request, pledging that he and his bastion would fight to the very end. When Ishida Mitsunari's army of 40,000 attacked, perhaps the greatest, most noble accomplishment in battle, in all of samurai history took place. Despite the insurmountable odds that Torii Mototada & his men faced, they defended Fushimi Castle for 12 days, killing several thousands of Mitsunari's army. They fought until there were only 10 of them left and committed ritual suicide.[11][12]

In a last statement[13] addressed to his son Torii Tadamasa, Mototada described how his family served the Tokugawa for generations and how his own brother had been killed in battle. In the letter, Torii stated that he considered it an honor to die first so that he might give courage to the rest of the Tokugawa warriors. He envisioned Tokugawa's reign remain far off into the future. He requested that his son raise his siblings to serve the Tokugawa clan "In both ascent and decline" and to remain humble desiring neither lordship nor monetary reward. When the order was given, the two lifelong friends, Torii Mototada and Tokugawa Ieyasu parted ways sadly knowing that they would never see each other again:

"It is not the Way of the Warrior to be shamed and avoid death even under circumstances that are not particularly important ... For myself, I am resolved to make a stand within the castle and to die a quick death. It would not take much trouble to break through a part of their numbers and escape, no matter how many tens of thousands of horsemen approached for the attack or by how many columns we were surrounded. But that is not the true meaning of being a warrior, and it would be difficult to account as loyalty. Rather, I will stand off the forces of the entire country here, and ... die a resplendent death."[citation needed]

Notable Action[edit]

Torii Mototada's actions had a great impact on the course of Japanese history.[citation needed] Tokugawa Ieyasu would raise an army of 90,000 and confront Ishida Mitsunari's forces at Sekigahara in what would be one of the bloodiest battles in the Sengoku period. 40,000 heads would be taken in the first hours of battle and 70,000 would perish in the next two days as the remnants of Mitsunari's vanquished army were hunted down and executed. The Battle of Sekigahara was a decisive one, resulting in the unification of Japan. Tokugawa's family would rule the entire country for the next 268 years.[citation needed]

Mototada's suicide at the fall of Fushimi is one of the most celebrated acts of seppuku in Japanese history.

Descendance[edit]

Among his descendants, Ōishi Yoshio (1659-1703), Karō (Chief retainer) of the Akō Asano clan, leader and hero of the Forty-seven Rōnin's revenge against Kira Yoshinaka,[14] was his great-great-grandson, through Yoshio's father Ōishi Yoshiaki, maternal grandson of Torii Tadakatsu, fourth son of Torii Mototada.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "朝日日本歴史人物事典「鳥居元忠」の解説". kotobank. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  2. ^ Abe Takashi; Nishimura Keiko (1990). 戦国人名事典 [Encyclopedia of famous Sengoku people] (コンパクト ed.). 新人物往来社. p. 555.
  3. ^ 歴史群像編集部 (2007). 戦国驍将・知将・奇将伝 ― 乱世を駆けた62人の生き様・死に様. 学習研究社. p. 300.
  4. ^ Turnbull, Stephen (1987). Battle of the Samurai. London: Arms and Armour Press. p. 77. ISBN 0853688265.
  5. ^ Masaru Hirayama (2016). "天正壬午の乱【増補改訂版】─本能寺の変と東国戦国史" [Tensho Migo Rebellion [revised and enlarged edition] - Honnoji Incident and the history of the Sengoku period in the Togoku region] (in Japanese). Ebisukosyo. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  6. ^ East Volumes 19-20. East Publications. 1983. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c 長谷川正次 (2005). 高遠藩. シリーズ藩物語. 現代書館. p. 50. ISBN 4-7684-7103-X.
  8. ^ Sakamoto Masahito; hotta masaatsu; Ryōshō Hayashi (1997). 干城錄 Volume 13 (in Japanese). 人間舎. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  9. ^ Hotta Masaatsu (1917). 寛政重修諸家譜: 第4輯 [Various Kyushu clans record: Part 4] (in Japanese). Keio University: 榮進舍出版部. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  10. ^ a b 長谷川正次 (2005, p. 25)
  11. ^ "Why Bloody Footprints Line The Ceilings Of Kyoto's Genkoan Temple". Culture Trip. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  12. ^ A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era By Frank Brinkley, Dairoku Kikuchi Harvard University, 1915 pp. 559–560 [ISBN missing]
  13. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-03-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ Mitford, Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, Lord Redesdale (1871). Tales of Old Japan. London: University of Michigan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

References[edit]

Preceded by
none
 1st Lord of Yasaku
(Torii)
1590–1600 		Succeeded by
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