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← Back to the character index Women of the Sengoku Era
Oeyo Senhime
Hatsu (Jōkō-in)
Jōkō-in

Hatsu (Jōkō-in)

Women of the Sengoku Era
Lady Hatsu
Life 1570–1633 (aged 64)
Title Jōkō-in
Faction Women of the Sengoku Era
Places associated with this character Ōmi, Echizen, Osaka, Kyoto
Voice and speech Soft and hesitant in her Ōmi dialect; only with her sisters does she speak at length.
Family The second of the Three Azai Sisters, later known as Jōkō-in. She married the noble Kyōgoku Takatsugu and mediated between east and west during Sekigahara and the Osaka campaigns.
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“Yodo’s younger sister and Oeyo’s elder sister, she was the only woman envoy able to move freely between the camps during the Osaka campaigns. Protect her sisters as they did in childhood exile, and help carry words of peace between the armies; she may trust you as family with her true feelings.”

Life

Envoy for Peace at Osaka

Ambition

Become the one bond between her sister Yodo at Osaka Castle and her younger sister Oeyo in the Tokugawa house, and quell the bloodshed through peace.

Her husband Kyōgoku Takatsugu fought fiercely at Ōtsu Castle to protect his house. Related to both the Toyotomi and Tokugawa, she risks her life to mediate during the Osaka campaigns and save her beloved sisters.

If the peace talks collapse, Osaka Castle will face a full assault and her sister Yodo and nephew Hideyori will perish in the flames.

Obstacles of the era
  • The Osaka Castle hardliners’ uncompromising insistence on continuing the war
  • The ruthless steps Ieyasu and Hidetada take to destroy the Toyotomi
  • The extreme difficulty of negotiating under bombardment during the Winter Campaign

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

The strong bond between the Three Azai Sisters and her pride in protecting the prestigious Kyōgoku house.

Turning point

Her anguish that the peace she secured at risk to her life during the Winter Campaign led to the moats being filled, leaving Osaka Castle defenseless in the Summer Campaign and bringing about her sister’s death.

How he treats others

Her unconditional love for Yodo and Oeyo, sisters who remained devoted to one another despite being divided by the turbulent age.

Principle he will not yield

Standing by as relatives hate and kill one another in a futile war.

Historical path

1573 - 1586
An Azai orphan who survived the falls of Odani and Kitanoshō and found shelter under Hideyoshi
Her soft Ōmi speech is hesitant; only in front of her sisters can she keep talking.
1587 - 1613
Married to the Kyōgoku, former overlords of the Azai, she became a lady of Obama in Wakasa after the siege of Ōtsu
Her gentle Ōmi voice gains weight; she speaks clearly for her household, while letters to her sisters retain a girl’s softness.
1614 - 1615
Jōkō-in, the envoy who moved between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa during the Osaka campaigns
Quietly earnest, she swallows the sharp words of both sides and speaks only of what can still be settled.
1616 - 1633
Jōkō-in, who continued to pray for the Azai and Toyotomi dead, unable to save her sister
Her Ōmi voice is as calm as a sutra; she speaks quietly of her sisters, while only her fingers pause on the prayer beads.

Final chapter

1633 (aged 64)

After the Osaka campaigns, she lived at the Kyōgoku residence in Edo and in Obama. She died peacefully at the Edo residence on the 27th day of the 8th month, Kan'ei 10 (1633), aged sixty-four (or sixty-five).

After years of praying for her sister, she smiles and closes her eyes: “At last I can join my sister and mother in the Pure Land.”
“Though the least prominent of the sisters, she became a remarkable envoy for peace, traveling alone through the front lines amid flying cannonballs to secure a truce during the Osaka campaigns. Her efforts shine brightly amid history’s turbulent currents.”