Akechi Mitsuhide
“Learned and courteous, skilled in administration and hosting, he advances the educated. Yet beneath the unseen troubles and fears he accumulates, there is a deeper heart; understand it and you may reach him.”
Life
Oda Strategist
Ambition
Earn distinction in both administration and war within the Oda house and secure lasting peace for his once-wandering family.
He spent half his life wandering and relying on others. If he wastes this chance after Nobunaga recognized him, the Akechi can never rise again. He will repay his lord with all his talent and intelligence.
If he fails to meet Nobunaga’s severe expectations, he will be discarded and become a wanderer once more.
- The cold gaze of hereditary retainers toward a newcomer
- The diplomatic dilemma of being caught between shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Nobunaga
- The fierce resistance of local powers such as the Hatano at Yagami Castle in Tamba
Character and convictions
His profound gratitude to Nobunaga for raising him from hardship and the Akechi house code he established.
After hardship, he pacified Tamba and built a leading force in the Kinai, but Nobunaga’s despotism and harsh rule grew year by year, creating an irreparable rift.
His endless gratitude and devotion to Hiroko, his wife who sold her hair to support his service.
Betraying the trust of Akechi retainers and the people, and dragging them into unjust ruin.
Historical path
Final chapter
1582 (aged 55)On the 13th day of the 6th month, Tenshō 10 (1582), he was defeated by Hashiba Hideyoshi at Yamazaki. While leading his remaining troops toward Sakamoto Castle, he was gravely wounded by a bamboo spear wielded by a farmer hunting fallen warriors in the bamboo grove at Ogurusu. He took his own life, aged fifty-five.
“A refined lord who prized courtesy and learning above all killed his master and was branded a ruler of ‘three days.’ He met his end in the mud, pierced by a nameless farmer’s bamboo spear: the cruelty of a turbulent age.”