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← Back to the character index Women of the Sengoku Era
Hosokawa Gracia Tachibana Ginchiyo
Ii Naotora
Red Tiger of the Ii

Ii Naotora

Women of the Sengoku Era
Ii Naotora
Life 1536–1582 (aged 47)
Title Red Tiger of the Ii
Faction Women of the Sengoku Era
Places associated with this character Tōtōmi (1545–1582)
Voice and speech Clear in her Tōtōmi speech, with a young woman’s patience shaped by waiting.
Family Lord of Iinoya Castle in Tōtōmi. As the men of her clan were killed, she became a nun known as Jirō Hōshi, then returned to secular life and defended the Ii as a woman land steward.
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“A daughter of the distinguished Iinoya house. Her betrothed fled, and under Imagawa suspicion the men of her clan died one after another. She became a nun, returned to the world, upheld the Ii, raised Toramatsu, and entrusted him to Ieyasu. Protect the valley with her and shelter the child when the house is near extinction, and she may accept you as family who shares her burden.”

Life

Woman Land Steward of Iinoya

Ambition

Protect Iinoya, prey to the Imagawa, Takeda, and Tokugawa, raise young Toramatsu (later Naomasa), and restore the distinguished house.

Her betrothed Naotika and the men of her family died one after another in Imagawa schemes. To keep the Ii line alive, she became lord of the castle despite being a woman and survived until Toramatsu could enter Ieyasu’s service.

If she falls into the traps of the Imagawa or Ono Michiyoshi, the Ii people will be left destitute, Naomasa may be killed, and the house will end.

Obstacles of the era
  • The insidious betrayal and slander to the Imagawa by chief retainer Ono Tajima-no-kami Michiyoshi
  • The burning of Iinoya and her flight during Takeda Shingen’s invasion of Tōtōmi
  • The house traditionalists’ distrust of her leadership as a woman lord

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

Her bond with her late betrothed Naotika and Toramatsu (Naomasa), the hope of the Ii whom she raised at risk to her life.

Turning point

The heartbreak of her beloved betrothed Kamenojō (Naotika) being killed by Imagawa pursuers in Sunpu.

How he treats others

Her teachers and people, including Nanke of Ryōtanji, who supported her faithfully in her loneliness.

Principle he will not yield

Selling out the red spirit of the Ii and yielding to the vile schemes of Ono and others.

Historical path

1545 - 1561
The daughter of a noble house who waited at Iinoya after her betrothed Kamenojō fled to Shinano
Her clear Tōtōmi accent carries the patience of one who has waited, even in youth.
1562 - 1568
The woman steward who became a nun called Jirō Hōshi and inherited the house as its men died out
Clear and quiet, her voice carries a heavy note when she speaks of preserving her house.
1569 - 1575
The woman steward who defended Iinoya as the Tokugawa entered Tōtōmi and devoted herself to raising Toramatsu
A firm will lies within her cool voice; her eyes darken when she speaks of Toramatsu’s future.
1576 - 1582
The woman steward who placed Toramatsu in Ieyasu’s service and died at Iinoya
Weariness enters her cool voice; she finally finds peace when she says the Ii house will endure.

Final chapter

1582 (aged 47)

After witnessing Toramatsu being summoned by Ieyasu and beginning his rise as Ii Naomasa, she died of illness at Iinoya on the 26th day of the 8th month, Tenshō 10 (1582). Her age is unknown, perhaps in her mid-forties.

Listening to Ryōtanji’s bell, she smiles and says, “The Ii house will continue,” then dies peacefully.
“She bore the nearly extinct Ii house on her own shoulders as a woman. Toramatsu, whom she raised, later became Ii the Red Demon, foremost of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings and one of the shogunate’s greatest hereditary lords: a remarkable legacy of a formidable woman ruler.”