Akechi Mitsuhide
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AkechiMitsuhideShrine.jpg
Akechi Mitsuhide (明智 光秀 Akechi Mitsuhide, 1528 – July 2, 1582), nicknamed Jubei, was a samurai who lived during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. He was a general under Daimyo Oda Nobunaga, although he later betrayed Nobunaga, and forced him to commit seppuku.
Born in Mino province (now Gifu prefecture) as a descendant of the shugo Toki clan, Mitsuhide began serving Nobunaga after Nobunaga's conquest of Mino province in 1566 and received Sakamoto (in Omi, 100,000 koku) in 1571. Although Nobunaga rarely put too much trust in his retainers, he particularly trusted Katsuie Shibata, Hideyoshi Hashiba and Mitsuhide Akechi. After Mitsuhide received Sakamoto he moved to pacify the Tamba region by defeating several clans such as the Tango and the Isshiki.
In 1579, he captured Yakami Castle from Hatano Hideharu by promising Hideharu peace terms. This accomplished Mitsuhide's goal but Nobunaga had Hideharu executed. Naturally this did not make the Hatano family happy and a short while later several of Hideharu's retainers murdered Akechi Mitsuhide's mother. Mitsuhide blamed Nobunaga for his mother's death and the attack at Honnoji on June 21, 1582 was his revenge. When they found out about the assassination, both Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu rushed to be the first to avenge Nobunaga and take his place. Hideyoshi got to Mitsuhide first. Mitsuhide survived for 13 days, until he was defeated by Hideyoshi at the Battle of Yamazaki.
His third daughter was Hosokawa Gracia.
He was also a playable character in the Koei Playstation 2 game Samurai Warriors.