Hatsume no Tsubone (初芽局) is a fictitious Japanese woman from the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. She is famous as the main character of the historical novel ''Sekigahara'' by

Ryōtarō Shiba , also known as , was a Japanese author. He is best known for his novels about historical events in Japan and on the Northeast Asian sub-continent, as well as his historical and cultural essays pertaining to Japan and its relationship to the r ...

. In the novel, she is

Kunoichi is a Japanese cant term for . In popular culture, it is often used for female shinobi or practitioner of ninjutsu (''ninpo''). The term was largely popularized by novelist Yamada Futaro in his novel ''Ninpō Hakkenden'' (忍法八犬伝) in 1964 ...

(female ninja) sent by

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

to spy on his political enemy Ishida Mitsunari before the Battle of Sekigahara.

Narrative

Hatsume was born in Iga Village, a village of Ninjas. Hatsume's father was a retainer of the Takeda clan. After her father's death, Hatsume went with her sister and mother to serve the Mogami clan. Hatsume was one of the maids of Komahime, the daughter of Mogami Yoshiaki. In the 2017 film

Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, based on Shiba's novel, Hatsume became a female ninja in Iga after serving as a maid of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

's mother. She then fell in love with the character of Ishida Mitsunari and began working for him in the Western army. The director of the movie

Masato Harada is a Japanese film director, film critic, and sometimes an actor; he is best known to foreign audiences as Omura in ''The Last Samurai'' and as Mr Mita in ''Fearless''. In both his acting roles he portrayed the villain who wants Japan to westerni ...

wanted to create a "boy meets a girl" type of romantic encounter. Having served the Tokugawa, she walked freely in Edo to later inform Ieyasu's plans. After Hatsume betrayed Tokugawa Ieyasu and tried to kill him, Ieyasu had her condemned to death. She is said to have lodged at

Sawayama castle was a castle in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. This castle was an important military stronghold of Ōmi Province. The Azai clan held this castle in the Sengoku Period. Niwa Nagahide held it after the ruin of the Azai clan and la ...

Omi province is a hereditary noble title (''kabane'') of ancient Japan. It was given to the descendants of the Imperial Family before Emperor Kōgen. Along with ''Muraji'', ''Omi'' was reserved for the head of the most powerful clans during the Kofun perio ...

and has become a mistress of Mitsunari. According to Shiba's novel, after Ishida Mitsunari's death at the Battle of Sekigahara, she disappeared from the historical records and her existence is debated.

Popular culture

Game

She appeared in various games such as '' Puzzle and Dragons'' and ''Sengoku Taisen''.

Movie

* Hatsume (performed by

Kasumi Arimura is a Japanese actress. Her television roles have included the young Haruko Amano in the 2013 NHK asadora ''Amachan'' and the lead role in the 2017 asadora ''Hiyokko''. She has also appeared in several films, including '' Flying Colors'', for whic ...

) was a protagonist character in ''

'' film (2017).

Drama

* Hatsume was starred by

Keiko Matsuzaka (born July 20, 1952) is a Japanese actress. Early life Born in Ōta, Tokyo, her father was a naturalized South Korean while her mother was Japanese. Career In the 1960s, Matsuzaka became a child actress. Matsuzaka grew into adulthood in film ...

in the TV series ''Sekigahara'' (1981).

References

{{People of the Sengoku period, state=autocollapse 16th-century Japanese people 17th-century Japanese people Japanese ninjutsu practitioners Japanese nobility Ninja Women of medieval Japan 17th-century Japanese women 16th-century Japanese women Women in 16th-century warfare Women in 17th-century warfare Japanese women in warfare People of Sengoku-period Japan People of Edo-period Japan Female wartime spies