, or , was a late-

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

onna-musha is a term referring to female warriors in pre-modern Japan, who were members of the ''bushi'' (warrior) class. They were trained in the use of weapons to protect their household, family, and honour in times of war; many of them fought in battle ...

. She was the daughter of

Ikeda Tsuneoki , also known as Ikeda Nobuteru (池田信輝), was an Ikeda clan ''daimyō'' and military commander under Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama periods of 16th-century Japan. He was a retainer of the famous warlords Oda No ...

and the older sister of

Ikeda Terumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was ''Kokushi (officials), Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many ...

Mori Nagayoshi was a samurai officer under the Oda clan following Japan's 16th-century Sengoku period, and the older brother of the famous Mori Ranmaru. His wife Ikeda Sen, was the daughter of Ikeda Tsuneoki. Nagayoshi was known to have such a bad temper an ...

(older brother of

Mori Ranmaru , also known as Mori Naritoshi (森成利), was a samurai retainer to the Oda clan. He was son of Mori Yoshinari, and had 5 brothers in total, from the province of Mino Province, Mino. He was a member of the Mori clan (Genji), Mori Clan, descen ...

) was her first husband. She was a woman trained in martial arts and was commander of a unit that consisted of 200 female

musketeers A musketeer ( ) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare, particularly in Europe, as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a precursor to the riflem ...

( Teppō unit) Despite having little historical record about her life, Ikeda Sen is described as a female samurai who participated in notable military campaigns and received 10,000

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

, being a female lord or a possible

daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to ...

Early life

Sen (せん) was born in

Owari province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces w ...

, as the second child of

, a vassal of the Oda clan. Her older brother

Ikeda Motosuke Ikeda may refer to: * Ikeda (surname), a Japanese surname * Ikeda (comics), a character in ''Usagi Yojimbo'' * Ikeda clan, a Japanese clan * Ikeda map, chaotic attractor * ''Ikeda'' (annelid) a genus of the family Ikedidae * Ikeda, a Brazilian e-c ...

was born in 1559, and her younger brother Terumasa was born in 1565, so by that reasoning, we can assume Ikeda Sen was born around 1563.

Genealogy

Ikeda Sen's grandmother, Yōtoku-in (養徳院), was the

wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...

(

foster mother Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family member a ...

) of

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

, a major

. Yōtoku-in's position as Nobunaga's foster mother, exacerbated the wealth of the

Ikeda clan was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021) of the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Yasumasa, the fourth generation descending from Yorimitsu, and younger brother of Minamoto no Yorimasa (1104-1180), was the first to ...

and its political influence. Sen's father, Ikeda Tsuneoki, served

Oda Nobuhide was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and magistrate of the Sengoku period known as "Tiger of Owari" and also the father of Oda Nobunaga, the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobuhide was a deputy ''shugo'' (Shugodai) of lower Owari Province and head of t ...

, Oda Nobunaga, and

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

. He was one of the elders of

Kiyosu Castle is a Japanese castle located in Kiyosu, western Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is noted for its association with the rise to power of the Sengoku period warlord Oda Nobunaga. The kanji in the name of the castle was written as 清須城. The curren ...

, and later became the lord of Inuyama and Ogaki Castles. Her younger brother, Ikeda Terumasa would become the lord of

Yoshida Castle is a Japanese castle located in Toyohashi, southeastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Yoshida Castle was home to the Inaba clan, ''daimyō'' of Tateyama Domain. The castle was also known as and later as Toyohashi Castle. ...

Mikawa province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari Province, O ...

. Sen's brother, Terumasa, was offered a powerful political marriage, he married Tokugawa Tokuhime, the daughter of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

, and would become known as the ''''Shogun of the West'''' after building the remaining

Himeji castle () is a hilltop Japanese castle complex situated in Himeji, a city in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 rooms with adva ...

. Ikeda Sen's first husband,

, was also a famous samurai serving the Oda family. Nagayoshi served the Oda shortly after inheriting the Mori clan and became famous for his monstrous strength and ferocity. His reputation with his fellow retainers varies between a foul mannered ruffian to a man of refined penmanship. His younger brother was Nobunaga's closest page,

Biography

Ikeda Sen served the

Oda clan The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they reached the peak of their power under Oda Nobunaga and fell soon after, several branches of the ...

alongside her entire family. She was involved with so many powerful figures at the time that it is presumed that she was in a high position in Japanese society. Receiving a noble education, she was skilled in Naginata-do, a martial art disseminated by Japanese women from the

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

family, as a weapon that could be used to protect their homes in times of war. Her differential among other women was that Sen was trained with firearms, something quite unusual for men and especially women of the time. Teppō unit (

musketeer A musketeer ( ) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare, particularly in Europe, as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a precursor to the rifl ...

s) targeted more powerful armies, as many of the firearms were produced in the West and exported to Japan.

Battle of Yamazaki

In 1582, Akechi Mitsuhide, a preeminent retainer of Oda clan, was ordered to march west and assist

Hashiba Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innov ...

who was at that time fighting the

Mōri clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. Durin ...

. Ignoring Nobunaga's orders, Mitsuhide assembled an army of 13,000 soldiers and moved against Nobunaga's position at

Honnō-ji is a temple of the Nichiren branch of Buddhism located in Kyoto, Japan. Honnō-ji incident Honnō-ji is most famous for the Honnō-ji incident, the assassination of the powerful warlord Oda Nobunaga, which occurred there on 21 June 1582. Nob ...

. On June 21, Mitsuhide was quoted as saying, "The enemy is at Honnō-ji!". His army surrounded the temple and eventually set it on fire. Oda Nobunaga was killed either during the fighting, or by his own hand. Nobunaga's son, Oda Nobutada, moved from a nearby temple to make a last stand at Nijō, but was also forced into ''

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

''. In 1582, Ikeda clan took part in

's forces at the

Battle of Yamazaki The was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki, Japan, located in current-day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt. Tennō (天王山の戦い ''Tennō-zan no tatakai''). In the Honnō-ji Incident, Akechi Mitsuhide, ...

after the

Incident at Honnō-ji The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies can be effective. ICS was initially develope ...

, helping defeat

Akechi Mitsuhide , first called Jūbei from his clan and later from his title, was a Japanese ''samurai'' general of the Sengoku period. Mitsuhide was originally a bodyguard of the last Ashikaga shogunate, Ashikaga ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later, one of ...

, who killed Sen's former lord,

. After killing Mitsuhide, the Ikeda clan served Hideyoshi. Ikeda Sen volunteered for the army of the Hashiba (

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary ...

), there is no concrete evidence that she participated in the battle, but there are anecdotes that she led a unit of Teppō, or Musketeer's unit. The veracity of these facts remains unknown, but not improbable due to the Ikeda clan being one of the main leaders of the campaign against Akechi Mitsuhide.

Battle of Shizugatake

At the Kiyosu Conference to decide on Nobunaga's successor, it was divided in two factions. On one hand, the general in chief of the Oda Clan,

Shibata Katsuie or was a Japanese samurai and military commander during the Sengoku period. He was retainer of Oda Nobuhide. He served Oda Nobunaga as one of his trusted generals, was severely wounded in the 1571 first siege of Nagashima, but then fought ...

, supported

Oda Nobutaka was a samurai and member of the Oda clan. He was adopted as the head of the Kanbe clan, which ruled the middle region of Ise Province and so he was also called Kanbe Nobutaka (神戸信孝). Biography Nobutaka was born as the third son of Oda ...

as his country's successor. On the other, Hideyoshi decided to support Nobunaga's grandson,

Oda Hidenobu , the son of Oda Nobutada, was a samurai who lived during the Azuchi-Momoyama period in the late-16th century. He was a convert to Catholicism. His childhood name was Sanbōshi (三法師). Succession dispute When Oda Nobutada and Oda Nobuna ...

. After gaining the support of the other two elders of the Oda Clan,

Niwa Nagahide , also known as (), his other legal alias was (), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi-Momoyama periods of the 16th century. He served as senior retainer to the Oda clan, and was eventually a daimyō in his own right. Going o ...

and

, Hideyoshi strengthened Hidenobu's position and at the same time increased his influence within the Clan. Gifu Castle

The Ikeda clan's decision to support Hidenobu quickly increased tension between Katsuie and Hideyoshi, starting the Battle of Shizugatake the following year. In the

Battle of Shizugatake The took place during the Sengoku period of Japan between Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then Hashiba Hideyoshi) and Shibata Katsuie in Nagahama, Shiga, Shizugatake, Ōmi Province over a period of two days beginning on the 20th day of the fourth month of ...

(1583), Ikeda Sen fought with her Teppō unit along with

Oda Nobukatsu also known as Kitabatake Tomotoyo was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. He was adopted as the head of the Kitabatake clan from Ise Province. He survived the decline of the Oda clan ...

Gifu Castle is a Japanese castle located in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Along with Mount Kinka and the Nagara River, it is one of the main symbols of the city. The castle is also known as . It was designated a National Historic Site in 2011. ...

defended by

. After

committed suicide with his wife

Oichi was a female historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She is known primarily as the mother of three daughters who became prominent figures in their own right – Yodo-dono, Ohatsu

(Nobunaga's sister) in

Kitanosho Castle was a ''hirashiro'' (castle located on flatland). Its remains are located in current-day Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainl ...

, Oda Nobutaka surrendered to Hideyoshi, who then forced him to commit ''seppuku''. After which Hideyoshi defeated Shibata and thus consolidated his own power, absorbing most of the Oda clan for his control. Because of this, the position of the Ikeda clan has increased further, leading Sen to enjoy the most privileged class of women.

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute

After winning the battle, Hideyoshi invited Nobukatsu and other generals to his residence at

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Layout Th ...

. The meaning of this invitation was for all men to pay homage to Hideyoshi, which would reverse the roles between Hideyoshi and Nobukatsu. Therefore, Nobukatsu broke his ties with Hideyoshi and did not go to Osaka Castle. Nobukatsu ordered them to kill their three main retainers on suspicion that they were planning to serve Hideyoshi. These actions gave Hideyoshi the justification to attack Nobukatsu and, as a result, Nobukatsu asked Ieyasu for auxiliary forces. The next day, when Ieyasu sent his forces into battle, it became a battle between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu. In May 1584, during the battle of Komaki Nagakute, Ikeda Tsuneoki offered a plan to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, suggesting that the Toyotomi army attack

Okazaki castle is a Japanese castle located in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Okazaki Castle was home to the Honda clan, ''daimyō'' of Okazaki Domain, but the castle is better known for its association with Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

(Ieyasu's residence). Since Ieyasu was marching with his army to several castles loyal to Hideyoshi, Ikeda assumed that there were few soldiers in Okazaki. The plan was adopted, and Ikeda's army began to move silently so that its movements were not noticed, but Ieyasu's army discovered the conspiracy and pursued it. In the vicinity of the current Nagakute Battle Museum today, Ikeda Tsuneoki and his army of 6,000 soldiers set up a war camp. There, Ieyasu's army enveloped them and the Battle of Nagakute broke out. Ikeda Sen was said to have commanded a squad of about 200 women. She joined with Tsuneoki, Nagayoshi, and Terumasa in fighting for

in the

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute The , also known as the Komaki Campaign (小牧の役 ''Komaki no Eki''), was a series of battles in 1584 between the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi (who would become Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1586) and the forces of Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

. Her father and her husband died during the battle, her brother Ikeda Terumasa survived, succeeding Tsuneoki as leader of the

Later records

After Nagayoshi's death, Sen married one of the three main members of the Toyotomi government, daimyo

Nakamura Kazuuji Nakamura may refer to: *Nakamura (surname), a list of people with the surname *Nakamura, Kōchi, a former city in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan *Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, a ward in Nagoya city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan * Nakamura stable, a stable of sumo wr ...

, who was born in Nakamura-ku,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

. During her marriage, Sen gave birth to two children. Her most notable son was Nakamura Kazutada, the first lord who ruled the Yonago Domain. Kazutada married Ieyasu's adopted daughter, further strengthening the relations between the Ikeda clan and the Tokugawa clan even more. Sen's husband, Nakamura Kazuuji, died in August 1600, just before the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

After the death of her second husband, she became a Buddhist nun, changing her name to Annyo-in (若御前). Possibly she returned to the domains of the Ikeda clan after Kazuuji's death, but there is evidence that she remained in the Nakamura clan. When the Sekigahara Campaign began in the fall of 1600, Sen's brother and Sen's son immediately sided with Tokugawa. There is no evidence, but according to various sources, Ikeda Sen is said to have led her squad of women musketeers in other battles in which the Ikeda family participated, including the

and the

. If the speculation that she was present in the Sekigahara Campaign is true, she probably participated in the

Battle of Gifu Castle The took place in September 1600 that led to the destruction of Gifu Castle in Gifu, Gifu, Gifu, Mino Province (modern-day Gifu Prefecture), Japan. The battle served as a prelude to the Battle of Sekigahara the following month. It pitted Oda Hid ...

alongside her brother and

Fukushima Masanori was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period to early Edo period and served as the lord of the Hiroshima Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583 and soon became known as one of the ...

. According to Edo's initial manuscript, '' Tōdaiki'' (当代記) or "The Present Chronicles", which recorded income from the rice wages of several warriors, Ikeda Sen received 10,000

. She had land in her own right, her fiefdoms with a recipe equivalent to 10,000 koku, it is considerably high for a warrior, making Sen a possible

. Because there is little detail about this, Ikeda Sen's life and fate is uncertain. Sen survived the entire Period of Warring States, dying in 17th-century. It is speculated that she lived for more than 80 years, due to the last records of her life being written around 1640, records written in the historiographies of

Matsudaira Tadaaki was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period through early Edo period. He was a retainer and relative of the Tokugawa clan.Hauser, William B. (1974)''Economic Institutional Change in Tokugawa Japan: Ōsaka and the Kinai cotton trade,'' ...

In popular culture

* Ikeda Sen appears in the

Koei Tecmo is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship video game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo ...

video game Samurai Warriors 4 Empires and

Nobunaga's Ambition is a series of turn-based grand strategy role-playing simulation video games developed and published by Koei (now Koei Tecmo). The original game was one of the first in its genre, being released in March 1983 in Japan. ''Nobunaga's Ambitio ...

References

{{People of the Sengoku period, state=autocollapse 16th-century Japanese women Year of birth unknown 1599 deaths Ikeda clan Women of the Sengoku period Women in 16th-century warfare