was a Japanese

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 ...

of the

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 ...

, who most notably 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 ...

Biography

Sakai was born in

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

, and first served the

Saitō clan Saitō, Saito, Saitou or Saitoh (written: or ) are the 10th and 11th most common Japanese surnames respectively. Less common variants are , , and . Notable people with the surname include: Notable people with the surname *, Japanese footballer * ...

. After the fall of the Saitō, he was taken on as a retainer by

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 ...

. He was particularly active during the time of

's entry into

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. In late 1568, Masahisa joined

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 ...

Hosokawa Fujitaka , also known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and prominent samurai lord of the Sengoku period. A former senior retainer of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the fifteenth and final Ashikaga shōgun, Fujitaka later aligned with Oda Nobunaga. As a reward fo ...

, Hachiya Yoritaka, and Mori Yoshinari in attacking Iwanari Tomomichi's

Shōryūji Castle is a castle in Nagaokakyō, Kyoto, Japan. History This castle was constructed in 1339 by Hosokawa Yoriharu, a major samurai commander under Ashikaga Takauji, the founder of the Ashikaga shogunate. The area around the castle is a strategic fo ...

. Later in 1570, at Battle of Anegawa while under attack from Asai forces under Isono Kazumasa, he lost his son Sakai Kyūzō. Masahisa was also present at the Siege of Odani 1573. Masahisa died soon after, at the Battle of Katada. Family headship was thus inherited by his second son, Sakai '' Etchū no kami''.

References

* Papinot, Edmond. ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan'' *
page.sannet.ne.jp
* Naramoto Tatsuya (1994). ''Nihon no Kassen: Monoshiri Jiten''. Tokyo: Shufu to Seikatsusha.

Samurai Japanese warriors killed in battle 1570 deaths Year of birth unknown {{samurai-stub