was an ashigaru (low class footman) who served the Okudaira family, retainer of

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. He became famous for his bravery and incredible exploit at the siege of Nagashino. He was a retainer of

Okudaira Sadamasa called Okudaira Sadamasa (奥平貞昌), was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku and early Edo periods. Nobumasa's family considered their origins to have been associated with Mikawa Province. The clan was descended through the Akamatsu f ...

and member of the Nagashino garrison when the fortress came under siege by the forces of

Takeda Katsuyori was a Japanese '' daimyō'' of the Sengoku period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen. He was son in law of Hojo Ujiyasu. Early life He was the son of Shingen by the daugh ...

, Kamehime the wife of Sadamasa assisted him in the defense. Torii already renowned for his bravery and known for his knowledge of the surroundings, he volunteered for the extremely dangerous mission of sneaking through the siege lines to request aid from

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. After successfully warning Tokugawa, however, he was captured by the Takeda on his return to Nagashino. Torii was taken prisoner and directed to shout to his compatriots in the fortress that no help was on the way, and that they should surrender. He instead encouraged the garrison that Tokugawa's army was, in fact, on the way, and that they should keep fighting. There is some dispute as to whether Torii was crucified before or after this proclamation, as well as in the precise details of his execution. Nevertheless, the end result was the same. Although Sune'emon was an ashigaru class warrior, his family was promoted to samurai class and served the Okudaira family until the end of

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. One Takeda retainer, Ochiai Michihisa, even used an image of a crucified Torii Suneemon on his flag from then on. The flag is now stored in the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

library. In 1923, a railway station opened near Torii's deathplace was named Torii Station.

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co. pp. 68, 85, 226. {{DEFAULTSORT:Torii, Suneemon 1540 births 1575 deaths Samurai People executed by crucifixion Executed Japanese people 16th-century executions by Japan