Akohime | |
|---|---|
阿古姫 | |
| Personal life | |
| Nationality |  Japan |
| Parent(s) | Chōsokabe Motochika Lady Motochika (Lady Nana) |
| Occupation | Retainer of samurai clan |
| Military service | |
| Unit |  Chōsokabe clan |
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Akohime (阿古姫) was a Japanese noble woman from theChōsokabe clan during theSengoku period to the earlyEdo period. She was the daughter ofChōsokabe Motochika, the daimyō ofTosa Province inShikoku. She was the last notable survivor of the clan after theSiege of Osaka; being responsible for continuing the Chōsokabe's lineage inSendai domain when she became retainer ofDate Masamune.
Akohime was the daughter of Chōsokabe Motochika, known for having unified the island of Shikoku. She was also the sister ofChōsokabe Morichika and wife ofSatake Chikanao, a retainer of the Chōsokabe, and bore two sons which would later be known as Igarashi Motonari e Shibata Tomomoto.
In 1615, during the Summer Campaign of theSiege of Ōsaka, Akohime accompanied the Chōsokabe army who were allies of the Toyotomi clan in the fight against the Tokugawa clan. Akohime, Chikanao and Chōsokabe Morichika enter Ōsaka Castle, but the Toyotomi lost the battle while Chikanao was killed in action. When Ōsaka Castle fell, Akohime and her two sons were captured by soldiers under the command ofDate Masamune, the head of the Sendai domain. Masamune spared the lives of Akohime and her sons, after which Akohime served as a personal maid of the Date family under the name of Chūjō.
The lands of the Chōsokabe clan had been confiscated after the end of the Siege of Osaka, but Akohime who was spared from death used her influence to continue the Chosokabe lineage. Akohime was well-educated and articulate, so she was trusted by Masamune and served him into his later years.
Because of Akohime's efforts, each of her sons was adopted by a senior vassal and both became successors to their respective adoptive parents. Her sons also became servants of the family. Later, her second son, Motomaru, succeeded a senior retainer named Shiho Shibata and adopted the name of Shibata Tomomoto. For that reason, there were people related to Chosokabe who went to Sendai with the help of Akohime and her children.
Tomomoto worked as a magistrate. In 1671, during the Date Disturbance, he died in a sword fight against Harada Munesuke at the residence of Sakai Tadakiyo.
While serving as a personal maid to Masamune, Akohime requested of her cultured lord a work of calligraphy for which he wrote a song from Kiyohara no Motosuke, a revered noble and poet from the tenth century in the Heian period.[1]