'Danjo Matsunaga Hisahide Before His Suicide' by Yoshitoshi, 1883

'Danjo Matsunaga Hisahide Before His Suicide' by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1883. From the series 'Warriors Trembling With Courage'. This image is also available on:

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Matsunaga Hisahide was a daimyo, the highest rank of feudal lord below Shogun, in the 16th century. It was a turbulent time, when the authority of the Ashikaga Shoguns had all but collapsed and the country was riven by civil war. Amidst the chaos, fortunes could rise suddenly and then drop just as precipitously, and alliances shifted like quicksand. Among all the ruthless warlords of this era, Matsunaga Hisahide gained one of the most enduring reputations for deviousness and treachery.

Hisahide started out as a vassal of the more powerful Miyoshi clan, but in the 1560s he conquered Yamato province, just south of the imperial capital Kyoto. Combined with the suspicious deaths of several senior Miyoshi, this conquest effectively made him an independent power in his own right. He quickly manouvered for more power, participating in - or fuelling - infighting within the Miyoshi clan. It was while fighting against Miyoshi forces that he burned down the Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji Temple.

However, no sooner had he betrayed the Miyoshi than he was forced to submit to a more powerful lord again when Oda Nobunaga, frontrunner to replace the Ashikaga as the supreme ruler of Japan, marched on Kyoto. Ever the pragmatist, Hisahide bowed without a fight and thereafter contributed forces to the Oda's campaigns. This state of affairs served him well several years, but when Nobunaga's fortunes looked to be turning, Hisahide briefly went back to the Miyoshi, only to quickly fall out with them again and go back to Nobunaga. It was at Nobunaga's command that he joined other Oda vassals besieging Ishiyama Hongan-Ji, the cathedral-fortress of the Buddhist fanatics known as the Ikko Ikki.

For reasons that aren't clear, but possibly because he fell out with the other commanders, Hisahide withdrew from the siege and pulled his forces back to Yamato. Oda Nobunaga accused him of treachery and demanded an explanation and a priceless antique tea kettle as recompense, but Hisahide holed up in Shigisan Castle and ignored the messenger. Nobunaga then sent his son Nobutada with an army of forty thousand to make sure this was the last time Hisahide switched sides. They first executed two hostages, Hisahide's teenage grandsons, then stormed the castle.

This print by Yoshitoshi shows Hisahide moments before committing seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment and decapitation) to avoid capture by the Oda forces. Before ending his life, Hisahide made sure to smash the antique tea kettle, and then to deny the victors even the shards he ordered his castle burnt to the ground.

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