Akechi clan

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The Akechi clan (明智氏, Akechi-shi) was a Japanese clan centered around Mino that became powerful during the Sengoku period. Originally a branch of the Toki clan, the fall of its parent clan along with the rise to power of Akechi Mitsuhide made the Akechi clan one of the most influential in Japan.^[1] However, their glory was short lived, as the clan fell from prominence after Mitsuhide's betrayal of Oda Nobunaga on 21 June 1582 and his death only thirteen days later.^[2]

History[]

Rise to prominence[]

Before the rise of Mitsuhide, not much is known of the Akechi clan. Their origins trace back to being a branch of the larger Toki clan, itself descended from the Seiwa Genji and Minamoto no Yorimitsu. The Toki were the governors of Mino for most of the Ashikaga shogunate, losing most of his properties to Saitō Dōsan's Saito clan in 1542. With the fall of the main Toki branch, the Akechi rose to power and Mitsuhide started gaining influence on Japan's politics.^[1]

Mitsuhide served then-shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, being the one to propose Oda Nobunaga as Yoshiaki's protector. After Yoshiaki and Nobunaga's alliance fell through, Mitsuhide sided with Nobunaga, becoming one of his most trusted generals. However, Mitsuhide started to reconsider his alliance with Nobunaga after the Siege of Mount Hiei in 1571, where Nobunaga ruthlessly killed every man, woman, and child and burned the Enryaku-ji to the ground.^[3]

Despite these thoughts, Mitsuhide kept helping the Oda clan, receiving orders to build a castle in Sakamoto from Nobunaga after the siege and also starting to build Kameyama Castle in 1578 both as a way to protect Kyoto's western side and establish a foothold from where Mitsuhide could start conquering Tanba.^[4]

Falling out with the Oda clan[]

In 1579, Mitsuhide sent his mother to Yakami Castle in a hostage exchange to assure peace negotiations between Nobunaga and Hatano Hideharu. However, Nobunaga executed Hideharu as soon as he reached Azuchi Castle, prompting the latter's family to execute Mitsuhide's mother as soon as they received the news.^[5] This incident, along with the Enryaku-ji massacre, damaged Mitsuhide's relationship with Nobunaga and he started plotting against his lord.^[3]

At some point between 1579 and 1582, he came in contact with Ashikaga Yoshiaki again and, with the help of a foreign organization known as the Templars, established the Shinbakufu with the idea to end Nobunaga's reign of terror and put Yoshiaki back in power.^[3] Other members of the Akechi clan also supported this idea, with Mitsuhide's nephew Akechi Kagemitsu and son-in-law Ise Sadaoki also joining the Shinbakufu.^[2] As a gesture of good faith, Mitsuhide also sent two of his children, Hosokawa Tama and Akechi Mitsuyoshi, to the Templars to ensure their support.^[6]

Decline[]

Despite successfully killing Nobunaga during the Honnō-ji incident, Mitsuhide failed to establish himself since none of Nobunaga's generals took his side, even those that had an alliance by marriage with his clan such as Hosokawa Fujitaka.^[7] The Kakushiba ikki, mainly Fujibayashi Naoe, whose father Nagato had been killed by the Shinbakufu, and Yasuke, who had served as a samurai under Nobunaga, started to track down every member of the Shinbakufu, killing both Kagemitsu^[8] and Sadaoki.^[9] During the Battle of Yamazaki, Toyotomi Hideyoshi laid siege to Shōryū-ji Castle and defeated the remaining forces of the Akechi clan. Although Mitsuhide managed to escape, Yasuke and Naoe chased him to nearby Ōyamazaki, where they defeated him in combat.^[3]

Most of the Akechi clan was killed in the aftermath of the betrayal, including Akechi Mitsuhisa, who was slain by Yagoro as revenge for Fubuki's death.^[10] The only known survivors were Tama and Mitsuyoshi, who were rescued from the Templars by Yasuke while trying to track down Nuno Caro.^[11]