or Akao Mimisaka no Kami Kiyotsuna was a Japanese samurai of the late

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, a senior retainer of the

Azai clan The , also rendered as Asai, was a Japanese clan during the Sengoku period. History The Azai was a line of ''daimyōs'' (feudal lords) seated at Odani Castle in northeastern Ōmi Province, located within present day Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture. ...

Ōmi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countrie ...

. Together with

Kaihō Tsunachika was a Japanese samurai and commander of the Sengoku period who served Azai clan as a senior retainer. His son Kaihō Yūshō was a representative painter of the Azuchi–Momoyama period in Japan. Tsunachika served as a senior retainer and mili ...

and Amenomori Kiyosada, Kiyotsuna was known as one of the . Kiyotsuna served three generations of the Azai lords: Sukemasa, Hisamasa, and Nagamasa. As a mark of the Azai family's deep trust of Akao, he was allowed to maintain a residence within

Odani Castle 280px, Map of Odani Castle was a Sengoku period mountain-top Japanese castle located in the former town of Kohoku, now part of Nagahama city, in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Only the ruins remain today. It was the home castle of the Azai clan and t ...

. He is noted for his role in the ascendancy of Nagamasa by forcing Hisamasa into retirement in 1560. In 1573, Kiyotsuna was imprisoned after the fall of

, and beheaded by Nobunaga. However, Nobunaga spared the life of Kiyotsuna's son,

Akao Kiyofuyu Akao (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese ultra-rightist *, Japanese voice actress *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese diplomat *, Japanese business theorist *, Japanese football ...

Notes

Samurai 1514 births 1573 deaths {{Samurai-stub