Lady Shirai (白井局 ''Shirai no Tsubone'', d. 1565) was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat from the

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 ...

. She was born to the

Nagao clan was a Japanese samurai clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Nagao," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 39 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Nagao clan descend from T ...

in Shirai, who were head retainers to the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

in Kantō. She was the wife of Narita Nagayasu, the lord of

Oshi castle 270px, Surviving gate of Oshi Castle is a Japanese castle located in Gyōda, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. During the Edo period, Oshi Castle was the center of the 100,000 ''koku'' Oshi Domain, but the castle is far better known for its associatio ...

in Musashi. She is also thought to be either the daughter or granddaughter of Nagao Kageharu. Lady Shirai was a retainer of the

Ashikaga Shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establi ...

, fought and died during the Incident of Kyoto in 1565, when

Ashikaga Yoshiteru , also known as Yoshifushi or Yoshifuji, was the 13th '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1546 to 1565 during the late Muromachi period of Japan. He was the eldest son of the 12th ''shōgun'', Ashikaga Yoshiharu, and his mot ...

was killed.

Life

Lady Shirai was a relative of Nagao Kagetora (the famed Uesugi Kensin). In 1560, Uesugi Kenshin, a warlord of Echigo province, made large expedition to Kanto region against the

Later Hōjō clan The was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region. Their last name was simply Hōjō (北条) but in order to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan with the s ...

. Nagayasu Narita, once belonged to Kenshin, but there arouse a quarrel between Kenshin and Nagayasu and Kenshin insulted him, thus furious Nagayasu left Kenshin and went back to Hojo clan. After that Narita clan had been an important retainer of Hojo clan, and expanded

as a basement of this area. Lady Shirai would divorce her husband once he turned his back on the Uesugi clan, and serve the 13th

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamak ...

. At this point, she was over 50 years old, but she was still beautiful, and as she always served in close proximity to Yoshiteru she used the opportunity to talk about Uesugi Kenshin, and build a diplomatic bridge between the two figures. Yoshiteru declared war on

Miyoshi Nagayoshi , eldest son of Miyoshi Motonaga, was a Japanese samurai and powerful ''daimyō'' who ruled seven provinces of Kansai. Nagayoshi held the court titles of Shūri-dayū (修理太夫) and Chikuzen no Kami (筑前守), and was also known by the more ...

because Miyoshi had a great influence in the capital. Nagayoshi continued as the real power in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

. In 1565,

Miyoshi Yoshitsugu , adopted son of Nagayoshi, was a samurai of the Sengoku period who was practically the last head of Miyoshi clan, ''daimyō'' of Kawachi Province of Japan. His wife was Ashikaga Yoshiaki's sister. Born to Sogō Kazumasa in 1549, younger brothe ...

laid siege against the Ninomaru Palace and Honmaru Palace (currently

Nijō Castle is a flatland castle in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings ( Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area of the castle is ...

). With no help arriving in time from the ''Daimyōs'' that could have supported him, Yoshiteru and the few troops under him were overrun by the Miyoshi. Lady Shirai took her naginata and fought for the last time. When

Matsunaga Hisahide Matsunaga Danjo Hisahide (松永弾正久秀 1508 – November 19, 1577) was a ''daimyō'' and head of the Yamato Matsunaga clan in Japan during the Sengoku period of the 16th century. Biography He was a retainer of Miyoshi Nagayoshi f ...

entered the Yoshiteru's Palace, the Shogun committed suicide, Lady Shirai continues to resist and ends up dying in battle. It is unclear if she gave birth to Nagayasu's sons. If so, she was the paternal grandmother of Kaihime along with the maternal one,

Akai Teruko Akai Teruko (赤井輝子, November 6, 1514 – December 17, 1594) or Myoinni (妙印尼) was a late-Sengoku period Onna-musha warrior. Teruko was a woman trained in ko-naginata, fought in many battles when younger and commanded three thousand sol ...

References

People of Sengoku-period Japan Women of medieval Japan 1565 deaths Japanese women in warfare 16th-century Japanese people Women in 16th-century warfare 16th-century Japanese women {{Japan-mil-bio-stub