, also well known as , was a ''

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

'' of the late Sengoku through early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

s. He served

Kuroda Yoshitaka , also known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku through the early Edo period. Renowned as a man of great ambition, he succeeded Takenaka Hanbei as a chief strategist and adviser to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Kuroda b ...

but retired from the Kuroda clan after Kuroda Yoshitaku had died. Finally, he served

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who united all of Japan toward the end of the Sengoku period. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's sec ...

and

Yodo-dono or (1569 – June 4, 1615), also known as Lady Chacha (茶々), was a Japanese historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She was the concubine and the second wife of Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As the mother of his son and successor ...

and was killed at the battle of Dōmyōji during the

siege of Osaka A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

in 1615. His father Gotō Motokuni served Kodera Masamoto. But Motokuni was dead when Matabei was a child. After his father's death, Matabei became a vassal of Kuroda Kanbei. At the Second Siege of Jinju, during Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea, Gotō was the first samurai to enter Jinju castle. During the Siege of Osaka, Gotō was one of the most able and fierce generals in

's Army. He was the chief commander at the battle of Dōmyōji where, severely outnumbered by Date Masamune troops, he held out for reinforcements, which were lost in the fog. Unable to maintain the position without the reinforcements, Mototsugu was harmed by a stray bullet and unable to stand, he practiced

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

. It is said in his kaishaku memoir that he couldn't stop his tears. After his death, Mototsugu's samurai were easily defeated and his head discovered by enemy forces. History said that his display of valor this day was great enough to shock everyone, allies and enemies : leading his warriors in hit & run tactics, he killed 70 to 80 horse-men by himself. He stopped only because his horse was exhausted and he needed another to continue the fight.

In popular culture

* Kojiki Taishō Gotō Matabei is a novel by

Jirō Osaragi was the pen-name of a popular Japanese writer in Shōwa period Japan, known primarily for his historical fiction novels, which appeared serialized in newspapers and magazines. His real name was . Early life Osaragi Jirō was born in Yokohama. H ...

. * Goto Mototsugu is a playable character in video game

Sengoku Basara 4 is the fourth main installment of the ''Sengoku Basara, Sengoku BASARA'' video game series, developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 3. The game was released in Japan on January 23, 2014. An expanded version of the game for the Play ...

(PS3). * He appears in Manga " Sengoku Tenshoki ". * He appears in Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence Ascension in the battle of Dōmyōji and other battles in the Siege Of Osaka Castle. It is possible to save him and change history.

Family

* Goto Motokuni ( :Ja:後藤基国): Father * Goto Motonori ( :Ja:後藤基則): Son * Goto Motoyoshi ( :Ja:後藤基芳): Son

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.

In popular culture

Family

References

References

Further reading