Saitō Toshikazu (齋藤俊一) (died 1582), also known as Saitō Toshizo (斎藤歳三), was lord of Ikuchiyama in

Tanba Province was a province of Japan in the area of central Kyoto and east-central Hyōgo Prefectures. Tanba bordered on Harima, Ōmi, Settsu, Tajima. Tango, Wakasa, and Yamashiro provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichid ...

as well as a member of the

Saitō clan Saitō, Saito, Saitou or Saitoh (written: or ) are the 10th and 11th most common Japanese surnames respectively. Less common variants are , , and . Notable people with the surname include: Notable people with the surname *, Japanese footballer * ...

. Toshikazu was Saito Tatsuoki cousin, head of

. In 1567, after the Battle of Inabayama, Toshikazu became a vassal of

Akechi Mitsuhide , first called Jūbei from his clan and later from his title, was a Japanese ''samurai'' general of the Sengoku period. Mitsuhide was originally a bodyguard of the last Ashikaga shogunate, Ashikaga ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later, one of ...

, who was a retainer of the

Oda clan The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they reached the peak of their power under Oda Nobunaga and fell soon after, several branches of the ...

. In 1582, at the

Battle of Yamazaki The was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki, Japan, located in current-day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt. Tennō (天王山の戦い ''Tennō-zan no tatakai''). In the Honnō-ji Incident, Akechi Mitsuhide, ...

, the battle between

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

's two ''de facto'' successors,

and

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

. Toshikazu became a commander of

Akechi clan The is a branch of the Toki clan, which is descended from the Seiwa Genji. The Akechi clan thrived around the later part of the Sengoku period of the 16th century. The Akechi became the head (soryo) of the Toki clan after the Toki fell to the S ...

forces. During the battle, he tried to flank Hideyoshi's lines but was defeated and executed by Horio Mosuke.

References

Samurai People of the Azuchi–Momoyama period 1582 deaths Year of birth unknown {{Samurai-stub

See also

References