# Saitō Dōsan

Saitō Dōsan (斎藤 道三, 1494 – May 28, 1556), also known as Saitō Toshimasa (斎藤 利政), was a Japanese samurai lord and daimyo during the Sengoku period. He was also known as the "Viper of Mino" (美濃の蝮, Mino no Mamushi) for his ruthless tactics. He was appointed Governor of Yamashiro by the Imperial Court. After entering monkhood in his later years, he was also called Saitō Yamashiro-nyudō-no-kami (斎藤山城入道守).

## Biography

Saitō Dōsan has long been regarded as a symbolic figure of "Gekokujō" (the rise of those of lower status to positions of power), rising from a humble oil merchant to the ruler of Mino Province. However, recent research suggests that it was actually Dōsan's father who was the oil merchant. This implies that Dōsan's "Gekokujō" was a two-generation achievement involving both father and son.
He became a daimyo through Gekokujō of Toki Yorinari at Mino Province in 1542. Yorinari was forced out of Mino by Saitō Dōsan.
The Saito fortress was located at Inabayama castle. He married Omi no kata, a sister of Akechi Mitsutsuna (Akechi Mitsuhide's father).
He defeated Oda Nobuhide at the Battle of Kanōguchi in 1547.
However, in 1549, eventually Oda Nobuhide was defeated by Dōsan, Nobuhide made peace with Dōsan by arranging a political marriage between his son and heir, Oda Nobunaga, and Dōsan's daughter, Nōhime. Dōsan, therefore, became the father-in-law of Oda Nobunaga. Dōsan supported the marriage which allowed Nobuhide to focus on facing Imagawa Yoshimoto.
Several years later, rumors had started to circulate that Dōsan's firstborn son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, was not his natural son and Dōsan started to consider another son, Saitō Kiheiji, or even his son-in-law Oda Nobunaga, as his heirs. This caused Yoshitatsu to rebel and kill his two younger brothers. In 1556, the forces of Dōsan and Yoshitatsu clashed in the Battle of Nagara-gawa which resulted in the death of Dōsan.
Dōsan's head was taken by a man called Komaki Genta, a retainer of Yoshitatsu's son Saitō Tatsuoki. His remains were originally interred in Sōfuku-ji, but they were later moved to Jōzai-ji because the Nagara River kept overflowing and covering his burial mound. Both temples are located in the city of Gifu which celebrates Dōsan with an annual festival.

## Pseudonyms

Saitō Dōsan is known for having a large number of pseudonyms and for frequently changing his name. Some believe that this is because there were two Saitō Dōsan, father and son, and the son adopted his father's name after his death. Other names of Saitō Dōsan are Minemaru (峰丸), Hōrenbō (法蓮坊), Matsunami Shogorō (松浪庄五郎), Nishimura Kankurō Masatoshi (西村勘九郎正利), Shinkurō (新九郎), Nagai Norihide (長井規秀), and Saitō Sakondayu Toshimasa (斎藤左近大夫利政). The name Saitō was adopted from the former shugodai of Mino who had been overcome by the Nagai clan in the 1520s.

## Notable retainers

* Hachiya Yoritaka
* Mori Yoshinari
* Fuwa Mitsuharu
* Inaba Ittetsu
* Ando Morinari
* Ujiie Naotomo
* Hachisuka Masakatsu
* Sakai Masahisa
* Takenaka Shigeharu
* Kanamori Nagachika
* Katō Mitsuyasu
* Sengoku Hidehisa

## Family

* Father: Matsuda Motomune (in one traditional story; another version says that he was child of Shinzaemonzo, a monk of Myoukaku-ji Temple)
* Wife: Omi no Kata, daughter of Akechi Mitsutsugu
* Concubine: Miyoshi no Kata
* Children:
** Saitō Yoshitatsu born to Miyoshi no Kata
** Saitō Magoshirō
** Saitō Kiheiji
** Saitō Toshitaka
** Saitō Nagatatsu (Toshiharu)
** Nōhime (Kicho)

## In Popular Culture

* In the Action RPG Nioh 2 he's reimagined as a retired Yokai hunter that fell in love with a female Yokai who bore him two children; Saito Yoshitatsu and the main protagonist "Hide". He's killed by Yoshitatsu's forces at the end of the first act.