Akashi Takenori

* Sen7
* Sen4-6

**Akashi Takenori**  (明石 (あかし)全登 (たけのり), *****Akashi Takenori*****? Akashi Takenori) is a retainer of the Ukita Clan, serving under Ukita Naoie and Ukita Hideie. She serves as recruitable general since Sengoku Hime 4, and has appeared in Sengoku Hime 5, Sengoku Hime 6, Sengoku Hime 7 and Tengoku Hime 2.

## Introduction

**Sengoku Hime 4:**
Ukita Hideie vassal.
She has a soft demeanor and beautiful eyes, and she is often mistaken for a female.
He is a person who believes in Nanban Protestantism and has a soft appearance and language.
Although she is a loyal vassal, she is not very prominent in the house, and she seems to be gathering people here and there to spread the teachings of Nanban Protestantism while doing her daily work.

物腰柔らか、眉目秀麗で、良く女性と間違われる。
南蛮新教を信仰しており、人に接する姿や言葉遣いも柔らかな人物。
忠臣だが、家中ではあまり目立った存在では無く、普段は日々の仕事をこなしつつ、南蛮新教の教えを広めるためにあちこちで人を集めては語り歩いているらしい。
【デザイナー：黒田んぼ】　【演者：来栖川勇】

**Sengoku Hime 5:**
Ukita Hideie vassal. She has a soft demeanor and beautiful eyes, and she is often mistaken for a female. He is a person who believes in Nanban Shinto religion and has a soft appearance and language. Although she is a loyal vassal, she is not very prominent in the house, and she seems to be gathering people here and there to spread the teachings of Nanban Protestantism while doing her daily work.

デザイナー：黒田んぼＣＶ：鶴屋春人

**Sengoku Hime 6:**
Ukita Hideie vassal. She has a soft demeanor and beautiful eyes, and she is often mistaken for a female. He is a person who believes in Nanban Shinto religion and has a soft appearance and language. Although she is a loyal vassal, she is not very prominent in the house, and she seems to be gathering people here and there to spread the teachings of Nanban Protestantism while doing her daily work.

**Sengoku Hime 7:**
A general who serves the Ukita family.
He is a person who is cheerful and friendly to any human being.
He's a "good guy," but all the rumors are due to his seemingly exaggerated behavior.
They fly around and obscure the image of the person.

宇喜多家に仕える将。
どんな人間に対しても明るく気さくに接してくる人物。
「いい人」なのだが、どこか大げさに見える振る舞いのせいであらゆる噂が
飛び交い、その人物像をあやふやにしてしまっている。

**Tengoku Hime 2:**
Ukita Hideie vassal.
He has a soft demeanor, a beautiful eyebrows, and is often mistaken for a female.
He believes in Nanban Shinto religion, and his appearance and wording in contact with people
He is also a soft person.
He is a loyal vassal, but he is not very prominent in the house,
He usually does his daily work and teaches the teachings of Nanban Protestantism.
Gather people here and there to spread and talk
He seems to be there.
He works hard day and night at the Ukita family to make Hinomoto peaceful.
Where he was, he was summoned to Venard.

宇喜多家家臣。
物腰柔らか、眉目秀麗で、良く女性と間違われる。
南蛮神教を信仰しており、人に接する姿や言葉遣い
も柔らかな人物。
忠臣だが、家中ではあまり目立った存在では無く、
普段は日々の仕事をこなしつつ、南蛮新教の教えを
広めるためにあちこちで人を集めては語り歩いて
いるらしい。
日ノ本を平和にすべく、宇喜多家で日夜職務に励ん
でいた所、ヴェナールに召喚された。

## Historial Infomation

Akashi Takenori (明石 全登, 1566–1618?) was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama through early Edo periods. Also known as Teruzumi, Zentō, or Naritoyo. Retainer of Ukita Naoie, the major daimyō of Bizen Province. Also known by his court title, Kamon-no-Kami (掃部頭).

Takenori also served as a strategist under Naoie's son Ukita Hideie. At the Battle of Sekigahara, he fought bravely against Fukushima Masanori. After the Ukita clan had been destroyed in the Battle of Sekigahara, Takenori lived in Akizuki.

At the Siege of Osaka, Akashi entered Osaka castle and he fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu to the last minute. His wife, Monica, accompanied him to Osaka, and worked as a nurse throughout the siege. After the castle's fall, Takenori escaped again. He never committed suicide because of his Christian beliefs. Despite being hunted by the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu, he was not caught; his whereabouts after the battle are unknown.

Takenori was born around 1569 as the son of Akashi Yukikatsu, the lord of Hogi Castle in Bizen Province. The Bizen-Akashi clan (and the Mimasaka-Akashi) were descendants of the Akamatsu clan (specifically, Akamatsu Sadanori, the second son of Akamatsu Norimura, a shugo daimyō). The family was known for operating copper mines and serving as technicians.
Yukikatsu was a retainer of Uragami Munekage, lord of Tenjinyama Castle. Upon the demise of the Uragami clan in the autumn of 1575, he switched his allegiance to Ukita Naoie, and thereafter, served the Ukita clan. Together with his younger brother, Kageyuki, Yukikatsu served under Naoie and Naoie’s son, Ukita Hideie. In 1588, Yukikatsu was awarded the title of shodaibu (Junior Fifth Rank (Lower)) and a fief of 40,000 koku. As the eldest son, Takenori was the designated heir and succeeded his father prior to the spring of 1597 while his father was still living. He became the lord of Ōmata Castle in the Wake District and elder of the family, but did not manage the affairs of their domain.
In 1599, an internal conflict known as the Ukita Disturbance erupted. After the killing of Osafune Tsunanao, who was serving as the head of family affairs, four senior retainers involved in the plot (Togawa Michiyasu, Ukita Akiie (later known as Sakazaki Naomori), Oka Sadatsuna, and Hanabusa Masanori) fled, so Takenori succeeded Tsunanao as the head of family affairs. In the beginning, he had a fief of 33,110 koku. As a direct retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (the taiko, or regent, and father-in-law of Hideie), he received additional territory for a fief totaling 100,000 koku.
In 1600, when Ishida Mitsunari raised arms against Tokugawa Ieyasu, Takenori deployed upon orders of Ukita Hideie. He joined the western army fighting on behalf of Mitsunari in an attack on Fushimi Castle during the summer. This event, known as the Battle of Fushimi Castle, served as a prelude to the Battle of Sekigahara. In the autumn, at the Battle of Kuisegawa, Takenori commanded a vanguard division of 8,000 out of a total of 17,000 Ukita forces. In the early stages, the Ukita advance forces trapped Nakamura Kazushige and Arima Toyouji and fought valiantly against Fukushima Masanori, but, in the end, lost the battle owing to betrayal by Kobayakawa Hideaki. Takenori admonished his lord, Hideie, not to make a final charge to die in honor, and instead to retreat to Ōsaka Castle, whereupon Takenori served in the rear guard. There are records that he encountered Kuroda Nagamasa, a senior commander of the eastern army, during the retreat. After the battle, Takenori withdrew to Okayama Castle, but it had already been destroyed, and he could not communicate with Hideie either, so he absconded.
Following the collapse of the Ukita clan, Takenori became a rōnin, or wandering samurai. He was given protection by Kuroda Yoshitaka, a Christian daimyō who whose mother was a member of the Akashi family. In particular, Yoshitaka’s younger brother, Kuroda Naoyuki, also a devout Christian, sheltered Takenori. After the death of Yoshitaka, his son, Kuroda Nagamasa, prohibited the practice of Christianity, causing Takenori to seek help from Tanaka Tadamasa of the Yanagigawa domain. There are various theories concerning Takenori’s whereabouts during this time.
In 1614, at the Siege of Ōsaka, owing to issues concerning his Christian faith, Takenori participated on the side of the Toyotomi. In the Summer Campaign in 1615, he first joined the Battle of Dōmyōji. Gotō Mototsugu charged forward and died in battle, but the clashes between Takenori’s unit and enemy forces led by Mizuno Katsunari, Jinbō Sukeshige, and Date Masamune descended into chaos, causing mistaken killings between the allied forces of Masamune and Sukeshige. Takenori himself sustained injuries. At the Battle of Tennōji-Okayama, Takenori paired with Ogura Yukiharu, a former retainer of Gamō Ujisato, to lead a suicide corps of over 300 men with the aim of plunging into the main camp of Ieyasu. However, at the entrance to the Tennō Temple, once they learned that their allies had been decimated, they men broke through an encirclement by forces under Mizuno Katsunari, Matsudaira Tadanao, Honda Tadamasa, and Tōdō Takatora and escaped to the battlefield.
Thereafter, Takenori’s whereabouts are unknown. According to some sources, he died in this battle. Ishikawa Tadafusa killed him and grabbed his short sword. The sword had been a present from Toyotomi Hideyori and came from a reknowned swordsmith near Kyōto called Awataguchi Yoshimitsu. Meanwhile, a retainer of Mizuno Katsunari named Teizō Emon took his head. There are many other stories that he fled including with his eldest son to Kyūshū, or that he went overseas. If he had traveled overseas, it would likely have been noted in the recordings of the Jesuits, but there is no record of him, so unlikely that actually occurred.

**Lord**: Uragami Munekage 浦上宗景 → Ukita Naoie 宇喜多直家 → Ukita Hideie 宇喜多秀家 (Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉) → Toyotomi Hideyori 豊臣秀頼
**Father:** Akashi Yukikatsu 明石行雄

**Mother:** Monika モニカ (younger half-sister of Ukita Naoie)

**Sibling(s):** ＇＇Takenori＇＇, sister (wife of Iga Iehisa), Takenobu(?)

**Spouse(s):** Daughter of Ukita Naoie宇喜多直家娘

**Children:** Kosaburo 小三郎、Akashi Kageyuki 明石景行、Akashi Naiki 明石内記、Catalina カタリナ (wife of Oka Hirauchi)、Regina レジイナ (wife of Miyoshi Naomasa)