The Killing of Kitabatake Tomonori (The Mise Incident)

Overview

The Mise Incident was the killing of Kitabatake Tomonori, who was living in retirement at Mise in Ise Province, by an attack of his former retainers on the 25th day of the 11th month of Tenshō 4 (December 15, 1576). It is said to have been an assassination on the instruction of Oda Nobunaga, passed through Nobukatsu.

The Residence at Mise

After the Battle of Okawachi in 1569 (Eiroku 12), Tomonori built a residence at Mise, a post station on the Kumano road along the Miya River, and lived there in retirement. On a rise south of the residence site stands a body mound (dōzuka), and the incident is called the "Mise Incident" locally.

The Attack

The attack is said to have been carried out on the orders of Nobunaga and Nobukatsu by former retainers, Nagano Sakyō-no-suke and Karu Sakyō-no-shin (acting for Fujikata Tomonari), among others. Tomonori, his sons Tokumatsumaru and Kamematsumaru, and retainers including Ōhashi Nagatoki, Matsuda Yukinobu and Uesugi Yoriyoshi, 14 warriors in all among those identified, were killed. Around the same time, leading members of the Kitabatake family, including Nagano Tomofuji, were killed at Tamaru Castle, the seat of Nobukatsu.

There is also an account that Nobukatsu succeeded to the headship of the Kitabatake family in 1575 (Tenshō 3) and purged the family the following year.

Traditions of the Fight

Traditions about Tomonori's end survive in works compiled in later periods. These are not primary sources. The Kan'ei Shoke Keizu den says that Tomonori cut down 19 men with his tachi and wounded 100. The Seishū Gunki says that his sword blade had been dulled by Sasaki Shirōzaemon-no-jō, who had gone over to the attackers, so that he could not resist and was cut down. The two differ on how he resisted, and neither is a contemporary record.

Swordsmanship

Tomonori is said to have been taught the secret technique "Ichi no Tachi" by Tsukahara Bokuden and to have studied under Kamiizumi Nobutsuna as well.