Takenaka Hanbei's Seizure of Inabayama Castle — A Coup of Sixteen Men and the Pride of the Sword

On the 6th day of the 2nd month of Eiroku 7 (1564), the young Mino warrior Takenaka Shigeharu, known by his common name Hanbei, led a force of only sixteen men (or seventeen, by some accounts) and launched a surprise attack on and seized Inabayama Castle (present-day Mount Kinka, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture), the residence of Saitō Tatsuoki, then lord of Mino Province. Known as an impregnable fortress, a castle that even Oda Nobunaga had struggled to take, this incident, in which a brilliant young man in his teens seized it with a small force, is remembered as an unprecedented stratagem that stands out in the history of the Sengoku period.

The Man Known as Takenaka Hanbei

Takenaka Hanbei (Tenbun 13 (1544) – Tenshō 7 (1579)) was born the son of Takenaka Shigemoto (lord of Ōmidō Castle, later lord of Bodaisan Castle in Fuwa District), a retainer of the Mino Saitō clan. From a young age he excelled in martial arts and military strategy, and he was especially renowned for his brilliant insight into siege tactics and the strategy of castle defense. He later served as an attached retainer (yoriki) and strategist to Hashiba Hideyoshi (Toyotomi Hideyoshi), and together with Kuroda Kanbei he was called “Ryōhyōe.” Until his life ended at the age of 36, Hanbei continued to display unmatched talent both in scheming and in winning the hearts of men.

The Foolish Lord Saitō Tatsuoki and the Crisis in Mino

Succeeding Saitō Dōsan and Yoshitatsu, Saitō Tatsuoki took over the family headship in Eiroku 4 (1561); he was still a young lord, only fourteen by the traditional count. The hegemony of Mino, whose foundations had been laid in the era of Dōsan and Yoshitatsu, father and son, began to waver rapidly once Tatsuoki came to rule. It is said that Tatsuoki neglected government affairs, often indulged in wine and women, and would not heed the remonstrances of his senior retainers. Meanwhile, Oda Nobunaga had unified Owari and was repeatedly invading Mino, and the Saitō house was on the verge of internal collapse.

Takenaka Hanbei felt strong indignation at Tatsuoki's foolish conduct. As the remonstrances of the various commanders were all ignored, Hanbei is said to have resolved to awaken his lord by more dramatic means.

The Sixteen-Man Stratagem: From Entry to Takeover

The greatest factor behind the successful seizure was that Hanbei's younger brother, Takenaka Shigenori, had been placed inside Inabayama Castle as a hostage. Hanbei exploited their brotherly relationship: on the pretext of visiting his younger brother, he led a small band of men into the castle. Inside the castle, where vigilance was lax, Hanbei's party seized key points one after another. The soldiers responsible for the castle's defense were thrown into confusion by the sudden turn of events, and Hanbei killed six men, including Saitō Hidanokami, a favorite of Tatsuoki; together with the forces of his father-in-law, Andō Morinari, he occupied the impregnable Inabayama Castle.

The lord of the castle, Saitō Tatsuoki, fled the castle. The occupation lasted until around the end of the 7th month, but by the 8th month the castle had returned to Tatsuoki's hands, and Hanbei went into seclusion. It is also said that he returned the castle himself after remonstrating with Tatsuoki, but there is also a view that he abandoned it under attack from forces supporting Tatsuoki.

The Sword and Pride: As an Act Embodying the Samurai's Sense of Righteousness

One reason this incident continues to draw people in later ages lies in the purity of Hanbei's motives. It is said that he did not seize the castle to enrich himself, nor sell it to another power, and that after achieving his aim he gave up the castle of his own accord. An act directed solely at remonstrating with his lord and calling attention to the crisis in Mino has been handed down as embodying the righteousness of the samurai.

In relation to the sword situation in Mino at that time, the area around Inabayama Castle was home to a group of smiths from Seki, known as a sword-producing center, and this period coincided with the time when Mino blades called “Sekimono” were being produced most actively, at the same time as Hanbei's seizure of the castle.

Legacy and Service Under Hideyoshi

After giving up Inabayama Castle, Hanbei withdrew from public life, and after the fall of the Saitō house he passed through a period as a guest retainer of Asai Nagamasa before switching to the Oda side. The “Toyokagami” records that in Genki 1 (1570), Kinoshita Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) petitioned Nobunaga to add the Takenaka family as his yoriki, and from then on Hanbei served as Hideyoshi's attached retainer. Thereafter, Hanbei was active as a strategist in Hideyoshi's conquest of the western provinces, including the campaign in Harima and the siege of Miki Castle.

Hanbei's name is still known today as a byword for the “strategist,” and he frequently appears in novels, films, and games set in the Sengoku period. The starting point of this was the stratagem of Eiroku 7, in which he seized a famed castle of the realm with just sixteen men. Gifu Castle (the former Inabayama Castle) still stands atop Mount Kinka today, carrying Hanbei's legend into the present.