* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Ban Naoyuki
塙直之
The self-proclaimed "Night Raid Commander" of the Siege of Osaka, who fell at Kashii
Description
Origins and Service under Several Houses
Ban Naoyuki (c. 1567-1615), better known by his popular name Ban Danemon, has an uncertain background: traditions variously identify him as a descendant of the Oda retainer Hanawa Naomasa, as one Suda Jirōzaemon of the Enshū Yokosuka band, or as a retainer of the Chiba clan from Yōrō in Kazusa Province, with no settled account. In the late Tenshō era he served Katō Yoshiaki, acting as a standard-bearer during the Korean campaigns and earning a stipend of 350 koku, but after making an unauthorized sortie at the Battle of Sekigahara he was rebuked by Yoshiaki as unfit to hold command and left his service. He subsequently served Kobayakawa Hideaki as a gunner captain with 1,000 koku, then, after a period as a rōnin, entered the service of Matsudaira Tadayoshi and later Fukushima Masanori as a mounted guard with 1,000 koku, moving among several daimyo houses over his career.
The Night Raid at Honmachi Bridge, Winter Campaign
On 17 November 1614, after entering Osaka Castle, Naoyuki joined Yoneda Kemmotsu in a night raid on the camp of Hachisuka Yoshishige. He is said to have set a camp stool at the foot of Honmachi Bridge and remained seated there himself, directing his men without moving as they fought. During this raid he reportedly scattered wooden placards inscribed "Night Raid Commander, Ban Danemon Naoyuki," an episode that made his name suddenly famous.
The Battle of Kashii and His Death
On 29 April 1615, in the Battle of Kashii, the opening engagement of the Summer Campaign, Naoyuki fought the forces of Asano Nagaakira. He is said to have fought fiercely under a banner bearing his own name before being struck by an arrow to the forehead, falling from his horse, and being beheaded by Asano retainer Yagi Shinzaemon (other accounts credit Kameda Ōsumi or Yokoi Heizaemon with the kill).
Legacy
Despite the obscurity of his origins, Naoyuki's night raid at Honmachi Bridge and his dramatic death at Kashii were widely retold in kōdan storytelling and war chronicles, cementing his place as one of the emblematic rōnin commanders of the Siege of Osaka.
Related Warriors
豊臣秀頼
Azuchi-Momoyama Period to Early Edo PeriodToyotomi Hideyori
Legitimate Son of Taikō Hideyoshi — Tragic Young Lord Who Fell at Osaka Castle as the Last Head of the Toyotomi Clan
京極高次
Azuchi-Momoyama to early Edo periodKyōgoku Takatsugu
First daimyo of Wakasa Obama domain, whose defense of Ōtsu Castle helped shape the outcome of Sekigahara
薄田兼相
Azuchi-Momoyama to early Edo periodSusukida Kanesuke
Toyotomi horse-guard captain who died at Dōmyōji, later linked in legend to the swordsman Iwami Jūtarō
大野治房
Azuchi-Momoyama to early Edo periodŌno Harufusa
Leader of the hardline war faction at Osaka Castle, who charged Tokugawa Hidetada's headquarters in the Summer Campaign