Ikeda Tsuneoki

Ikeda Tsuneoki (1536-1584) was a Sengoku daimyō who, as Oda Nobunaga's “milk brother” (child of Nobunaga's wet nurse), held a special relationship with Nobunaga and contributed greatly to Nobunaga's campaign to unify the realm. After the Honnōji Incident he became a leading ally of Hashiba Hideyoshi, but he lost his life at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute (1584).

Tsuneoki's mother, Yōtokuin, was Nobunaga's wet nurse, and as Nobunaga's “milk brother,” Tsuneoki built a close relationship with Nobunaga from childhood. In feudal society, the bond of milk brothers signified a strong relationship of trust distinct from that of lord and retainer, and Tsuneoki received exceptional trust from Nobunaga. He accompanied Nobunaga from the early battles of his career and built up merit on numerous battlefields, from the Battle of Okehazama (1560) through the Battle of Anegawa (1570) to the Battle of Nagashino (1575).

After the Honnōji Incident of Tenshō 10 (1582), Tsuneoki took the side of Hashiba Hideyoshi rather than Shibata Katsuie. Through his participation on Hideyoshi's side at the Kiyosu Conference (1582), Tsuneoki became an important backer of Hideyoshi's bid for supremacy. This decision was a major political gamble, but with the victory at the Battle of Shizugatake (1583), Hideyoshi's faction gained the upper hand, and Tsuneoki also consolidated his position as daimyō of Settsu and Mino.

However, at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute (1584), Tsuneoki clashed with the allied forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobukatsu at Nagakute in Owari Province (present-day Nagakute City, Aichi Prefecture). In this battle Tsuneoki was killed in action together with his eldest son, Ikeda Motosuke. He was aged 49 by East Asian reckoning. Despite holding a special position as Nobunaga's milk brother, Tsuneoki died on the very front line, and his death symbolizes the impermanence of the Sengoku warriors.