Oichi
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Oichi (sometimes spelt O-Ichi) or Ichi (お市) was born in 1547 during the Sengoku Period of Japanese history. She was the sister-in-law of Nohime and the younger sister of infamous daimyo Oda Nobunaga. Oichi was renowned for her beauty.
Life as a wife and mother
Whilst Oichi was still a young girl living in Owari she was married to Shibata Katsuie after the latter lost to Oichi's brother, Nobunaga, in an attempted coup. As a sign of his forgiveness and new found loyalty he was awarded Oichi as a bride.
However their married life did not last long. Following Nobunaga's conquest of Mino in 1567, in an effort to cement an alliance between Nobunaga and rival warlord Asai Nagamasa, Nobunaga devised for Oichi to marry Nagamasa. She had little choice in the matter, and divorced Katsuie.
Oichi had four children with Nagamasa, a son, Manjumaru, and three daughters, Yodo Gimi (or Yodo Dono), O-Hatsu and O-go. This marriage was as doomed as Oichi's first one, and in 1570 Nagamasa broke his alliance with Nobunaga and sided with the Asakura Family.
Fierce fighting broke out and continued for three years until the Asakura Family fell. Oichi remained with her husband at Odani Castle for as long as she possibly could. Eventually Nagamasa was surrounded at Odani but before the attack on his castle commenced, Nobunaga called for the return of his sister. Nagamasa agreed and sent Oichi away with their three daughters. Nagamasa and his son, Manjumaru, remained and died in Odani Castle.
Oichi then re-married her initial husband, Shibata Katsuie, around 1574 (albeit there is some debate about the date of their marriage). However there was more trouble following Oda Nobunaga's death in 1583 when Shibata Katsuie and Toyotomi Hideyoshi clashed over the issue of succession. Eventually his army was obliterated on the hills of Northern Omi and Katsuie, realising his defeat, shut himself up in his castle at Kitanosho, ready to commit suicide. He implored Oichi to escape with her daughters, but she would not leave Katsuie like she left Nagamasa.
Oichi did send her daughters into the care of Hideyoshi (one of them, Yodo Dono, eventually ended up married to Hideyoshi), but she herself remained with Katsuie and perished with him when his castle was engulfed in flames.
Oichi in fiction
Oichi was depicted by the actress Tanaka Misato in the 2002 NHK Taiga drama "Toshiie to Matsu" (利家とまつ).
She also made an appearance in videogame Onimusha as a playable character, however she used the name, Oyu, as an alias. She was fond of western equipment and wielded sword and shield. Her mission was to prevent her brother, Nobunaga, from attacking Odani castle. During her quest, she was having an affair with Yagyu Jubei within the game.
She was also made popular with fans of the videogame Samurai Warriors, where she featured as a playable character, wielding a kendama (a Japanese toy much like a yo-yo) as her weapon, and was designed as a young lady in her teens. Her character was voiced by Ai Maeda and Wendee Lee in the Japanese and American versions of the game respectively. In the second installment of the game, she is designed to be a more matured lady.
Oichi will be featured in Sengoku Basara 2 as an NPC alongside Nagamasa Azai, wielding a double-bladed naginata. She will be voiced by Mamiko Noto. She is also depicted as depressed, soft-voiced, and slightly demonic.
External links
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