SUBJECT FILE NO. SA-0056
BUSHI ARCHIVE
Kaihime
Kaihime
Eldest daughter of Narita Ujinaga, lord of Oshi Castle; consort of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
SECTION I -- SUBJECT PROFILE
| Name | Kaihime |
|---|---|
| English | Kaihime |
| Origin | Japan |
| Lifespan | 1572?–unknown |
| Gender | Female |
| Century | 16th C. |
| Clan / Role | Samurai |
| Title | Eldest daughter of Narita Ujinaga, lord of Oshi Castle; consort of Toyotomi Hideyoshi |
SECTION II -- OVERVIEW
Born around 1572 as the eldest daughter of Narita Ujinaga, lord of Oshi Castle in Musashi Province. She received a martial education, exceptional for the time.
During the Oshi Castle campaign attending Hideyoshi's Odawara expedition in 1590 (Tenshō 18), while her father Ujinaga was shut up in Odawara Castle, the roughly twenty-year-old Kaihime is transmitted in multiple sources including the Narita-ki to have fought vigorously on the defending side of Oshi Castle.
Against the Hideyoshi force of more than 20,000 under Ishida Mitsunari, Oshi Castle did not yield even to a water attack, and only opened its gates after the fall of Odawara Castle.
After the surrender, Kaihime came into Hideyoshi's view and became his consort. When Toyotomi Hideyori was born, she is said to have served as his attendant guardian.
After the destruction of the Toyotomi at the Ōsaka Summer Campaign of 1615, her whereabouts pass out of record. She is transmitted by later generations to have been called 'the greatest beauty of the Kantō,' but this contains elements of Edo-period narrative-making.
SECTION III -- CHRONOLOGY
SECTION V -- FIELD NOTES
[A]The Water Attack on Oshi Castle and 'the Greatest Beauty of the Kantō'
In 1590, the Hideyoshi force of more than 20,000 under Ishida Mitsunari besieged Oshi Castle and attempted a water attack, damming the surrounding rivers.
The castellan Narita Ujinaga was shut up in Odawara Castle, and among those defending in his absence, as his substitute, was his roughly twenty-year-old daughter Kaihime.
Oshi Castle was a solid water-country castle whose remains survive into the modern period; the water attack did not take effect, and it held out until the fall of Odawara.
After the surrender, the Narita-ki transmits that Kaihime's valor and beauty reached Hideyoshi and she was taken as his consort.
The epithet 'greatest beauty of the Kantō' contains elements of Edo-period narrative-making, but the fact that a woman around twenty joined the siege defense is corroborated in multiple sources.
SECTION VI -- LEGACY & IMPACT
Kaihime, as a woman of the late Sengoku who took part in siege defense, stands at the core of the transmission of the Oshi Castle campaign.
The epithet 'greatest beauty of the Kantō' and the anecdote of guardianship of Hideyori contain elements of Edo-period narrative-making; but her armed participation in the Oshi defense is referenced in sources close to the contemporary period.
The Oshi Castle ruins and the Gyōda City Local History Museum in Gyōda City, Saitama Prefecture, are the principal sites transmitting the Oshi Castle campaign, and Kaihime's story is a major element of the local history.
In recent years, alongside the rising international interest in female samurai, the name Kaihime has come to be taken up in English-language documentaries as well.
SECTION VII -- MAJOR DEEDS
- [01]Participation in the siege defense at the Battle of Oshi Castle (1590)
- [02]Consort of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- [03]Attendant guardian of Toyotomi Hideyori (by tradition)
- [04]Whereabouts unknown after the Ōsaka Campaigns
SECTION VIII -- REFERENCE MATERIALS
PRIMARY SOURCES & ARCHIVES
- PRIMARY
Narita-ki
Edo-period compilation
Narita-family record; principal source for Kaihime's participation in the Oshi Castle campaign
- SCHOLARSHIP
Women of the Sengoku
Owada Tetsuo / Shin-Jinbutsuōraisha
Empirical examination of the position of Sengoku-period women, including a chapter on Kaihime
- ARCHIVE
Gyōda City Local History Museum
Gyōda City, Saitama Prefecture
Within the Oshi Castle ruins; holds Oshi Castle campaign and Narita-family materials
Visit archive →
RECOMMENDED READING
SECTION X -- RELATED REPORTS
SA-RPT
The Battle of Oshi Castle: The Day a Twenty-Year-Old Female Warrior Held Out Against the Water Attack
In 1590, the Hideyoshi force of over 20,000 under Ishida Mitsunari besieged Oshi Castle and attempted a water attack. The castellan Narita Ujinaga was shut up in Odawara; among the defenders was the twenty-year-old Kaihime.
SA-RPT
As Hideyoshi's Consort: Kaihime Exchanged for the Preservation of the Narita House
In 1590, after the fall of Oshi Castle, Kaihime was taken by Hideyoshi as consort. Tracing the course of her entry as consort, in exchange for the sparing of her father Ujinaga and the Narita house.
SA-RPT
Attendant to Hideyori: Kaihime's Later Life and the Ōsaka Campaigns
In 1593, Toyotomi Hideyori was born. The Taikōki transmits that Kaihime served as his attendant guardian. After the destruction of the Toyotomi at the Ōsaka Summer Campaign of 1615, Kaihime's whereabouts pass out of record.
