Saitō Toshimitsu

In this Japanese name, the surname is Saitō.

Saitō Toshimitsu (斎藤 利三; 1534 – July 6, 1582) was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period and commander of Kuroi Castle.^[1] He was a retainer of Inaba Ittetsu,^[2] but later joined Akechi Mitsuhide.

Saitō Toshimitsu
斎藤 利三
Portrait of Saitō Toshimitsu from Utagawa Yoshiiku's Heroes of the Taiheiki
Lord of Kuroi Castle
In office 1579–1582
Preceded by	Akai Naomasa
Succeeded by	Horio Yoshiharu
Personal details
Born	1534 Mino Province
Died	July 6, 1582(1582-07-06) (aged 47–48)
Children	Lady Kasuga
Military service
Allegiance	Saitō clan Inaba clan Akechi clan
Commands	Kuroi Castle
Battles/wars	Tanba Campaign (1575) Siege of Kuroi Castle (1579) Honnoji Incident (1582) Battle of Yamazaki (1582)

Oda Nobunaga was not pleased that Toshimitsu chose to work under Mitsuhide, and if not for Mitsuhide's intervention, Nobunaga would have killed him.

Toshimitsu was also vital in Akechi's betrayal at Honnō-ji and at the Battle of Yamazaki.^[3]

He was the father of the Lady Kasuga, who became a preeminent retainer of the Tokugawa shogunate.^[3]

See also

• Saito Toshikazu