Ii Naotora

Ii Naotora 井伊いい 直ただし虎とら
Head of Ii clan
In office 1563–1582
Preceded by	Ii Naomori
Succeeded by	Ii Naomasa
Personal details
Born	Probably 1530s
Died	September 12, 1582
Children	Ii Naomasa (adopted) Takase (adopted)
Parent	Ii Naomori / Sekiguchi Ujitsune (father)
Relatives	Lady Tsukiyama (daughter of Ii Naohira's daughter)
Military service
Allegiance	Imagawa clan Tokugawa clan
Unit	Ii clan

In this Japanese name, the surname is Ii.

Ii Naotora (井伊いい 直ただし虎とら, d. 12 September 1582) was a daimyō of the Sengoku period and head of the head of Ii clan.

There are several theories regarding Naotora's identity,

• the first is the popular theory of Jirō Hōshi, daughter of Ii Naomori, the eighteenth head of their clan. She was primarily the head of Ii clan and retainer of the Imagawa clan, because of her efforts, Ii Naotora became a daimyō and received nickname "Female Landlord" (女おんな地頭じとう).
• The second theory were held that Ii Naotora were actually a son of Imagawa clan retainer named Sekiguchi Ujitsune.

Identity speculations

There are several theories regarding identity of the head of Ii clan after Ii Naomori. The popular historiography identifying Ii Naotora as Jirō Hōshi, a sole daughter of Ii Naomori who became head of Ii clan during Sengoku period. This theory came from the traditional record of “Ii clan Biography” which preserved by Shizuoka Prefectural Library. However, this popular theory disputed by 20th century academics.

Theories about Ii Naotora and Jiro Hoshi

Theorist	Relations between them	Gender	Origin
Ii Tatsuo	Different persons	Female (Jiro Hoshi) Male (Naotora)	Daughter of Naomori Ii (Jiro Hoshi) Son of Sekiguchi Ujitsune(Naotora)
Tetsuo Owada	Same person	Female	Daughter of Naomori Ii
Motoki Kuroda	Same person	Male	Son of Sekiguchi Ujitsune
Michifumi Isoda	Different persons	Female (Jiro Hoshi) Male (Naotora)	Daughter of Ii Naomori (Jiro Hoshi)

Male Naotora theory

Modern Japan historians rejected the notion of Ii female head of the clan theory, such as Miwa Mori, a professor of early modern history at Kyoto Women's University, also said this theory were sourced from writing of a retainer of Ii clan named Kimata in 1640, which Mori said is highly reliable primary source. Another japanese historian, Motoki Kuroda, instead suspected that Ii Naotora was a son of Sekiguchi Ujitsune. Ujitsune is a vassal of Imagawa who has been appointed in Iinoya, Hamamatsu.

Tatsuo Ii, director of Ii museum in Kyoto, also favored this explanation that Ii Naotora was not a woman named Jirō Hōshi, but instead a male retainer of Imagawa clan named Sekiguchi Ujitsune, who has been bestowed by his overlord the fiefdoms of Ii clan. Furthermore, Tatsuo Ii also stated there is no primary source evidences that Jirō Hōshi being identified as Ii Naotora.

Furthermore, a research about "Ii clan biography" which contain the theory about Ii Naotora being female is deemed unreliable as it is based in folklores and not actual historical record. meanwhile Daimon Watanabe, professor of history from Bukkyo University, also rejected the supplementary sources of Moriyasu Kō shoki about female Naotora theory, as he says the script were traced from unverified Edo period book.

The Hachisaki temple in Shizuoka Prefecture claimed that they have the replica of letter dated from 1566 that pointing out the relationship between Naotora with the said Sekiguchi clan. Atsuyuki Wakabayashi from Shizuoka University has stated that the letter were co-signed between Jirō Hōshi and Ujitsune as imperial edict.

Female Naotora theory

The "Ii clan history" record which now preserved in Shizuoka central library were the primary source that Jirō Hōshi (次郎じろう法師ほうし), was Ii Naotora.

Tetsuo Owada, a professor emeritus of Sengoku history at Shizuoka University who published a book about Naotora has said that this theory of misidentification of Ii Naotora is quite possible, since for generations, many of the heirs of Ii clan usually being called "Jiro", thus the name is suspected as just a pseudonym of various historical figures, although he did not deny the possibility that Ii Naotora was a daughter of Ii Naomori, a leader of Iinoya-is a part of Tōtōmi, who had been defeated by Imagawa Yoshimoto and became a vassal of Imagawa.

According to this theory The Ii family had no male heir, so Natora's great uncle Ii Naomitsu tried to betroth his son Ii Naochika to her so that he could inherit the clan. However, Naomitsu planned to rebel against Imagawa. Unidentified Imagawa clan retainers carried a report of the plans to Imagawa, who ordered Naomitsu and his son Naochika to commit seppuku. Naomitsu died, but Naochika, who was very young, was protected by a Buddhist priest named Nankei. Naochika managed to flee to Shinano. Naotora became a priestess, and was named Jiro-Hoshi aged ten by Nankei.

in 1560, Naochika returned to Iinoya about ten years after he left. He had already married another woman while in exile and could not marry Jiro Hoshi. Later, Naochika was executed by Imagawa Ujizane It is said that he was killed because of an anonymous report by Ono Michiyoshi. In 1563, Ii Naohira (Naotora's grandfather) and other men from Ii, were ordered to break into Hikuma Castle as proof of their loyalty to the Imagawa. Otazu no Kata who was wife of Iio Tsurutatsu (lord of Hikuma castle) invited Naohira to a meeting with her husband and planned to eradicate it to claim prominence in Totomi. On September 18, Otazu no Kata then poisoned Naohira's tea and he died soon after. Following Naohira's death and many obstacles, Jiro Hoshi returned to secular life, removed her nun costume, was baptized by the male name Naotora and declared herself the nominal head of the Ii clan. It is recorded that Naotora, being a former nun, often acted to avoid battles, earning the respect of many civilians. She was responsible for the development of agriculture and the substantial expansion of the domains of her clan in the region of Enshū.

After the Imagawa clan killed several members of the Ii clan, Naotora became one of the last survivors, alongside her mother and niece (Takasehime). She adopted Naochika's daughter and son, Takase and Ii Naomasa. Naotora secured Naomasa's future successful career when he succeeds her. She managed a small province that was surrounded by some of the most powerful clans of its time, Matsudaira, Takeda and Imagawa.

In 1582, after Naotora died from disease at Ryōtan-ji temple, and the position of Ii clan's head succeeded by Ii Naomasa.

Synthesis theory

Michifumi Isoda, professor of International Research Center for Japanese Studies instead offered a synthesis theory which differ from the "Ii clan Biography", that both female Jirō Hōshi and male Ii Naotora both existed as different person, and became head of Ii clan on different occasions. Isoda offered this explanation based on the correspondence material from Seto Hokyu, a samurai under Ii clan, with the Imagawa clan, where the Imagawa recognized Jirō Hōshi as head of Ii clan in September 1568. However, after the Imagawa clan fall and the entrance of Tokugawa clan in the area on December, the name of Ii Naotora emerged as the head of Ii clan, thus Isoda suspected that the Tokugawa clan deposed Jirō Hōshi and installed Naotora as the head of Ii clan instead.

Biography

During the early days of his/her reign, Naotora often tried to mediate with Imagawa Ujizane and his grandmother Jukei-ni, at which time the Imagawa clan was on warpath with Ii clan. Former Imagawa clan retainer Tokugawa Ieyasu went to war with Ujizane.

In 1564 Niino Chikanori, a retainer of Ii clan, led a siege to Hikuma castle to prove Naotora's loyalty to Imagawa Ujizane; Otazu and Tsurutatsu fought to defend the castle and Chikanori was killed. Naotora was presumed to have difficulty securing clan leadership because of the innumerable resistances from the Imagawa clan retainers. After numerous threats from Imagawa retainers to the Ii clan, Naotora finally allies with Ieyasu and actively participates in the Tokugawa expansions of the Matsudaira clan in Totomi and Mikawa Province.

Naotora's grave and other Ii family members.

At the same year, Ono Michiyoshi removed Naotora from leadership of Iinoya region with the help of former Imagawa's retainers. Then Naotora escaped to Ryōtan-ji Temple in Hamamatsu, and later sent Naomasa to Ieyasu and sent Naomasa to his care. Later, Michiyoshi was finally captured by the Tokugawa clan and was executed, before his head was disgraced in public.

In 1572, Takeda Shingen personally invaded Iinoya and other castles in Totomi and Mikawa. The Battle of Mikatagahara took place near Naotora's domain. After days of resistance, Naotora surrendered Iinoya castle to the enemy to prevent bloodshed. In 1573, The Takeda clan army retreats from Iinoya and Naotora position as head of the castle restored.

In popular culture

• Ii Hiroko (born 1965), the eldest daughter of the 17th generation of the Ii clan, authored "Ii-ka no oshie Hikone-han matsuei no musume ga kataru akasonae no seishin" a book of the history of Ii clan.
• in historical fiction novel of Kaname Azusawa, Ieyasu Tokugawa's wife Lady Tsukiyama, was from the Imagawa family and related to Naotora. In this novel, Naotora were portrayed to be actively participated in the success of Ieyasu's career that would later become the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.
• Ko Shibasaki portrayed her in the 2017 NHK Taiga drama Naotora: The Lady Warlord (おんな城主じょうしゅ 直ちょく虎とら).
• Ii Naotora appears in the Capcom video games Sengoku Basara 4 and Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-Den, voiced by Maaya Sakamoto.
• She appears in the Koei Tecmo video games Samurai Warriors 4, Warriors Orochi 4, Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and Warriors All-Stars, voiced by Yuka Saitō in Japanese and Erica Mendez in English (DOA5LR only).
• Ii Naotora is featured in episode 27 of Meow Meow Japanese History, voiced by Yū Kobayashi

See also

• List of female castellans in Japan
• Onna-musha

Bibliography

• 大石おおいし, 泰史やすし (2016). 井伊いい氏しサバイバル五ご〇〇年ねん. 星ほし海うみ社しゃ新書しんしょ. 星ほし海うみ社しゃ. ISBN 978-4-06-138602-0.
• 井伊いい達夫たつお (2016). "井伊いい直ただし虎とらに係かかる新しん史料しりょう公表こうひょうについて 報道ほうどう 記者きしゃ会見かいけんの経緯けいい". 井伊いい美術館びじゅつかん. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
• 黒田くろだ, 基樹もとき (2017). 井伊いい直ただし虎とらの真実しんじつ. 角川かどかわ選書せんしょ. Kadokawa Corporation. ISBN 978-4-04-703621-5.
• 森下もりした佳子けいこ (2016). おんな城主じょうしゅ 直ちょく虎とら 前編ぜんぺん (NHK大河たいがドラマ・ストーリー). NHK出版しゅっぱん. p. 16.