Mōri sideShimizu
Shimizu Muneharu
清水宗治
“Mirror of the Samurai”
1537–1582 (aged 46)
- Rank / office
- Chōzaemon-no-jō
- Domain / base
- Bitchū (Takamatsu Castle)
- Battles in 3D
- 1 battle
Later imagined depiction · Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Now I cross this floating world, leaving a warrior's name in the moss of Takamatsu.
Death poem of Shimizu Muneharu
A Mōri commander of Bitchū entrusted with the key castle of Takamatsu. In Hideyoshi's western campaign he held out with his garrison even when the unprecedented "flooding siege," damming the Ashimori River, drowned the whole castle. But right after Honnō-ji, Hideyoshi, in a hurry to turn against Akechi, rushed a truce with the Mōri and made Muneharu's single life its condition. Muneharu accepted with grace and, in exchange for the lives of his entire garrison, rowed out onto the lake in a small boat, performed one dance and calmly cut open his belly. So noble an end moved even his enemy Hideyoshi, and later ages praised him as "the mirror of the samurai."
Life and battlesGold dots mark battles you can watch in 3D
- 1575Tenshō 3
Lord of Takamatsu Castle
Entrusted with Takamatsu Castle as the key to Bitchū for the Mōri.
- 1582Tenshō 10
Enduring the Flood
Held out with his garrison even after Hideyoshi's dyke drowned the castle.
- 1582Tenshō 10
Death on the Lake
In the truce after Honnō-ji he danced in a small boat on the lake and took his own life in exchange for his garrison.
- 1582
Siege of Takamatsu
Lord of Takamatsu Castle. He withstood the flood, then, in exchange for the lives of his whole garrison, danced in a small boat on the lake and took his own life. Praised as "the mirror of the samurai."
Takamatsu Castle, Bitchū Province Commander-in-chief 5,000 troops Watch in 3D ›
