Ikeda Sen (池田せん) or Annyo-in (若御前) was a late-Sengoku period onna-musha. She was the daughter of Ikeda Tsuneoki and the older sister of Ikeda Terumasa. Mori Nagayoshi (older brother of Mori Ranmaru) was her first husband. She was a woman trained in martial arts and was commander of a unit that consisted of 200 female musketeers (Teppō unit)
Despite having little historical record about her life, Ikeda Sen is described as a female samurai who participated in notable military campaigns and received 10,000 koku, being a female lord or a possible daimyo.
Early life
Sen (せん) was born in Owari province, as the second child of Ikeda Tsuneoki, a vassal of the Oda clan. Her older brother Motosuke Ikeda was born in 1559, and her younger brother Terumasa was born in 1565, so by that reasoning, we can assume Ikeda Sen was born around 1563.
Genealogy
Ikeda Sen's grandmother, Yōtoku-in (養徳院), was the wet nurse (foster mother) of Oda Nobunaga, a major daimyo. Yōtoku-in's position as Nobunaga's foster mother, exacerbated the wealth of the Ikeda clan and its political influence.
Sen's father, Ikeda Tsuneoki, served Oda Nobuhide, Oda Nobunaga, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was one of the elders of Kiyosu Castle, and later became the lord of Inuyama and Ogaki Castles. Her younger brother, Ikeda Terumasa would become the lord of Yoshida Castle in Mikawa province.
Sen's brother, Terumasa, was offered a powerful political marriage, he married Tokugawa Tokuhime, the daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and would become known as the '' Shogun of the West '' after building the remaining Himeji castle.
Ikeda Sen's first husband, Mori Nagayoshi, was also a famous samurai serving the Oda family. Nagayoshi served the Oda shortly after inheriting the Mori clan and became famous for his monstrous strength and ferocity. His reputation with his fellow retainers varies between a foul mannered ruffian to a man of refined penmanship. His younger brother was Nobunaga's closest page, Mori Ranmaru.
Biography
Ikeda Sen served the Oda clan alongside her entire family. She was involved with so many powerful figures at the time that it is presumed that she was in a high position in Japanese society. Receiving a noble education, she was skilled in Naginata-do, a martial art disseminated by Japanese women from the Samurai family, as a weapon that could be used to protect their homes in times of war. Her differential among other women was that Sen was trained with firearms, something quite unusual for men and especially women of the time. Teppō unit (musketeers) targeted more powerful armies, as many of the firearms were produced in the Western and exported to Japan.
Battle of Yamazaki
In 1582, Akechi Mitsuhide, a proeminent retainer of Oda clan, was ordered to march west and assist Hashiba Hideyoshi who was at that time fighting the Mōri clan. Ignoring Nobunaga's orders, Mitsuhide assembled an army of 13,000 soldiers and moved against Nobunaga's position at Honnō-ji. On June 21, Mitsuhide was quoted as saying, "The enemy is at Honnō-ji!" His army surrounded the temple and eventually set it on fire. Oda Nobunaga was killed either during the fighting, or by his own hand. Nobunaga's son, Oda Nobutada, fled the scene, but was surrounded at Nijō and killed.
In 1582, Ikeda clan took part in Hashiba Hideyoshi's force at the Battle of Yamazaki after the Incident at Honnō-ji, helping defeat Akechi Mitsuhide, who killed Sen's former lord, Oda Nobunaga. After killing Mitsuhide, the Ikeda clan begins to serve Hideyoshi. Ikeda Sen volunteered for the army of the Hashiba (Toyotomi clan), there is no concrete evidence that she participated in the battle, but there are anecdotes that she led a unit of Teppō, or Musketeer's unit. The veracity of these facts remains unknown, but not improbable due to the Ikeda clan being one of the main leaders of the campaign against Akechi Mitsuhide.
Battle of Shizugatake
At a meeting in Kiyosu to decide on Nobunaga's successor. On the one hand, the general in chief of the Oda Clan, Shibata Katsuie, supported Oda Nobutaka as his country's successor. On the other, Hideyoshi decided to support Nobunaga's youngest son, Oda Hidenobu. After gaining the support of the other two elders of the Oda Clan, Niwa Nagahide and Ikeda Tsuneoki, Hideyoshi strengthened Hidenobu's position and at the same time increased his influence within the Clan.