Goto Matabei, also known as Mototsugu, was renowned for his innate combat prowess from the moment of his birth. Hailing from Yamada Village in Harima Province (now a part of Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture), he stood as a revered professional warrior of the Sengoku period. Matabei proudly bore 53 battle scars across his body, testament to his active involvement in numerous conflicts.
Initially aligned with the Kuroda clan under Kuroda Yoshitaka (Kanbei), he received a stipend of 100 koku until Kanbei's passing in 1604. Thereafter, Matabei served Toyotomi Hideyori at Osaka Castle.
Standing at an imposing height of 180cm, Goto Matabei distinguished himself with his fierce valor during Hideyoshi's Korean Campaigns. He was the first to breach the walls of Jinju Castle during the July 21-27 siege of Jinju in 1593. It's said he ingeniously devised an armored wagon to approach and undermine the fortress walls in Korea. Legends also speak of his solo combat with a tiger that had infiltrated the Japanese camp, claiming a horse's life.
He actively participated in the Battle of Sekigahara under Kuroda Nagamasa, commanding as a captain in the Eastern forces. Engaging in some of the most ferocious combat, Matabei led the Kuroda charge against the Western forces' headquarters on Mt. Sasao. Amidst the chaos, mounted on his steed, Matabei clashed with Ohashi Kanmon, a captain in the Western Forces, ultimately claiming the man's head. Matabei was among the samurai who fought under Tokugawa colors that day but later aligned with Hideyori in Osaka.
Goto Matabei earned a place as one of the "Five Heroes of Osaka Castle." His life met its end in the 1615 Siege of Osaka, specifically during the Battle of Domyo-ji against the numerically superior forces of Date Masamune. Despite awaiting reinforcements, an unusually dense mist delayed their arrival. To hold off the Date forces, Matabei and his men employed swift hit-and-run tactics, launching numerous decisive sorties against the enemy. According to accounts, Matabei personally dispatched some 70 to 80 enemies before succumbing to a musket ball. Unable to stand, he performed seppuku on the field. He was 56 years old.
See also
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Tokugawa Iemochi
Tokugawa Iemochi (1846–1866) was the fourteenth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1858 until his death. His reign came during the turbulent final years of the shogunate, when Japan faced growing Western pressure and serious internal political conflict.
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Tokugawa Ienari
Tokugawa Ienari (1773–1841) was the eleventh shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1787 to 1837, making him the longest-serving Tokugawa shōgun. He was a great-grandson of the eighth shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshimune.
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Matsudaira Nobuyasu
Matsudaira Nobuyasu was only twenty years old when his father ordered him to commit seppuku. The reason was not a defeat in battle, but a crisis inside the Tokugawa family that had become too dangerous to ignore.
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Yamagata Masakage
Masakage was one of Takeda Shingen’s most loyal and capable commanders. He was included in the famous list of the “Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen” and also belonged to the inner circle of four especially trusted warlords known as the Shitennō.
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Yagyu Munenori
Yagyū Munenori began his service under Tokugawa Ieyasu while his father, Yagyū Muneyoshi, was still at his side. In 1600, Munenori took part in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. As early as 1601, he was appointed a kenjutsu instructor to Tokugawa Hidetada, Ieyasu’s son, who later became the second shogun of the Tokugawa clan.
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Yagyu Muneyoshi
A samurai from Yamato Province, he was born into a family that had been defeated in its struggle against the Tsutsui clan. Muneyoshi first took part in battle at the age of sixteen. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was forced to enter the service of the Tsutsui house and later served Miyoshi Tōkei. He subsequently came under the command of Matsunaga Hisahide and in time became a vassal first of Oda and later of Toyotomi.
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Endo Naozune
Naozune served under Azai Nagamasa and was one of the clan’s leading vassals, renowned for his bravery and determination. He accompanied Nagamasa during his first meeting with Oda Nobunaga and at that time asked for permission to kill Nobunaga, fearing him as an extremely dangerous man; however, Nagamasa did not grant this request.
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Hosokawa Sumimoto
Sumimoto came from the Hosokawa clan: he was the biological son of Hosokawa Yoshiharu and at the same time the adopted son of Hosokawa Masamoto, the heir of Hosokawa Katsumoto, one of the principal instigators of the Ōnin War. Masamoto was homosexual, never married, and had no children of his own. At first he adopted Sumiyuki, a scion of the aristocratic Kujō family, but this choice provoked dissatisfaction and sharp criticism from the senior vassals of the Hosokawa house. As a result, Masamoto changed his decision and proclaimed Sumimoto as his heir, a representative of a collateral branch of the Hosokawa clan that had long been based in Awa Province on the island of Shikoku. Almost immediately after this, the boy became entangled in a complex and bitter web of political intrigue.
