Mōri side · Shimizu
Shimizu Muneharu
“Mirror of the Samurai”
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."
- Epithet
- “Mirror of the Samurai”
- Rank / office
- Chōzaemon-no-jō
- Domain / base
- Bitchū (Takamatsu Castle)
- Side
- Mōri side
- Lived
- 1537–1582 (aged 46)
Now I cross this floating world, leaving a warrior's name in the moss of Takamatsu.
Death poem of Shimizu Muneharu
Life
- Tenshō 3 Lord of Takamatsu Castle Entrusted with Takamatsu Castle as the key to Bitchū for the Mōri.
- Tenshō 10 Enduring the Flood Held out with his garrison even after Hideyoshi's dyke drowned the castle.
- Tenshō 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.
Battles in this archive1 battles
Related sites
- Bitchū Takamatsu Castle ruins (Okayama)
- Head mound of Shimizu Muneharu (Okayama)