Sakon’s Alive! New findings from the Sengoku period

 

A reconstruction of Sakon's armour – it should be brown, not black, if we are to believe the closest historical records

This might be a bit heavy on the history, but it’s good context on The Demon of Sekigahara. 

Recent findings shed light on Sakon's possible survival after the Battle of Sekigahara, and into his role as a diplomat.

Also, if you're interested in his close relationship with the Yagyu family, read down to the bottom.

Sakon Survives

Shima Sakon may have survived the Battle of Sekigahara after all! Predictably, since his body could not be found, there were various stories of him having survived, and there are several grave sites or grave memorials. Only one of these, in Kyoto, specifically states that was where his body was interred (one in Nara, for instance, is a memorial but it does not claim that he was buried there). 

A detail from a folding screen showing a wounded Sakon being helped by his retainers. (The armour depicted here is from an earlier period). 

This a rough (and edited) translation of a report from the Sankei Shinbun newspaper  (2024/6/5):

An excavation of the grave of Shima Sakon was carried out on 5^th June at Kyoboin, a subtemple of Ritsuhonji Temple (Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City). Shima is said to have been killed in battle at Sekigahara, but his body was never found, and there were several theories about his whereabouts after the battle, including that he survived.

According to Miki Tendou, head priest, there are about five gravesites for Shima across the country, but the gravestone at Kyohoin is the only one with the word "burial" engraved on it. Kyohoin has Shima's grave plaque and death register, which show that Shima died in 1632, 32 years after the Battle of Sekigahara. Miki also emphasized that there are testimonies that Shima survived in Kyoto after the Battle of Sekigahara.

The excavation was carried out in conjunction with the restoration of Shima's gravestone and the construction of a building. Prior to the investigation, Miki recited sutras in front of the grave while those involved put their hands together in prayer. Professor Ishigami Hiroyuki (Early Modern Archaeology) of Kyoto University of Arts led the digging. A jar was discovered about 20cm below the surface, and inside it were found a skull and pelvis. Based on the condition of the bones, they appear to belong to an adult aged 18 or over. Professor Ishigami said, "(The bones) remain in very good condition."

It’s not conclusive, but interesting, to say the least. If you made it through the film Sekigahara, you’ll probably be happy to know this.

Further support for this theory may be found in the following story:

An article in the July 16, 2013, evening edition of the *Yomiuri Shimbun*—titled "Did Shima Sakon Survive the Battle of Sekigahara?"reported that the lid of a box containing a (much later) image of Shima Sakon—acquired by the Osaka Castle Museum—bears an inscription claiming that Sakon escaped the Battle of Sekigahara and lived in hiding in the Kitayama district of Kyoto. According to this account, he was later approached by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who invited him to enter his service; Sakon firmly declined, choosing instead to live as a recluse on Mount Ibuki, where he eventually passed away in the ninth year of the Kan'ei era (1632).

It may be worth noting that Ieyasu was not vindictive in his victory at Sekigahara, and although Mitsunari was executed, his family survived.

This is a detail of the painting - by Kano Eigaku (mid C19th)

Even more up-to date news - September 2026: Sakon’s diplomacy

Shima Sakon’s popular reputation after his death might have rested principally on his actions at the Battle of Sekigahara, but the recent discovery of a letter he wrote has shed more light on his role as a negotiator. In fact, it seems that this experience was also something that very much recommended him to Ishida Mitsunari – an able bureaucrat himself.

Sakon swears loyalty to Ishida Mitsunari. This is a modern sumi-e version of an ukiyo-e print.

Background

The letter was dated the autumn of 1583 (Tensho 11), when he was serving Tsutsui Junkei, an ally of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. This was only a year after the death of Oda Nobunaga, and Hideyoshi was yet to assume control of the country.

 

The Kii Province, south of Osaka, was a vital backdoor area for Hideyoshi. It had no one overall ruler but was controlled by a mixture of independent armed forces: the Shingon Buddhist warrior-monks of Negoro-ji Temple; the saika-shu—a regional collective of samurai, farmers, and others, noted for their proficiency with firearms, based at the port of Saika; and the great monastic complex of Kongobu-ji on Mount Koya, which held extensive manorial land rights and enjoyed the status of a sacred, inviolable sanctuary. The short distance to Osaka, where Hideyoshi was building his new castle (work began in 1583), designed to be the centre of his domain, meant he would have been vulnerable if these forces had united with either Oda Nobukatsu or Tokugawa Ieyasu, neither of whom was on particularly friendly terms with Hideyoshi.

 

Kongobu-ji was distrustful of Hideyoshi - he was the successor of Oda Nobunaga, who had instituted a blockade of the mountain/temple complex in 1581, which was only called off with Nobunaga’s death the following year. Feeling that they had successfully resisted his forces, they met Hideyoshi’s request for alliance with a demand for complete control over Kii Province.

 

Sakon’s role

Sakon, acted as negotiator on behalf of Hideyoshi, and it is a transcription of his letter to Kongobu-ji Temple that was recently discovered. He diplomatically declined their demand, stating that he would relay it to Hideyoshi, but that “it was difficult”, while urging them to side with Hideyoshi to prevent becoming completely isolated.

 

Sakon was, as noted above, serving Tsutsui Junkei, the Lord of Yamato Province (including present day Nara), which bordered Kii. Junkei’s forces had been involved in the blockade of Koya-san and thus were familiar with the situation, so it was natural that they would be involved as intermediaries for Hideyoshi’s dealings with the temple.

 

Ultimately, the negotiations failed. In 1584, the forces of Negoro-ji and the Saika factions attacked Izumi Province, (between Kii and Osaka) laying siege to Kishiwada castle, with Kongobu-ji staying neutral. The following year, Hideyoshi mounted a massive invasion of Kii, completely destroying the Negoro-ji complex. Kongobu-ji, facing a similar fate, capitulated.

 

This letter gives us a greater understanding of Sakon’s role in affairs of that time and shows he was a man of diplomacy as well as military skill.

Here we see Sakon on the
poster of this year's Battle of Sekigahara Festival. His helmet is right, but his jinbaori should, surely be a much lighter blue.

This is a model of Sakon produced by Hokusa 3D Designs, who make a wonderful range of 25mm war-games figures for 3D printing. 

The Yagyu connection

Something of this is also evident in his relations with the Yagyu family. Although the Yagyu were sometime enemies of the Tsutsui (they were forced into a position under them when they submitted to Nobunaga in1577), Sakon and Yagyu Munetoshi clearly developed close ties as Sakon arranged for his daughter to be married to Yagyu Toshitoshi (Hyogonosuke) – Munetoshi’s nephew – (Sakon’s grandson was Yagyu Renya). It was this side of the Yagyu family which was regarded as having received the full transmission of Yagyu Munetoshi’s art, rather than the more famous Yagyu Munenori, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. The film, Sekigahara, has these two old friends and allies (Sakon and Munetoshi) decide to work on different sides of the great political divide that was to see the setting up of a new order under the Tokugawas. Sakon would work for the Western alliance, the Yagyu would work for the East, and that way, one of them would survive. 

An Edo period story has Yagyu Munenori visit Sakon to try and recruit him to the Tokugawa side, although there is no historical support for this. However, there is a story, backed up by records from Hotoku-ji Temple (the Yagyu ancestral temple), that the Yagyu secretly took Ishida Mitsunari’s illegitimate son, Ishida Munenobu, under their protection after the Battle of Sekigahara, sheltering him in Hotoku-ji Temple. 

As an aside, Munetoshi’s 4^th son, Muneaki, served Kobayakawa Hideaki (the major turncoat in the Battle of Sekigahara). Although historical sources give no direct support to the theory, it has been speculated that Muneaki was instrumental in persuading Kobayakawa to throw in his lot with the eastern forces. Yagyu Munenori, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu directly, was involved in setting up and managing networks of pro-Tokugawa forces in the Yamato region (under his father, Munetoshi), as well as keeping an eye on Mitsunari’s military build-up. it does not require a great stretch of the imagination to wonder whether Yagyu Muneaki may have been involved, too.

Sakon may have been on the losing side, but being the strategist he was, he may well have made careful provisions for this eventuality. It seems they may have proved successful!

An image from the Yagyu Kenpo Kyojyo, by Yagyu Munetoshi