Who Is Mori Shinsuke (Mōri Shinsuke)?
The man who took Imagawa Yoshimoto's head at Okehazama
Mori Shinsuke was a warrior in Oda Nobunaga's umamawari (the elite guards who fought close to their lord) and the man who took Imagawa Yoshimoto's head at the Battle of Okehazama. His given name is said to have been Yoshikatsu.
At Okehazama in 1560, Nobunaga's troops pour into the Imagawa main camp after a violent rain. Yoshimoto's guards, three hundred horsemen surrounding him as he retreats, dwindle to fifty as they fight. Hattori Koheita strikes at Yoshimoto first and falls with a slashed knee; Shinsuke then cuts Yoshimoto down and takes his head. That settles the battle against the army recorded as 45,000 strong.
A story also says Yoshimoto bit off his finger, but it does not appear in the Shinchō Kōki and comes from later books. Shinsuke went on serving Nobunaga and died fighting at Nijo Palace beside Nobunaga's son Nobutada during the Honno-ji Incident of 1582.
