Who Is Saito Dosan (Saitō Dōsan)?
The feared Viper of Mino and Nobunaga's father-in-law
Saito Dosan was a Warring States warlord who ruled Mino Province (today southern Gifu Prefecture) and the father of Oda Nobunaga's wife. Feared as "the Viper," he has long been described as seizing the province within a single lifetime, though one theory holds that it took two generations, father and son. The Shinchō Kōki calls him "Yamashiro Dosan."
Wanting to see his much-talked-about son-in-law for himself, he proposes a meeting at Shotoku-ji temple in Tonda and hides in a small house on the edge of town to watch the procession go by. Behind Nobunaga, dressed in his foolish outfit, come five hundred long spears, and at the temple Nobunaga surprises him again by appearing in formal dress. On the way home, Dosan laments that his own children will end up as Nobunaga's retainers. He later fell out with his son Yoshitatsu and was killed at the Battle of Nagara River in 1556.
Dosan's daughter, who became Nobunaga's wife, is known as "Lady Nohime," but that name comes from books written in later periods.
Episodes featuring this character3
NEWEpisode 2
Spying on the 'Fool,' He Saw 500 SpearsThe Meeting at Shotoku-ji Temple
The old warlord Saito Dosan plans to peek through the cracks of a shack at the edge of town and laugh at his son-in-law, the rumored "fool" of Owari. But behind the young lord march five hundred crimson spears—and at the temple waits a young man in formal dress that no one has ever seen before.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
He Forgave His Brother Once. Only Once.The Battle of Ino
Saito Dosan, his wife's father and the one man who believed in him, is dead, and the young lord Oda Nobunaga is suddenly alone. His polite younger brother Kanjuro, his mother's favorite, is pushed by ambitious retainers into rising against him. Nobunaga forgives him once. He doesn't forgive him a second time.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 5
He Beat an Army. He Can't Beat a Hill.Siege of Inabayama Castle
Oda Nobunaga crushed an army of 45,000, yet for years one mountain castle has him saying "Going home." He strips away the enemy's allies one by one, then moves without waiting for the hostages, so fast that even his own side is stunned.
19 pages