Torii Suneemon

Banner made by Ochiai Michihisa, 16th century

In this Japanese name, the family name is Torii.

Torii Suneemon (鳥居強右衛門, 1540 – May 16, 1575) was an ashigaru (low class footman) who served the Okudaira family, retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He became famous for his bravery and incredible exploit at the siege of Nagashino.

He was a retainer of Okudaira Sadamasa and member of the Nagashino garrison when the fortress came under siege by the forces of Takeda Katsuyori. Already renowned for his bravery and known for his knowledge of the surroundings, he volunteered for the extremely dangerous mission of sneaking through the siege lines to request aid from Tokugawa Ieyasu in Okazaki. After successfully warning Tokugawa, however, he was captured by the Takeda on his return to Nagashino.

Torii was taken prisoner and forced to shout to his compatriots in the fortress that no help was on the way, and that they should surrender. He instead encouraged the garrison that Tokugawa's army was, in fact, on the way, and that they should keep fighting. There is some dispute as to whether Torii was crucified before or after this proclamation, as well as in the precise details of his execution.

Nevertheless, the end result was the same. Although Sune'emon was an ashigaru class warrior, his family was promoted to samurai class and served the Okudaira family till the end of Edo period. One Takeda retainer, Ochiai Michihisa, even used an image of a crucified Torii Suneemon on his flag from then on. The flag is now stored in the University of Tokyo library.

In 1923, a railway station opened near Torii's deathplace was named Torii Station.

References

Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co. pp. 68, 85, 226.

Prominent people of the Sengoku period

Three major daimyo	Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu

Shogun	Ashikaga Yoshiharu Ashikaga Yoshiteru Ashikaga Yoshihide Ashikaga Yoshiaki Tokugawa Hidetada

Emperors	Go-Kashiwabara Go-Nara Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei

Other daimyo	List of daimyo from the Sengoku period

Swordsmen	Hikita Bungorō Kamiizumi Nobutsuna Miyamoto Musashi Sasaki Kojirō Tadashima Akiyama Tsukahara Bokuden Tsutsumi Hōzan Yagyū Munenori Yagyū Munetoshi

Ninja, rogues and mercenaries	Fūma Kotarō Hattori Hanzō Ishikawa Goemon Katō Danzō Kirigakure Shikaemon Kōzuki Sasuke Mochizuki Chiyome Ogurusu Nakamura Ohama Kagetaka Saika Magoichi Suzuki Sadayu Suzuki Shigehide Suzuki Shigetomo Suzuki Magoroku Igasaki Dōshun

Monks and other religious figures	Ankokuji Ekei Honganji Kennyo Hon'inbo Sansa Ishin Sūden Jion Nankōbō Tenkai Rennyo Sessai Choro Shimozuma Chuko Shimozuma Rairen Shimozuma Rairyū Takuan Sōhō

Onna-bugeisha	Ikeda Sen Kaihime Komatsuhime Maeda Matsu Ōhōri Tsuruhime Tachibana Ginchiyo

Other women	Asahihime Chacha Dota Gozen Gotokuhime Hosokawa Gracia Izumo no Okuni Kitsuno Kyōgoku Maria Kyōgoku Tatsuko Nene Nōhime Oeyo Oichi Ohatsu Okaji no Kata Lady Kasuga Lady Saigō Lady Tsukiyama Senhime Sentōin Tokuhime

See also	List of samurai from the Sengoku period

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