Kani Saizō
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Kani Saizō (可児才蔵? 1554 - 1613) was an eventual retainer beneath the Tokugawa clan throughout the late Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. As Saizō was originally a junior retainer under the Saitō clan, he served this clan up until the time period at which Saitō Tatsuoki came into power, defecting to the forces of Oda Nobunaga and willingly supporting the Nobunaga's Shiba clan, at such an initial time. However, as Saizō did not really care much for allegiance, despite being a samurai, he always sprung upon any opportunity at which he would be personally benefited; and thus, around the year of 1582, Saizō assisted Akechi Mitsuhide, conjectively supporting the former within both the Incident at Honnō-ji and the Battle of Yamazaki that same year. As consequence would justifiably have it, Mitsuhide was killed shortly following Yamazaki, initially forcing Saizō to defect from the Akechi and serve Oda Nobutaka, who was a primary supporter against Mitsuhide's killer--Toyotomi Hideyoshi--and thus a figure that would consequently protect him from the former. Following Nobutaka's rebellion and death, by the year of 1583, Saizo became relatively desperate, supporting Hideyoshi's senior subordinate, Maeda Toshiie, and thus rendering his safety as being absolute, providing the evidence that he was nothing more than a drifter without any means of influential threat.
As the years thus passed on, Saizō became subordinate to a present retainer of Toyotomi--Fukushima Masanori--conjectively by the year of 1599--the year in which Toshiie died--supporting this new master during the first battle that Saizo would actually attain a level of repute: the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara. Initially during this campaign, Saizō proved exceedingly remarkable on the battlefield, as he supported the 'west': Saizo was able to take 16 enemy soldier heads, solely by means of his own personal skill with the sword, and proved that they were his heads by stuffing each of their mouths with bamboo grass. The general rationale behind this is justified by the fact that he did not wish to consecutively bring one head back to Ieyasu's encampment, after their initial seizement, but wished to prove a level of superiority by distributing them at a single time, possessing bamboo grass as their trademark -- for any other general or soldier would not hesitate to provide evidence that they obtained their own head, allowing perfect circumstances for Saizō to show his ability. As Ieyasu took ear to this feat, he nicknamed the warrior Sasa no Saizō (笹の才蔵 Bamboo Grass Saizō), allowing Saizō a level of both influence and repute beneath the flag of Tokugawa. Saizo's feats following this period in time remains unknown, but it can be easily assumed that he became a senior retainer beneath Masanori early into the Edo period.
[edit] References
- Kani Saizo - SamuraiWiki. (Samurai Archives) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005
