Lady Otsuya was the aunt of warlord Oda Nobunaga, who played a major role in unifying Japan during the Sengoku period. Lady Otsuya is said to have been a great beauty, and was married to Lord Toyama Kageto, the master of Iwamura Castle, but the couple were childless, and so they adopted Oda Nobunaga’s fifth son, Gobomaru. Toyama Kageto died of illness in 1572 and so Lady Otsuya became the de facto lord, taking command of Iwamura Castle.
Two months after her husband, died, the Oda clan’s rival Takeda clan besieged the strategically important Iwamura Castle in order to seize it. Lady Otsuya was facing the greatest of crisis, until the besieging general, Akiyama Torashige proposed that Lady Otsuya marry him, saving the castle and its garrison from destruction. Otsuya accepted the conditions.
However, to ensure all went smoothly, Torashige sent young Gobomaru to the enemy Takeda clan as a hostage. On discovering the fates of the castle and the child, Oda Nobunaga, Gobomaru’s biological father, was furious and raised his army against Iwamura, and in particular Torashige and Otsuya. After a fierce battle, the Oda forces surrounded Iwamura Castle. Nobunaga then made an offer. His aunt, Lady Otsu, Akiyama Torashige, and the castle’s samurai defenders would be spared on surrender of the castle. They accepted.
However, on capitulation, Nobunaga did not keep his promise and executed Torashige and Otsuya by crucifying them upside down. The female castle lord of Iwamura suffered a tragic fate, killed by her own family.
