Tosho-in (洞松院)
Tosho-in (1461 or 1463 - year of death unknown) was a woman who lived during the Sengoku period (period of warring states). She was the daughter of Katsumoto HOSOKAWA. And Masamoto HOSOKAWA's paternal elder half-sister.
Masanori AKAMATSU's wife (concubine)
Her name was 'Meshi.'
She was also called 'Meshi-dono' (Mrs. Meshi), 'Tsubone-dono' (Mrs. Lady of Authority), 'Akamatsu uba no tsubone' (Granny of authority Akamatsu), etc. She was also a female warring lord, who supported her son in law, Yoshimura AKAMATSU, assuming responsibility for his upbringing as a guardian.
Although she was the daughter of Kanrei (shogunal deputy) Katsumoto HOSOKAWA, since she was terribly plain-looking, she became a nun at Ryuan-ji Temple, which her father constructed. However, according to the wish of her brother Masamoto HOSOKAWA, she returned to secular life and married Harima no kuni shugo (provincial constable of Harima Province) Masanori AKAMATSU as his second wife when she was 30, 31, or 33 years old. At that time, Masanori was staying in a camp in Sakai City.
And it is said that a satirical poem ridiculing her appearance was scribbled in Kyoto as follows, 'a person that seemed like a celestial being, came down from the heaven to the beach of Sakai, and turned into a gargoyle.'
Two days later, the Meio Coup broke out.
She had a daughter (Komeshi) with Masanori, but her husband died in 1496. Since the couple didn't have a son, Matsumaru DOSO (道祖松丸), the son of Masasuke AKAMATSU from a branch line of the Akamatsu family, married into the family taking Komeshi as his wife to succeed to the family, and started calling himself Yoshimura. At first, when Yoshimura was still a child, Roju (member of shogun's council of elders), Norimune URAGAMI controlled the domestic affaires of the Akamatsu family as a guardian, but after Norimune's death, Tosho-in became the guardian of the family head, Yoshimura, as his mother-in-law, and backed by her brother, Masamoto HOSOKAWA, she gradually expanded her influence in the Akamatsu family.
Since then, during 20 years, in the three provinces controlled by the Akamatsu clan, Harima, Bizen, and Mimasaku Provinces, all the permissions including Shoryo Ando (act of providing authorization for land ownership and guaranteeing feudal tenure) and Shoekimenjo (exemption of miscellaneous taxes) required a letter called 'Toshoinni Inbanjo' that had Tosho-in's signature and her black stamp that read 'Tsuhone.'
In 1507, when Masamoto HOSOKAWA was assassinated, adopted sons, Sumimoto HOSOKAWA and Takakuni HOSOKAWA began a dispute over succession. Takakuni expelled Sumimoto and Yoshizumi ASHIKAGA from Kyoto, in cooperation with the former Shogun Yoshitane ASHIKAGA, while Tosho-in supported Sumimoto, and took charge of guarding Yoshizumi's legitimate son, Yoshiharu ASHIKAGA in the Akamatsu family. Afterwards, Sumimoto raised an army, and Yoshimura, following him, also fought with a powerful Daimyo (feudal lord) in the west region, Yoshioki OUCHI, who supported Yoshiki and Takakuni, but he lost the Battle of Funaokayama. Then, Tosho-in herself visited Takakuni's camp to negotiate, and concluded peace.
When Yoshimura grew up and attained manhood, he began to feel bothered by the tutelage of Tosho-in, and developed conflicting with her frequently. Therefore, Tosho-in, with the cooperation of her vassal Muramune URAGAMI, masterminded a conspiracy to eliminate Yoshimura. As a result, Yoshimura raised an army, but he was incarcerated after having lost the fight against Muramune twice, and his son, Harumasa AKAMATSU succeeded to the family. Yoshimura was assassinated in 1521 by an assassin sent by Muramune. Even after this incident, Tosho-in continued reigning the provinces of the Akamatsu family territory, gripping the real power of the family as a de facto family head, counting on her daughters and Muramune URAGAMI, and collaborating with Takakuni HOSOKAWA.