Toshima Nobumitsu

• Death: 1628

Toshima Nobumitsu was a hatamoto and member of the Toshima clan, known for his assassination of Rôjû Inoue Masanari in 1628.

Toshima's killing of Inoue was one of only four incidents in the first century of the Edo period in which someone illegally drew their sword within the grounds of Edo castle. He dealt Inoue a fatal wound, and killed one of the guards who attempted to restrain him, before stopping and committing seppuku. Though there were some debates as to whether the Toshima clan as a whole should be exterminated as punishment, the ultimate decision was that Nobumitsu's suicide had resolved the matter sufficiently, and so the Toshima were allowed to retain their lives, and their status.

References

• Andrew Rankin, Seppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide, New York: Kodansha International (2011), 123.