HANBEI

In 1564, a quiet young samurai walked into the most important castle in Mino Province with about sixteen men. By the end of the day, the castle was his. Hardly any blood had been shed. The great warlord Oda Nobunaga, who had failed to take it after years of fighting, is said to have offered him half the province for it.

He refused — and a few months later, he gave the castle back.

His name was Takenaka Hanbei. He went on to serve Toyotomi Hideyoshi as one of his trusted strategists, and worked beside the brilliant Kuroda Kanbei in the war against the Mōri. When Kanbei was imprisoned and Nobunaga, believing he had turned traitor, ordered the death of Kanbei's ten-year-old son, Hanbei quietly disobeyed and hid the boy in the mountains. Then he went back to the siege lines at Miki Castle, already dying of a lung disease. He died in the camp at about thirty-six. When Kanbei was finally freed, he found his son alive — and his friend gone.

Told as a narrative history from beginning to end, with a cast of characters, a map, and a travel guide to the places you can still visit today, this book says plainly what the records show, what historians still debate, and which famous stories are only legends.

Inside, you'll find:

A failing court in Mino, and the quiet young lord who saw it clearly
Sixteen men, a feigned illness, and a castle taken without a battle
The castle given back, and the offer of half a province refused
The "three visits," and the Chinese legend behind them
Hideyoshi, Nagahama, and the "two Hyōe"
Kōzuki Castle, and the loyal garrison that could not be saved
Nobunaga's order, and the boy Hanbei would not kill
The starvation siege of Miki, and a death in the camp
Kanbei's release, and what he found when he came home
A guide to visiting the places in this story today, from Gifu Castle and Sekigahara to Arioka, Miki, and Himeji
If you want a magician of strategy who foresaw everything, this is not your book. If you want the real story of a man whose greatest acts were choices not to use his power, turn the page and meet the real Hanbei.