Saito Dosan

A feudal lord of the Sengoku period. He was originally known as Nagai Norihide, later Saito Toshimasa, and in later years became a Buddhist monk and took the name Dosan. Together with Hojo Soun and others, he is known as a warlord of the Sengoku period and is considered a typical embodiment of the overthrow of the ruling class. According to popular legend, he was the son of Matsunami Motomune of Nishigaoka, Yamashiro (Kyoto Prefecture), and a scholar-monk at Myokaku-ji Temple in Kyoto of the Nichiren sect. However, after returning to secular life, he married into the oil merchant Naraya. He changed his name to Yamazakiya Shogoro and frequently traveled to Mino (Gifu Prefecture) to sell his goods. At the recommendation of Jozaiji Nichigo, the younger brother of Nagai Nagahiro and a colleague from his days as a scholar-monk, he entered the service of Nagahiro, and took the name Nishimura Kankuro, inheriting the Nishimura family name. He eventually approached Toki Yoriyoshi, who was disheartened after losing the fight for the succession of the position of Shugo to his brother Masayori, and followed Masayori into becoming Shugo. He then assassinated Nagahiro, usurped the Nagai clan name and then the Saito clan, who were Shugodai, and in 1542 (Tenbun 11), he even expelled Yoriyoshi and became the lord of Mino Province himself.

There is some confusion in this popular belief, and the first half of it is the achievements of Dosan's father, and it has been made clear that Dosan's process of conquering the country actually took place over two generations, Dosan and his father. It was Dosan's father, Shinzaemon-no-jo, who was a scholar of Myokaku-ji Temple and returned to secular life to take the name Nishimura. Shinzaemon-no-jo served the Nagai clan, a powerful vassal of the Shugo Toki clan, and gradually rose to prominence, taking the Nagai clan name and becoming a powerful figure on a par with the head of the Nagai clan. Shinzaemon-no-jo died in 1533 (Tenbun 2), but the first confirmed appearance of his son, Nagai Norihide (Dosan), was in 1533, and in the same year or 1534, Dosan killed the head of the Nagai clan, and in 1535-1536, he expelled the then Shugo Toki Jiro (real name unknown) and appointed Yorifusa as Shugo. He seems to have inherited the name of the shugodai Saito clan around 37 AD, and taking the name Saito Toshimasa, he seized real power in Mino Province. In 52 AD, he expelled Yorinari as well, but he fell out with his son Yoshitatsu, and in April 56 AD (Koji 2), he was defeated and killed in battle on the banks of the Nagara River. Oda Nobunaga and Miki Yoritsuna of Hida were his sons-in-law.

[Kenko Taniguchi]

"Gifu City History: General History, Primitive, Ancient and Medieval" (1980, Gifu City)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

戦国大名。初め長井規秀(のりひで)、のち斎藤利政(としまさ)、晩年入道して道三と号す。北条早雲(そううん)などとともに戦国の梟雄(きょうゆう)といわれ、典型的な下剋上(げこくじょう)の体現者とされる。俗説によれば、山城(やましろ)（京都府）西ヶ岡の松波基宗(まつなみもとむね)の子で、日蓮(にちれん)宗京都妙覚(みょうかく)寺の学僧であったが、還俗(げんぞく)して油商奈良屋に入婿(いりむこ)、山崎屋庄五郎と改名してたびたび美濃(みの)（岐阜県）へ行商にくるうち、学僧時代の同僚で長井長弘の弟常在寺日護(じょうざいじにちご)の推挙で長弘に仕官、西村氏の名跡を継いで西村勘九郎と名のった。やがて、兄政頼(まさより)との守護職相続争いに敗れて失意の土岐頼芸(ときよりのり)に近づき、政頼を追って頼芸を守護とし、さらに長弘を暗殺、長井氏の名跡、ついで守護代斎藤氏の名跡をも冒し、1542年（天文11）には頼芸までも追放して自ら美濃の国主となったと伝える。

　この俗説には混同があり、その前半部分は道三の父の事績で、道三の国盗(くにと)りの過程は、実際には道三とその父の2代にわたったことが明らかにされている。妙覚寺学僧で還俗して西村を称したのは実は道三の父新左衛門尉(しんざえもんのじょう)であり、新左衛門尉は守護土岐氏の有力家臣長井氏に出仕してしだいに台頭、長井氏を称し長井氏惣領(そうりょう)と並ぶ実力者に成長する。新左衛門尉は1533年（天文2）死去するが、その子長井規秀（道三）の確実な初見も33年で、同年もしくは34年、道三は長井氏惣領を討ち、35～36年、時の守護土岐二郎（実名未詳）を追放して頼芸を守護とする。37年ごろ守護代斎藤氏の名跡を継いだらしく、斎藤利政と名のり美濃の実権を握ると、やがて52年頼芸をも追放するが、子の義龍(よしたつ)と不和になり、56年（弘治2）4月長良(ながら)川畔に戦って敗死した。織田信長、飛騨(ひだ)の三木自綱(よりつな)はその女婿。

［谷口研語］

『『岐阜市史　通史編　原始・古代・中世』（1980・岐阜市）』

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