Saitō Toshikata

斎藤利賢

Saitō Clan

Bushō

Mino Province

Lifespan:  15xx to 5/23 of Tenshō 14 (1586)

Other Names:  Uemon-no-jō

Rank:  bushō

Title:  Governor of Izu

Clan:  Saitō

Lord:  Saitō Dōsan → Saitō Yoshitatsu

Father:  Saitō Toshimasa

Mother:  Daughter of Inaba Bitchū-no-kami 通以

Siblings:  Toshikata, sister (wife of Akechi Mitsuyasu)

Wife: [First] Daughter of Ninagawa Chikanobu, [Second] Daughter of Akechi Mitsutsugu (Sōzen)

Children:  Ishigai Yoriatsu, Toshimitsu, daughter (wife of Ninagawa Chikanaga), daughter (wife of Saitō Mitsutsugu)

Adopted Children:  Saitō Chikamitsu (child of Ninagawa Chikayo)

Saitō Toshikata served as a bushō during the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods.  He was known as Uemon-no-jō.  Toshikata served as the lord of Shirakashi Castle in Mino Province.

Toshikata was the grandfather of Kasuga-no-tsubone and great-grandfather of the first-generation lord of the Odawara domain, Inaba Masakatsu, in the Edo period.

Toshikata’s father, Saitō Toshimasa.  In historical accounts, he is referred to as Saitō Izumi-no-kami Toshitane (or Nagai Saitō Toshiyasu).  His mother was the daughter of Inaba Bitchū-no-kami 通以.  His younger sister was the wife of Akechi Mitsuyasu.  His first wife was the daughter of Ninagawa Chikanobu, a senior retainer of Ashikaga Yoshiteru.  She was the younger sister of Ninagawa Chikayo, later separated and became the wife of Ishigai Mitsumasa.  His second wife was the daughter of Akechi Mitsutsugu (Sōzen).  His children were Ishigai Yoritatsu and Toshimitsu.

He served under Saitō Dōsan and Saitō Yoshitatsu (father and son) and resided in the Yamagata District of Mino.  Toshikata’s actions in his later years are uncertain, but he died on 5/23 of 1586.  His children became senior retainers of Akechi Mitsuhide, but Toshimitsu died in battle after the Honnō Temple Incident, while Ishigai Yoritatsu fled to Tosa Province and served the Chōsokabe clan.