Ii Naotora (井伊 直虎, 12 September 1582) was a daimyō of the Sengoku period. She was the daughter and only child of Ii Naomori, the eighteenth head of the Ii clan. Her birth name is unknown.
Ii Naotora Biography
Naotora was the daughter of Ii Naomori, daimyo of Iinoya territory in Tōtōmi province, her mother is the sister of Chikanori Niino. The Ii clan was vassal to the Imagawa clan. There was no male successor for the clan.
So Naomori's uncle, Ii Naomitsu, tried to get his son Ii Naochika to marry Naotora, so that he could inherit the clan. However, Naomitsu was executed for rebelling against the Imagawa.
So Naochika was ordered to commit seppuku but managed to flee to Shinano. Meanwhile, Naotora became a nun and took the name of Jirotoshi. Ten years later, Naochika returned and married a woman of the Okuyama family. In 1560, Naomori was killed in the battle of Okehazama and Naochika succeeded him.
Naochika ruled the clan briefly, but was accused of treason by the Imagawa and executed. It is said that the origin of the accusation came from Ono Michiyoshi, the head of another big family which serves the Imagawa.
To succeed him, Naotora stopped being a nun and became the nominal head of the clan. She served the Imagawa clan and then the Tokugawa clan. After her death in 1582, her adopted son, Naomasa who is also the biological son of Naochika, succeeded her and became one of the most important vassals of Tokugawa.
Ii Naotora In popular culture
His role is played by Ko Shibasaki in 2017 in the NHK taiga drama, Onna jōshu Naotora (おんな城主 直虎).
Ii Naotora appears in the Capcom video games Sengoku Basara 4 and Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-Den, his voice is that of Maaya Sakamoto.
Ii Naotara appears in the Koei Tecmo video games Samurai Warriors 4, Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and All-Stars Warriors, his voice is that of Yuka Saitō.
