Saji Kazunari

The Complicated Life and Times of an Oda Clan Commander

Saji Kazunari was a military commander from the late Sengoku to the early Edo periods. He was born in 1569, the eldest son of Saji Nobukata, master of Ono Castle in what is now Tokoname in Aichi Prefecture, and a loyal retainer of the Oda clan. The Owari Saji clan ruled the west coast region of Owari Province, centred on the coastal Ono region on the Chita Peninsula, and commanded the Saji Naval forces that controlled maritime traffic on Ise Bay, and contributed greatly to Nobunaga’s Nagashima campaign against the militant monks. Saji Nobukata was killed in battle during the Oda clan's attack on Nagashima in Ise, either on September 28, 1571 or most probably in the 1574 campaign, and so the young Kazunari inherited the clan leadership.