The Stunning Truth About the Viper of Mino, Saito Dosan

Fact No. 1, he was never known as the Mino no Mamushi, Viper of Mino.

Saito Dosan is better remembered as the ruthless warlord of Mino Province during the Sengoku period, and by the nickname Mino no Mamushi, the Viper of Mino, supposedly for his cold blooded, vicious and violent tactics. He is known to have been a self-made man, rising from a life as a lowly oil merchant, becoming a distinguished samurai, and finally overthrowing his master to become a Sengoku daimyo in one generation. He is said to have been the sworn enemy of his son-in-law Oda Nobunaga, and was finally killed by his son, Saito Yoshitatsu, after learning that his real father was Toki Yorifusa, ….but NONE of what you have just read is historical fact.