Tachibana Dōsetsu


Tachibana Dōsetsu, born Betsugi Akitsura, also as Bekki Akitsura, and Bekki Dōsetsu, was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period who served the Ōtomo clan. He was the father of Tachibana Ginchiyo and adopted father of Tachibana Muneshige.

Biography

He led an attack on the Tachibana Clan at Tachibana Castle and took both their castle and clan name becoming Tachibana Dōsetsu. He was known as one of the wisest of the Ōtomo retainers and is remembered in part for a letter he sent other leading Ōtomo retainers that included a condemnation of the spread of Christianity in the Ōtomo's domain. He is known for fighting 37 battles while about half of his body was paralyzed. It was for this he was known as Oni Dōsetsu. He died while leading an attack on Neko'o Castle in 1585. Dōsetsu was in possession of a famous sword called Chidori. One day, while he was still a young man, he was taking shelter under a tree, as it was raining. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck him. However, Dōsetsu used his Chidori to cut the Thunder God inside the lightning bolt, allowing him to survive. After this incident, he renamed his Chidori to Raikiri.

In popular culture

Tachibana appears in the video game Samurai Warriors 2 Empires as a generic officer.
Tachibana is mentioned in the description of the Raikiri, which is usable in the fantasy RPG Nioh.