, born Mori Nagasada (森 長定), was the son of Mori Yoshinari

Mori Yoshinari

was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period and the head of the Mori family, who served the Saitō clan. The Saitō were the lords of the Mino province. When the Saitō clan were overthrown by the Oda clan Yoshinari and his family became retainers of Oda Nobunaga....

, and had 5 brothers in total, from the province of Mino

Mino Province

, one of the old provinces of Japan, encompassed part of modern-day Gifu Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mino Province bordered Echizen, Hida, Ise, Mikawa, Ōmi, Owari, and Shinano Provinces....

. He was a member of the Mori Clan

Mori clan (Genji)

The was a family of Japanese people descended from the Seiwa Genji. Their line descended from Minamoto no Yoshiie through his seventh son, Minamoto no Yoshitaka, proprietor of Mori-no-shō in Sagami Province...

, descendants of the Seiwa Genji

Seiwa Genji

The ' were the most successful and powerful of the many branch families of the Japanese Minamoto clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto warriors, including Minamoto Yoshiie, also known as "Hachimantaro", or God of War, and Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, were descended...

.

From an early age, Ranmaru was an attendant to Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

. Recognized for his talent and loyalty, he was appointed to a responsible post. At Ōmi, he was given 500 koku

Koku

The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...

, and after Takeda Katsuyori

Takeda Katsuyori

was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku Period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen. He was the son of Shingen by the , the daughter of Suwa Yorishige...

's death, he was awarded the 50,000 koku at Iwamura Castle

Iwamura Castle

was located in the southeastern area of Mino Province in Japan. Its ruins can be found in the modern-day town of Iwamura in Ena District, Gifu Prefecture.-History:...

. Ranmaru and his younger brothers perished defending Oda Nobunaga during the Incident at Honnō-ji. Ranmaru's bravery and devotion is remembered throughout history, and especially during the Edo period because of his decision to commit seppuku

Seppuku

is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...

and follow Nobunaga in death.

Oda and Mori's lord-vassal relationship followed the shudo tradition, and was widely admired in Japan for its strength. In the nanshoku literature of the Edo period, it was widely understood that Oda and Mori had a sexual relationship that was commonly found in those times.

See also

• People of the Sengoku period in popular culture.