Shigashi (å¿Âè³Âæ°Â) (-d.1587) was a Japanese noble lady and Japanese warrior from the Sengoku period. Shigashi means the lady from Shiga clan and her real name is unknown. She was the wife of Bekki Shigetsura (æ¸次é®é£) the retainer of à Âtomo clan, the nephew and the son-in-law of famed samurai Bekki Akitsura a.k.a. Tachibana Dà Âsetsu. She is best known for her role during conflicts between the Shimazu clan and the à Âtomo clan in Kyushu.
Shigashi is documented in by Satà  Kuratarà Â(ä½Âè¤èµ太éÂÂ) in 1927 based on various documents and stories about Tsuruga Castle. Satà  selected episodes that he considered historically correct and described the list of documents he cited but did not provide detailed source of quotation of each part. Shigashi was the daughter of the à Âtomo retainer Shiga Chikamori(å¿Âè³Â親å®Â). Her husband, Shigetsura was the Bekki clan head after his father-in-low Bekki Akitsura once retired. Later, Akitsura inherited the headship of Tachibana clan as Tachibana Dà Âsetsu. Shigashi was the sister of Shiga Chikatsugu, a retainer of the Otomo clan.
When the army of Shimazu clan approached à Âtomo land during the Kyushu campaign, Shigetsura and some retainers betrayed à Âtomo clan and draw the enemy into their castles. à Âtomo clan ran into difficulty because the enemy's base suddenly appeared in own land.
Unlike her husband, Shigashi and her son, Bekki Munetsune(æ¸次統常) was still loyal to à Âtomo clan. Shigashi was said to be skilled military commander and dispatched troops to the betrayed retainer's castles and defeated them. One night, she encouraged her son to clear Bekki's name with defeating Shimazu army. She has another two young siblings sleeping by the side of her. She stabbed them to death with her short katana, because she had a fear that Munetsune will worry about his family during the battle. Then she suddenly departed for the Shimazu base. After killing many soldiers, she fired the castle and committed suicide.
Touched by his mother's bravely, Munetsune fought valiantly and killed by Shimazu defending Tsuruga Castle (鶴è³ÂÃ¥ÂÂ) during the Battle of Hetsugigawa at the age 22.