Yamauchi Chiyo

When Chiyo married, her mother gave her a large sum of money - for "a matter of great importance".

When Katzutoyo first left for war, he used to go to battle on foot or with an ordinary horse because he was in an inferior position in Oda's army.

Chiyo spent her entire fortune on an extraordinary warhorse called Kagami Kurige.

She witnessed several important events of her time, The Murder of Oda Nobunaga in the Honnoji Incident, the execution of Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki and the rise of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

She was taken hostage to force Kazutoyo to join the Western army, which is why Ieyasu suspected Yamauchi's loyalty.

The Yamauchi clan would be richly rewarded after the battle, when Ieyasu awarded Kazutoyo with Tosa Domain.

"[2] Yamauchi Kazutoyo never took a concubine, though it was a known tradition for samurai, and he never left Chiyo although she was only able to have one child, a girl named Yonehime.

Reproductions of Chiyo's image can be found in a number of places; a bronze statue of her and the horse she gave her husband, which stands near the ascent to Kochi Castle, close a statue of her husband on horseback and full armor; a bronze statue of her, holding the reins of the horse, and her husband, located in the park below Gujo Hachiman castle in Gifu Prefecture; and a portrait of her in retirement, wearing the garb of a Bhikkhuni.

Portrait of Chiyo
Chiyo, from the series Instruction in the Fundamentals of Success, Woodblock print by Toshitaka Mizuno.
Chiyo's and her husband by Kobayashi Kiyochika .
Statue of Yamauchi Chiyo and the warhorse.