Kushihashi Teru (Mitsu) portrait

Teruhime or Kushihashi Teru (櫛橋 光, 1553 – October 5, 1627) was a Japanese noblewoman and aristocrat of the Sengoku period, who was the only wife of daimyo Kuroda Yoshitaka.

Biography

Kushihashi Teru was born the daughter of Kushihashi Koresada and later became the foster daughter of Kodera Masamoto. In 1567 she married Kuroda Yoshitaka and became the lady of Shikata Castle in Harima Province. She gave birth to Kuroda Nagamasa in 1568 and Kuroda Kumanosuke in 1582. When Bessho Nagaharu rebelled against Oda Nobunaga in 1578, the Kushihashi clan sided with Nagaharu.

In anticipation of the Battle of Sekigahara, Ishida Mitsunari detained the daimyo's family as political hostages. As a result, Hosokawa Gracia chose to end her own life. In the chaos that followed Gracia's suicide, and with the help of Toshiyasu Kuriyama, Tahei Mori, and other retainers, Teruhime was able to hide and escape.^[1]

Although her husband and son Nagamasa were once Kirishitan (Christian), Teruhime was a devoted to Pure Land Buddhism.

References