Nara Yoshinari no imouto (奈良義成の妹)
NARA Yoshinari no imouto (Yoshinari NARA's younger sister, years of birth and death unknown) was known as a chaste woman who lived in the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Yoshinari's younger sister was fond of 'waka' (Japanese poetry), being good at 'sho' (calligraphy).
Yoshinori NARA who lived temporarily in Fushimi during the Eiroku era, learned the flute under Kyuzaemon SADAMITSU of Nishioka. Kyuzaemon admired the beauty of Yoshinari NARA's younger sister and wished to marry her by divorcing his wife of the Kon clan. Yoshinari declined this proposal of marriage for moral reasons, and persuaded the sister with their mother to engage herself to Takafuji NOMURA. Meanwhile, the Miyoshi clan (the Miyoshi Triumvirs) rebelled and raided Shogun Yoshiaki ASHIKAGA at Honkoku-ji Temple. Yoshinari participated in the Miyoshi party's rebel, but they were defeated and escaped to the Toji-Temple. Kyuzaemon hunted down Yoshinari so as to wreak his routine anger on that occasion. Yoshinari fought back, but was killed eventually. Kyuzaemon then went to Fushimi to seize the Yoshinari's younger sister there.
The sister, in an attempt to beguile Kyuzaemon, had her hair cut and passed him a letter with a lock of her hair enveloped in it, telling him as follows:
"My husband Ecchu was killed in battle together with Sakon (literally, the Palace Guards of the Left, but the word probably specifies a person here), and that made me a widow now. Please, do have mercy on me. I beseech you to send this letter to my old mother awaiting at home for consolation." Kyuzaemon sent a messenger with this letter to her mother living in Fushimi.
The aged mother opened the letter from her daughter to find a waka (poem) which fully explained her daughter's true situation as follows: "Omoigawa fukaki fuchi se ha hayakeredo/ sasou mizu ni ha na wo nagasameya" (which read: like the deep pool in the river of tears, I sank into an abyss of sorrow and despair; even if the things are changing too fast as the shallow water flows rapidly, how can I surrender myself to a man and gain a bad reputation? - I dare not do that.)
In her grief, the aged mother killed herself in front of the messenger. Shocked, the messenger returned and reported Kyuzaemon about what had happened to the aged mother. The news greatly pleased Kyuzaemon, and he made an unwanted pass at the Yoshinari's younger sister. Filled with anger, the Yoshinari's younger sister deprived Kyuzaemon of his 'hakashi' (nobleman's sword), with which she stabbed him to death and committed hara-kiri (suicide) herself.
Learning about the Yoshinari's younger sister and Kyuzaemon, Nobunaga ODA condemned Kyuzaemon's adultery and lack of consideration and charity, thereby arresting Kyuzaemon's wife for execution and crucified her.