Masahisa Sakai

Masahisa Sakai is an officer of relatively unknown origin who is said to have first served Dōsan Saitō. His manner of joining Nobunaga and personal reasons for doing so are still unclear. Before his death, he was said to have performed a brave, lone raid against the thousands surrounding him.

Role in Games
Masahisa Sakai appears in Samurai Warriors 2 and its following title at Anegawa in the Oda-Tokugawa forces. He will hold out against the charging Nagamasa but will eventually be defeated by the Azai leader. In Samurai Warriors 4, Masahisa leads the vanguard down the center against the Azai alongside Tsuneoki Ikeda, barring the way forward until they are both defeated.

Historical Information
Records are conflicting on Sakai Masahisa's origins. Some works place his birth place in Owari, while others, including the famous Shinchō kōki (The Chronicle of Oda Nobunaga), claim Masahisa was born in Mino. As the Oda had several vassal families named Sakai, the confusion is not surprising. Masahisa began his career as an officer under the Saitō clan, but he transferred his loyalties to Oda Nobunaga at some point in his career before the late 1560s.

Masahisa's first confirmed event he participated in was the siege of Shōryūji Castle in 1568. He fought alongside Shibata Katsuie, Mori Yoshinari, and Hachiya Yoritaka against the rebellious Iwanari Tomomichi. He also fought at the battle of Okawachi Castle in 1569, helping defeat the Kitabatake clan and making a name for himself.

In 1570, Sakai Masahisa helped lead the vanguard at Anegawa against the Azai. The fighting there proved quite fierce and many in his unit were wounded or killed. An especially hard blow came from the death of his son Sakai Kyūzō in the melee. Seeking to avenge himself, Masahisa volunteered to help in the push back against the Azai, Asakura, and warrior monks who had besieged Usayama Castle and killed its lord, Mori Yoshinari. This campaign eventually became the siege of Mt. Hiei, where Masahisa pushed hard against the Asakura lines. This effort unfortunately backfired, as he found himself cut off and isolated, falling in a last desperate charge against the forces under Maeba Kagesada.