Gracia

Gracia (ガラシャ, Garasha) is one of the argued translations of the Christian name for Mitsuhide Akechi's third daughter, Tama. She is historically Tadaoki Hosokawa's wife and is best known for her refusal to be one of Mitsunari Ishida's hostages prior to Sekigahara. Staying loyal to her religious faith, she accepted death delivered by a nearby soldier rather than resort to suicide.

Her Samurai Warriors counterpart placed third with fans in Gamecity's Sengoku Musou 3: Empires and Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd popularity polls. According to the Sengoku Musou Seiyuu Ougi 2012 Aki questionnaire, she placed seventh for fans' ideal co-op partner for playing Samurai Warriors. She was the second most popular Samurai Warriors character for the Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate Halloween costume poll. For the Samurai Warriors 4 poll, she placed sixth.

In Saihai no Yukue, her height is 170 cm (closest to 5'7") and she is 22 years old. Her hobby is collecting Western trinkets and her favorite food is kompeitō.

Role in Games

 * "You're so cute- surely you can't be the enemy?"
 * Himiko; Warriors Orochi 2

Samurai Warriors
Gracia is introduced as a young girl who ran away from the confines of her home to learn more about the world. She's attacked by a group of rowdy soldiers soon after she escapes (the Japanese script implies they were actually Akechi soldiers trying to take her back home). She's saved and tended to by Magoichi. Amazed by his heroics, she dubs him her mentor and follows him everywhere he goes. Once she learns that friends are people who look out for one another, she befriends Magoichi and they make an oath to save each other when they're in trouble.

When the Saika village is attacked by Nobunaga, Magoichi goes missing while Gracia saves the surviving Saika members. To her dismay, she is told by the Oda forces that he was killed in action, a claim that she denies. With Magoichi gone, she returns home and is married to Tadaoki Hosokawa. Many years later, due to mounting tension between the armies, soldiers from the Western Army storm the Hosokawa household to take her hostage. Staying true to their earlier promise, Magoichi saves her. Gracia rescues her husband's men and her guilt-ridden friend before they retreat from the Western forces. In the aftermath, she decides to return to politics.

Her dream mode is a play on the beauty competition found in Nō and Oichi's scenarios. The beautiful ladies of the age are participating in a battle to prove which one of them is the most beautiful. Magoichi convinces the young Gracia to participate and gain more confidence in herself. In actuality, he jokingly uses her in order to collect his personal harem of ladies. Once she wins the contest, he deftly congratulates her and leaves the field to prepare to charm the captured women. Slowly, she realizes that Magoichi used her and decides to work with the maidens to punish him. After their victory, he praises her new found confidence and she apologizes for doubting him.

In her story for Sengoku Musou 3: Moushouden, a sheltered Gracia decides to leave her home to follow Mitsuhide to the battlefield. She is curious of what it means to create a gentle world without war and seeks to help her father at Kizugawaguchi. Gracia is confused when Nobunaga orders for the deaths of surrendering refugees, asking her shocked parent if their deaths were needed for peace. Mitsuhide, too stricken to answer, wonders if he is following the right master when she professes her fear for Nobunaga's methods. Feeling that Nobunaga doesn't offer the world he wants, Nobunaga is killed by Mitsuhide at Honnōji.

Since her participation at Kizugawaguchi impressed Tadaoki, she becomes his wife sometime after that and before Hideyoshi's backlash at Yamazaki. Requesting Tadaoki for reinforcements, Gracia accompanies her father and his close friend, Motochika, on the field. During the battle, Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide act as decoys in a bid for the armies to claim Mt. Tennoh. Hideyoshi is better prepared, however, as Kanbei unleashes a rockslide to isolate Akechi troops. With Mitsuhide heavily surrounded, his whereabouts become unknown and Motochika is dealt a fatal wound. Gracia, lost and without support, decides to retreat and search for her father. As she reaches the escape point, Tadaoki blocks her with orders to kill her since she is a daughter of a traitor. Tadaoki stops Gracia from escaping but, since he still loves her, can't deal the finishing blow and forcibly brings her back to the Hosokawa clan. Her husband is never forgiven by Hideyoshi and his reputation suffers.

One day, Gracia sneaks away from her husband and retreats to Oshi Castle. Seeking to discover what it means to fight for something important, she befriends the Hōjō for their resistance against the Toyotomi army. She questions why key generals would choose to serve under Hideyoshi, who she despises for causing her father's disappearance. Kai encourages Gracia to live with Mitsuhide's will and to protect the future. Chased by Hideyoshi's army soon after the conflict, Gracia is pursued back to the Hosokawa mansion. Living in depression, she is placed into a dangerous spot when Mitsunari and Ieyasu later barter for Tadaoki's loyalty. Since Tadaoki refuses to send Gracia as a hostage, she wants to escape the wrath of the Western army to see her dream of a peaceful world realized. Working together with Kai and Nene, she also convinces Magoichi to live another path in life. During her escape, she is surprised when Tadaoki appears to help her. As she hurries to her husband, Mitsuhide arrives to protect his daughter from being taken away by Tadaoki. Mitsuhide apologizes for concealing himself for so long, stating he wanted to find an opportune time to reveal himself again to the world.

Reunited with her father and gaining three precious friends, Gracia commits herself to keep living. Her desire for a land without war ignites Mitsuhide's own ambition. With her father and friends, they interrupt the Battle of Sekigahara and fight against both the Western and Eastern armies. As Nene seeks to lecture her "children" (Hideaki and Masanori) to join them, Gracia seeks reconciliation with Tadaoki. Convincing him through combat, he eventually confesses his genuine love for her and abandons his duty to Ieyasu. The Akechi army then gradually work to subdue both sides of the battlefield. Miraculously beating the odds, the land is united under the Akechi clan and wars are completely abolished under Mitsuhide's leadership.

During one of the Gaidens for Chronicles, Gracia learns that her father wants to marry her off without her permission. Opposing her father's decision, she drags Magoichi and the protagonist in search for her true beloved.

Samurai Warriors 4 Gracia starts as Mitsuhide's sheltered daughter. Seeking to see the world, she stowaways on her father's ship twice to Tosa. As she assists Motochika's forces at Shimantogawa and Asan, Gracia is introduced to "the demoness" Koshōshō and to the concept of friendship by Magoichi. Gracia begins to idolize the former and swears friendship to the latter. Since Mitsuhide cannot keep her home, he reluctantly brings her with him to Kii Province. She attends a tea party with her father and Ranmaru before the battle. Remembering Magoichi's words about friendship verbatim, Gracia protests the young man's determination to die for any cause. To discourage him from accepting his fate, she forges a pact of friendship with him. By doing so, she unintentionally covers for her father from the suspicious page.

Mitsuhide is disillusioned by Nobunaga at this point and resolves to revolt. At the same time he makes his decision, he receives news of Motochika's predicament at Iyo. Gracia volunteers to help her father's friend in his stead. Although surprised by Koshōshō's sudden change of allegiance, Gracia is quickly fascinated in the demoness's methods and seeks to learn from her. The noble maiden soon dubs herself Koshōshō's disciple. With her task in the west completed, she returns to the main land to help her father at Honnōji and Yamazaki. Although her father had arranged for her safe marriage into the Hosokawa family in advance, Gracia flees capture from the latter battle. Due to Motochika's influences, she believes she must inherit her father's spirit to keep resisting the times. She fights the Toyotomi army at Hiketa to honor her father and to help her mentor.

Following the battle, Gracia is sent away to her marriage and lives her days in seclusion. She appears to have had a passing acquaintance with Kojirō since the swordsman mentions her and her husband.

Her 4-II centric story has her and Koshōshō work together to make Naotora's wish to be more feminine come true. Gracia feels that the only way for Naotora to become aware of her natural charms is to regain her confidence. She believes the most effective means of achieving this is by scouting other ladies and preparing an unforgettable dance on stage. Although she mourns her father's death at Yamazaki, Gracia optimistically drags Naotora with her to fulfill her grand design at Kakegawa Castle, Kannagawa, and Shizugatake. Her recruits protest leaving their responsibilities until they are hypnotized by Gracia's magic to gleefully obey her. She misinterprets Koshōshō's recommendation to add a wild card into their group by spellbinding Katsuie to their cause.

During the third conflict, Gracia feels they need more women for their dance and demands for Hideyoshi to fund an all-out war with every woman in the land. He agrees to do it as long as he acts as the referee for the battle. Once the battle concludes, the women stand united and the group performs before the eyes of the nation. Gracia rejoices the many trustworthy friends she has gathered and their success works wonders for Naotora's self-esteem. Content with her handiwork, she is soon forced to return to her confinement.

Time passes, and Gracia's youthful cheer fades. Mitsunari orders for her to be held hostage. Jaded by her innocent dreams of harmony, Gracia is ready to comply until Koshōshō visits her and encourages her to resist. She gradually believes in the value of friendship again and works with the Hosokawa retainers and her band of idols to escape danger. To celebrate their reunion, the idols stage another grand dance and unite the land with their glamor.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi 2, Gracia and her father are taken hostage by Sun Wukong's troops. He hoped to lead them to Kiyomori Taira but they are saved by Xing Cai and Ina. In gratitude, they help stop the sorcerers concealing Sun Wukong's location and join the Shu forces. In one of the game's dream modes, she teams up with Cao Pi and Guan Ping to prove themselves worthy heirs to their fathers. Her goal is relatively simple as Mitsuhide wants to see if she can save peasants from being killed by bandits. If she succeeds, her father will be pleased.

Although she originally traveled the dimensional realm with her father in Warriors Orochi 3, Gracia decided to hide herself in a box. By doing so, she thinks she can travel and see the sights in the world. However, the box she hid within had a magical lock, so she couldn't readily free herself. Through Zhang Jiao's incantation at Guangzhong, Gracia happily bursts free. Thankful to her saviors, she agrees to join the coalition. If she is saved before bringing the gunpowder out of Honnoji, Gracia can also assist in saving her father.

In the downloadable scenario, "The Art of War", Gracia accompanies Sima Zhao and Motonari as they are taught by Zuo Ci why people fight in war.

During the events of Ultimate, Gracia shows concern over her father's disappearance and sets out to find him. Together with Sima Shi and Masamune, the three of them head for Ueda Castle to find Da Ji who last saw Mitsuhide at Nanjun. Before they can interrogate the vixen, Tamamo immediately seals them inside her mirror. There, she and her father are eventually reunited before making their escape back to the real world.

Pokémon Conquest
Though she admits her inexperience, Gracia fiercely opposes the protagonist in Pokémon Conquest. She enters for the sole desire to protect her father from harm. Unlike other opponents in the game, Gracia primarily orders her Pokémon to play keep-away from the protagonist's forces rather than fight. After the protagonist wins Nixtorm Castle, her whereabouts in the main story are not elaborated.

Kessen
Garasha's death is briefly shown in the first Kessen. In a flashback, she states that she refuses to be taken as a hostage by Mitsunari and chooses death instead. She tells an off screen soldier to kill her before the enemies arrive, crying the Virgin Mary's name in her final moments. Tadaoki states his reason for wanting to oppose Mitsunari is to avenge her death. He also has a cross ingrained in his shoulder pads in her memory. Her death poem can be seen in the game's intro and in her biography entry.

Saihai no Yukue
Gracia appears as Garasha Hosokawa in Saihai no Yukue. She is known as a woman of peerless beauty who is scorned for being Mitsuhide's daughter. Due to her father's betrayal, she lives a sheltered life. In person, she's a melodramatic dreamer who lavishly decorates herself with white lilies to represent her inner spirit. Tamaki tries to criticize the giant lilies she wears though Mitsunari always hushes her. Her favorite pets are two white birds given to her by Tadaoki, which she keeps in a cage near her room.

Before the Battle at Sekigahara, Mitsunari meets her in person on Lady Yodo's request to convince her to be a willing hostage of the Toyotomi family. Lady Yodo believes Garasha will listen to the plea as they're both women who only want the wars to end. She believes that by doing this, they can at least save the Hosokawa family that Hideyoshi respected. Garasha, however, knows that her lord forbids this act and wants to accept her "destiny" to die. In reality, she wants her husband to accept her love and believes that following his orders will accomplish this. Thanks to the open bible she had in her room, Mitsunari is able to convince her that living for happiness is more important to display her devotion. She agrees to his request and says that she wants to set her birds free before she leaves. She smiles and thanks him for coming. Late that same night, however, the Hosokawa manor was set ablaze and Garasha died in the flames. Her birds were hanging from a tree safely out of the fire's reach.

Development
Gracia was one of the female characters that the director wanted to include in the series. She was designed to be a woman of high class whose charm point is her unique hairstyle. According to the producer's personal comments, he originally envisioned her as an adult woman with long black hair. He likes her current design now.

He also stated that her return to the series was not a part of his original plans for the third title. However, since he is aware of the amount of fans she has, he decided to include her again during Masanori and Aya's development stages for becoming playable characters.

Gracia's design in the fourth title was made possible by her illustrator. He kept pushing for her to have longer hair and didn't convince the designer supervising him to change their opinion until he drew her current twintails. Her design was finalized quickly based on her new hairstyle. The goal was to make her as "cute as possible" with quasi Gothic Lolita appeal.

Personality
At the start of her Samurai Warriors story, Gracia is an optimistic and curious girl. Though she comes from a cultured background, she exhibits a strong will and down-to-earth principles. In her later story stages, she matures into a compassionate and intelligent lady of high class. She has a better grasp of her surroundings and is well aware of her husband's intentions. In their many years apart from one another, Gracia kept Magoichi's lessons to heart and grew to value life and friendship. Her second appearance doesn't show her to mature as much as her debut, keeping her youthful innocence and honesty throughout her story. Gracia likes to make various friends in her travels and stays loyal to them through thick and thin.

She idolizes Magoichi and nicknames him "Mago", which is jokingly used as a pun on the word "grandson" (mago) in the Japanese script. She's somewhat gullible as she takes Magoichi's words -even his sarcastic quips- a bit too literally. She builds a deeper trust with her pal, knowing that they'll always be there to look out for one another. Her relationship with Magoichi is downplayed and replaced for admiration her father. She instead seeks to have Mitsuhide's dream of peace be made a reality. She has special quotes with Wei Yan, Zuo Ci, Zhen Ji, Sima Yi, and Zhang Jiao in the Warriors Orochi series.

In Kessen and Saihai no Yukue, she is a damsel in distress who bravely faces her destiny. She acts like a samurai's wife who treasures honor or love above all else.

Character Symbolism
In the Samurai Warriors series, she is symbolized by the kanji for "shine" (煌) and "brilliance" (輝). The original name for her first weapon refers to an eye in Buddhist terms, to "rescue" someone or offer relief. Her second weapon means to thicken oneself and become resilient to desires. Continuing the religious theme, Gracia's third pair of bracelets grants her the power to call heaven's lightning upon foes. Divine punishment is usually coupled with such a task.

Gracia's titles in Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends are "Curious Wanderer", "Caged Talent", "Quick Learner", "Powerful Medium", "Mystic Paragon", "Wisdom and Beauty", and "Heavenly Beacon".

Her fourth and fifth weapons are actually named after the decorated armbands once worn by two Japanese gods, Kamunaobi-no-kami and Izunome. Both deities are known for purifying defilements or evil spirits; they are menders who correct calamities throughout the land with various rituals.

Her heirloom, konpeitou, is a Japanese confectionery. It is mentioned within Hosokawa family records to have existed during the early Edo period, one of the earliest known written historical sightings of the treat in Japanese history.

Lilies are used to represent Garasha in Saihai no Yukue. In the flower language, these flowers represent chastity, purity, and dignity. Her lilies look similar to the Easter lily, which represent honesty and sweetness. It has been thought to be either the same flower or the same genus as Madonna lilies, flowers which are associated with the Virgin Mary.

Voice Actors

 * Jasamine White-Gluz - Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends (English)
 * Sylvia Zaradick - Kessen (English)
 * Jun Shikano - Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi series (Japanese)
 * Hiromi Nishikawa - Kessen (Japanese)

Quotes

 * See also: Gracia/Quotes


 * "Hmm? Tell me! Does this rank mean that they like me? Oh, I'm so happy! To everyone who voted for me, you are now my pals! If your life is ever in danger, I'll definitely risk my life to save you!"
 * "Good! It's because my friends voted that I'm up here again, and I'm ever so happy! I thought the famed seductress would have been higher though..."
 * "Thank you all, dear audience members! Everyone out there is my pal!"
 * "I tried to stop him. You heard me. But... now it's too late..."
 * "Too late? You just throw away your friendship just because your lord tells you to? If you were really friends, it would never be too late. A real friend would be there for him!"
 * "I guess we know who his real friend is then, don't we?"
 * Hideyoshi and Gracia; Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends


 * "Father!"
 * "Why have you come here? You must return at once."
 * "No. I am my father's daughter, after all. As long as I'm by your side, Father, nothing can hurt us."
 * "This battle will be as no battle before it. You couldn't possibly understand."
 * "I do understand, Father. That's why I must be beside you... I want to be here for you."
 * Gracia and Mitsuhide; Samurai Warriors Chronicles


 * "Ran! What happened to the hairpin I gave you? I don't see it on you or in your hair... I know! You have it tucked within your robes as a keepsake, right?"
 * "Whoa! Please stop touching me, please! If you must know, it's safely kept at my home."
 * "You don't bring it with you? But, I thought it could protect you... It must have been too poor for you."
 * "No, that's not it. Your hairpin has and always will be a precious memento for me. I no longer resolve myself to welcome death, regardless of a battle's complexity. I now want to return home alive, to gaze upon your gift again."
 * Gracia and Ranmaru; Sengoku Musou 3: Empires


 * "Hahaha... Now you could have a bright future in my service, my girl..."
 * "No, thank you! I will serve no man, let alone one such as you!"
 * Dong Zhuo and Gracia; Warriors Orochi 2


 * "Ha... You have done well to unify that strong-willed bunch."
 * "We're all pals, really. We're all risking our lives for each other."
 * Kiyomori and Gracia; Warriors Orochi 2 PSP


 * "Young lady, would you care to join my flock?"
 * "Your flock...? Oh, you mean be your friend! Haha, you're funny, Zhang Jiao! Sure, I'll be your friend!"
 * "Ah, another Yellow Turban has found me in this world... Thank the Heavens for sending her to me!"
 * Zhang Jiao and Gracia; Warriors Orochi 3


 * "I am a Christian. I am forbidden to take my own life. Nevertheless, I cannot accept capture by Ishida. I choose death instead. Please... I beg you, let me die with honor."
 * Kessen


 * "Lord Tadaoki, did you know? These birds, once joined, are fated to never part from one another. As long as I draw breath, I desire to live for you."
 * "Garasha... But I'm the one who put you in exile..."
 * "I am well aware of that. Even if it appears as though you are keeping me locked away, I know Lord Tadaoki is only trying his best to protect me. I do not know how... But someday, I swear I will find a way to properly express my love for you."
 * Garasha and Hosokawa; Saihai no Yukue

Ground Attacks

 * undefined, (undefined): Creates an aura that damages enemies and raises Musou by raising her fist, then slams that fist down on enemies
 * , undefined, (undefined): A punch and then a short range energy burst
 * ,, undefined, (undefined): Two punches with the last hit knocking the enemies back
 * ,, , undefined, (undefined): Two punches with the latter that makes enemies crumble to the ground
 * ,, , , undefined: Emits a mini shockwave around her, similar to the final attack from a Musou.
 * ,, , , , , , : Does three swipes then four jump kicks and a finishing kick
 * , : Sends a fire ball down.
 * , undefined: Jumps down causing an earthquake that hits downed enemies as well.
 * Stays still and shoots a flurry of long ranged laser beams from her fists. In her Level 3 version, she is surrounded by green gusts of wind. In her True Musou version, she finishes the move with three spinning kicks.


 * R1 + : Gracia spins and performs a magical attack that uses Musou. One square will release a three fireball attack.
 * R1 +, : Gracia spins twice and surrounds her body with a spherical blizzard attack.
 * R1 +, , : Gracia spins thrice and hurls a straight wind based beam attack.
 * R1 + undefined: Using some Musou, Gracia performs a few hand signals and surrounds herself with a magical energy. Performing this version will heal a bit of her life.
 * R1 + undefined, undefined: Gracia performs a few hand signals and gains a momentary defensive barrier. It will withstand a few hits before it dispels.
 * R1 + undefined, undefined, undefined: Gracia performs a longer chain of hand signals and gain a significant attack boost for about thirty seconds.
 * Personal Skill : (Supremacy) Musou gauge gradually fills at all times.

Mounted Attacks

 * Hurls a fireball to her right. Added fire element to attack.
 * , undefined: Sends a blazing burst of energy to her right.
 * ,, undefined: Creates a dizzying green explosion.
 * ,, , undefined: Sends a blue wave of energy towards her front.
 * ,, , , , , , : Hurls a chain of fireballs to her right. Added fire element to attack.

Her normal moves are the same except she no longer has C5 or her Level 3 Musou. Her R1 moves also changed:
 * Warriors Orochi 2
 * , : An aerial dash. Gracia rolls forward.
 * R1: Gracia raises her arms forward and hurls three fireballs towards her opponent.
 * R1 + : Gracia sends 4 lightning and wind based spinning balls forward.
 * Direction + R1: Gracia creates a short-ranged offensive barrier around herself that tracks her as she runs around.
 * Triple Attack 1: Releases energy beams at a single point forward.
 * Triple Attack 2: Quickly conjures a sudden tremor near the user.
 * Triple Attack 3: Causes the ground to emanate with green gas in an instant.

Sengoku Musou 3: Moushouden

 * (Ultimate/Kaiden): Gracia raises her hands into the air and summons a giant ball of mystic energy. She proceeds to throw it in front of her, creating a massive explosion.
 * Spirit Cancel: Gracia dashes forward, breaking the opponent's guard and enabling her to repeat combo attacks.


 * Warriors Orochi 3
 * R1: Creates a barrier of light that keeps user from flinching and heals injuries for a short amount of time.
 * , R1 (Ultimate only): Fires a wave of energy downward, and buffs herself from said attack.

Samurai Warriors 4
Mighty strike is the same as Deadlock attack. Moveset remains relatively the same with the following changes.


 * ,, , , undefined, (undefined): Animation is the same as her old C5. After her shockwave, she fires a ball of water and conjures a tornado.
 * Finisher changes to her crouching on the ground. Her back briefly sprouts an aspiration of angel wings as beams of magical feathers damage foes.
 * (Ultimate/Kaidan):
 * Rage Attack/Musou Gokui effect:
 * Awakened Skill effect (4-II only):

Hyper Moveset

 * undefined:
 * undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, :
 * undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined:

Samurai Warriors
Her weapons of choice are two bracelets that grant her magical powers. Her normal attacks are punches and spinning knee attacks with a short and hard-to-aim range. She has the strongest Musou stat in her Samurai Warriors appearance but is also the weakest physical fighter in the game. She also starts with low life and defense, proving some difficulty for her growth in early levels. Though it is possible to play Gracia with her normal moveset, most players recommend relying on her R1 specials to do the bulk of her fighting. As such, she is a character who guzzles her musou bar most of the time. However, she has various tricks that can quickly refuel herself, such as her C1 or C2. Alternatively, players can also let her ride on horseback for the entire battle as her magical attacks have good range and priority.

In her latest appearance, Gracia's moveset is upgraded to include magical balls of energy, ice crystals, and fireballs during her charge attacks. Her special attacks remain relatively the same though they no longer consume Musou. Similar to the Warriors Orochi series, her various R1 abilities from Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends are reduced to her barrier technique.

Warriors Orochi
In Warriors Orochi 2, she can easily win in versus or survival mode with her direction + R1 offensive barrier since it can knock back the opponent. The players should keep moving forward until the opponent hits the wall and stand close to the opponent and stand still while the opponent is on the wall. Her R1 barrier will continue to do good damage until it wears off or sometimes the opponent will get knock out of the field.

Weapons

 * See also: Gracia/Weapons

Rare Weapon Acquisition

 * Stage: The Rescue of Gracia (Story of the Blossom Shower)

Historical Information
Gracia's birth name was Tama and she was married to Hosokawa Tadaoki. After her father's dramatic betrayal at Honnoji, she was labeled as a "traitor's daughter". To avoid criticism, Tadaoki sent her away to a hamlet in the mountains, located in the modern Kyoto prefecture. She returned to the Hosokawa manor two years later.

Her maid was a Christian and she soon became fascinated with the religion. Months before Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered a ban on Christianity, she was baptized by her maid with the name "Gracia". Other accounts also state that her maid took her in secret to a Jesuit priest named Gregorian De Cespedes and instead named her "Gratia". Contemporary historians also argue the name is "Graça". In any case, her name is usually written as "Garasha" (ガラシャ) in Japanese records. When the Christian ban took place, Tadaoki discovered the maid's religious affiliation and banned her from his home.

Prior to the fateful confrontation at Sekigahara, Ishida Mitsunari claimed Osaka Castle and planned to take hostages of the residing Toyotomi loyalist family members. He hoped to use them to force his rival generals to join his cause. When his soldiers threatened to take the Hosokawa household, Gracia was killed by a soldier of the family named Ogasawara Hidekiyo. He and the rest of the residents committed seppku to avoid capture. The incident caused a major dent in Ishida's reputation, which greatly lessened his possibilities of recruiting more allies (some of which were also secretly Christian).

There are two conflicting reasons concerning her death. Many accounts depict that she refused to commit suicide -since her faith forbids it- and asked Ogasawara to kill her. The Jesuit account states that Tadaoki routinely told his men to kill his wife should she be under the threat of being captured.

Gallery
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