Kai

Kaihime is a new character in Samurai Warriors 3. She is a vassal of the Hojo family and Ujinaga Narita's daughter. She is famous for her beauty and her act of personally riding into battle. Though heralded as a brave woman, modern historians wonder how many of her accomplishments are real as some may be fictional stories from the Edo period. She is voiced by Masami Suzuki in the Japanese dub.

In Samurai Warriors 2, she is a lady samurai bodyguard the player can unlock and buy from the shop.

Personality
Kaihime is a maiden raised since birth to be a warrior. Instilled with strict training from her clan, she secretly desires to live as a normal woman of her class. Wanting to protect her home and family, however, she fights with daring, masculine pride.

Historical Information
Kaihime was Narita Ujinaga's eldest daughter and a maiden said to be of unparalleled grace and beauty. To appease her father, who lamented only having daughters as his heirs, she also possessed bravery and cunning that was unlike other princesses. She was said to have had two sisters, Makihime and Atsushihime. She spent the majority of her youth at Oshi Castle. She was married to Yura Narishige until his death in 1578.

In 1590, during Hideyoshi's siege of Odawara Castle, the Toyotomi army surrounded the nearby Oshi Castle with 3,000 men. There were only 300 men fortifying the castle's defenses and Kaihime's seventy one year old grandmother (and mother in some accounts) was said to have taken charge of the strategic planning of the castle's defense. The defenders successfully remained resilient to the invaders' attacks, mainly due to the marshlands and steep ditches that surrounded the castle. In June, Ishida Mitsunari marched with 20,000 men in an attempt to take the fortification. He ordered the castle to be burned down but, due to the moist enviornment and high morale of the defending army, it was nearly impossible to start a blaze. Opting for a frontal assault, Mitsunari marched his men through the banks near Takamatsu Castle. The Narita vassals saw their opening and broke the river's dam, greatly demolishing Mitsunari's numbers. The fleeing soldiers were chased by Narita vassals.

Kaihime was said to have volunteered to rout the remaining soldiers, donning armor and riding on horseback with 200 men. Sanada Masayuki, Sanada Nobushige, and Asano Nagamasa came to Mitsunari's rescue. She met with Sanada's reinforcements in combat and slayed their vassal, Miyage Takashige, in battle, taking his head as her trophy. Her accomplishments gave a huge boost to ally morale and forced Mitsunari to surrender, reporting his failure to Hideyoshi. Mitsunari was greatly ridiculed for failing to capture a position "guarded by a woman". To this day, the long strait where the incident occurred is also known as the "Ishida Tsutsumi".

When Odawara Castle surrendered, her father also chose to do the same with hope to end warfare. When her family exited the castle, Kaihime exhibited an air of dignity. Hideyoshi generously forgave them and allowed them to keep their properties. A few rumors say that this was due to Kaihime's elegance.

After their surrender, Kaihime and her father were entrusted to Gamō Ujisato and lived in Iwashiro-fukui Castle. Sometime when her father was away, an internal rebellion was caused by Hamada Shugen and his younger brother. During this time, her mother-in-law (or mother in other sources) was killed. As soon as she heard about the incident, Kaihime sought to end the rebels. After hiding her beloved sword, Nagiri, under her robes, she feigned a jovial conversation with her parent's killer and waited for them to lower their guard. When she saw her chance, she slayed the instigator and two followers, effectively repressing the bloodshed. Since her time at Iwashiro-fukui Castle was relatively short, some people argue that this could have occurred at her family home instead.

Hideyoshi heard of her bravery and took a great liking towards her. He donned her one of his concubines, awarding her family with 20,000 koku and more territory as a result. Her fate from here is largely unknown though it is said that she saved Senhime during the Osaka Campaign and retreated to live as a nun. Others say that she either committed suicide or was slain during the conflict. Another story says that when the castle fell, she fled with Oiwa no Kata (Narita Goheisukenao's daughter) and Nāhime (Oiwa no Kata's eldest daughter) and the three of them became nuns at Tōkei-ji. Another story says that when they were retreating, Kaihime personally defended Nāhime from assassins.