Ito Teruzumi

Ito Teruzumi appears in the aftermath of the attack on Osaka Castle as a member of the Council of Regents, one of five lords gathered to decide how to respond. His conduct in the meeting is defined less by a settled position than by political accommodation: he gives force to suspicions about Toranaga, acknowledges the usefulness of Anjin-san, and then aligns himself with Ishido when the discussion comes to a vote.

Identity and Presentation

Ito attends the Regents’ meeting in the Great Room on the second level of the donjon, alongside Ishido, Kiyama, Zataki, and Onoshi. Lady Ochiba is also present. The dawn light throws long shadows across the room, where the smell of fire remains from the recent attack; Ito, like the others, has been roused from bed to attend. His formal appearance is striking in that hurried setting: he is described as a small, middle-aged man, dressed in a carefully arranged kimono with ornamental swords, made up like a woman and with blackened teeth. He takes time to adjust a fold in his skirts even as the political argument presses on.

The Attack and the Regents’ Interpretations

The meeting concerns the consequences of the assault and the damage it has left behind. Kiyama argues that the Regents cannot dismiss Toda Mariko’s Seppuku, the bravery of his granddaughter, Lady Maeda’s testimony and formal death, the deaths of 147 of Toranaga’s men, or the damage to part of the castle. Zataki likewise stresses that the situation has become a snare for the Regents, and regrets that Mariko was not allowed to leave the previous day as he had advised.

Ito initially endorses Ishido’s suggestion that the attackers may have been seeking loot, calling it sensible. He then advances a more pointed possibility: the intruders might have intended to ransom Anjin-san in Yedo and deliver him to Toranaga. He frames the idea as a question of Anjin-san’s continuing usefulness to Toranaga, not as proof that the attack was ordered by him. When Ishido suggests that Toranaga himself arranged the assault, Zataki rejects the use of ninja as inconsistent with Toranaga’s methods. Ito’s contribution keeps suspicion in circulation while leaving the explanation unsettled.

He later presses the point that Toranaga is clever enough to get other people to adopt his ideas as their own. Zataki remains doubtful that Toranaga would use or enlist ninja, arguing that a more patient course would have let the Regents make their own mistake. Kiyama concludes that whoever ordered the attack acted foolishly and did the Regents no service. Ito’s remarks thus sharpen the possibility of indirect political manipulation without resolving who was responsible.

Anjin-san and the Canceled Contest

When the discussion turns from the attack to Anjin-san, Ito supports the view that Toranaga must have a reason for valuing him. He agrees that Anjin-san has done well despite being a foreigner and that Toranaga was right to make him a samurai. Ito also recalls Anjin-san giving a flower to Lady Ochiba, describing the gesture as worthy of a courtier. The assessment is practical as well as complimentary: Ito joins the general agreement that Anjin-san could be useful to the Regents.

Ito asks Lady Ochiba what should happen to the poetry competition. She answers that it should be canceled. The exchange shows him moving readily from military and political speculation to court ceremony, and treating the contest’s cancellation as part of the same unsettled aftermath rather than as an unrelated detail.

Position in the Vote

Later, when the Regents face a further proposal, Ito’s response exposes his uncertain footing. Under the scrutiny of the others, he reddens and says that he has to agree with Onoshi, while also calling the matter difficult. Ishido then orders a vote, and Ito says that he agrees with Ishido. The sequence records his observable shifts of alignment, but does not establish the outcome of the vote or explain his private reasoning. In the meeting, his political role is therefore one of participation and adaptation: he helps articulate suspicions, recognizes a potential asset in Anjin-san, and finally follows the Lord General’s move to a formal decision.