Also known as: Osugi: Sugiura Takaaki (杉浦孝昭), P-ko: Sugiura Katsuaki (杉浦克昭)

Osugi and P-ko are popular identical twin actors in Japan. Osugi is also a film critic, while P-ko is a fashion critic and chanson singer.

A Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer who is Japan's homerun king with 868 career homeruns. He played for the Yomiuri Giants at first base from 1959 to 1980, during which the Giants won 11 championships. After retiring, Sadaharu became assistant manager of the Giants from 1981 to 1983 and manager from 1984 to 1988. He was manager of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks from 1995 to 2008 and led the team to 2 championships. His father was from the Republic of China, and his Japanese name is a rendering of the common Chinese surname "Wang," which means "king."

Princess Tenko is the stage name of the internationally-famous Japanese magician and illusionist, Mariko Itakura. Prior to being apprenticed in 1976 to the first Tenko magician, Tenko Hikita, she was already well-known singer with the stage name Mari Asakaze. She assumed the Tenko name on Dec. 15, 1980 after the death of her teacher the previous year.

An Edo-period historian and poet who was born on Jan. 21, 1780 in Hiroshima-han and died on Oct. 16, 1832. His father, Rai Shunsui (頼春水), was a Confucian scholar. His works included: The Unofficial History of Japan (日本外史), Chronicles of the Japanese Government (日本政記), Sanyou Poem Selections (山陽詩鈔), Notes on Morality (通義), etc.

A vassal of Inaba Ittetsu who later defected to join Akechi Mitsuhide. He played a large part at the Honnou-ji and the ambush of Oda Nobunaga.

Also known as: 宮千代丸、松三、孝長

Son (or possibly younger brother) of Sanbonji Sadanaga, he became head of the Sanbonji Clan and master of Fudousan Castle after Uesugi Kagekatsu become head of the Uesugi Clan. He committed suicide in the Battle of Uozu Castle along with twelve other Uesugi commanders. He was apparently still a young man at the time.

Historically: Second daughter of Sanjou Kinyori, Minister of the Left and second legal wife of Takeda Shingen, a woman of courtly blood who was mother of his original heir, Takeda Yoshinobu as well as two other sons and two daughters (the older of whom married Houjou Ujimasa). Her name is literally written as "person of Sanjou (Clan)".

She was described as a great beauty and fervent in her devotion to Buddhism. Since Shingen eventually named the grandson of a concubine heir to the clan, it is thought that Sanjou and Shingen did not get along.

In Mirage of Blaze: She and Kousaka Masanobu break the barrier over Takeda Shingen's tomb, the Maenduka, and attempt to resurrect Shingen by using Narita Yuzuru as a vessel for his spirit. She herself takes over the body of Takeda Yuiko but is exorcised by Takaya and Naoe with kouhou-choubuku.

Also known as: Kuranosuke—nickname (内蔵助)
Titles: Mutsu no Kami, Ecchuu no Kami, Chamberlain

A daimyo of the Sengoku, born in Owari. His father was Sassa Morimasa. His two older brothers, Sassa Masatsugu and Sassa Magosuke, died in battle, so Narimasa became head of the clan and master of Hira Castle in 1560. He distinguished himself in the loyal service of Oda Nobunaga and fought in many of Nobunaga's battles. His name was first on a list for the Kurohoro-gumi, an elite group of Nobunaga's bodyguards.

In 1580, he backed Jinbou Nagazumi against both the Uesugi Clan and the Ikkou-ikki in Ecchuu, and was given half the province. The following year, he was named governor (Kami) of the entire province when Jinbou Nagazumi lost his standing. He made Toyama Castle his main castle and performed extensive repairs and renovations on it.

After Nobunaga's death in 1582, Narimasa continued to engage in fierce battles with Uesugi Kagekatsu. He took the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobukatsu against Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but later surrendered to him in 1585 when Hideyoshi laid siege to Toyama Castle with 10,000 troops. He lost Ecchuu, but was given a fief in Higo in 1587 for merits in the suppression of Kyuushuu, along with instructions on refraining from hasty reforms. Ignoring those instructions because of illness or perhaps misunderstanding, Narimasa immediately set out on Hideyoshi's nationwide land survey, resulting in rebellion of the province. He was charged with misgovernment and committed ritual suicide.

He wrote the following as his death-poem: "The shell of my begging bowl in which I have placed the evil delusions of these recent days now breaks" (この頃の　厄妄想を　入れ置きし　鉄鉢袋　今破るなり).

Narimasa is said to have brutally killed his concubine, Sayuri, along with her family for a rumor of infidelity. The legend goes that Sayuri cursed him before she died, and the curse was responsible for his death at the hand of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

In Mirage of Blaze: He is kanshousha who has entered the «Yami-Sengoku» as one of the Oda's commanders, described as a tanned, fearless-looking young man, a "mountain cat in human skin." He and Mori Ranmaru don't appear to be on the best of terms. He later seeks his death at Sayuri's hands in remorse for the way he brutally tortured and killed her in their previous lives.

Satomi Yoshitaka was the son of Satomi Sanetaka and became head of the Satomi Clan by killing the then-head, his cousin Satomi Yoshitoyo (son of his father's older brother Satomi Yoshimichi) in 1534. The traditional version of the story goes that Yoshitoyo killed Yoshitaka's father, who was in communication with the Houjou, and Yoshitaka killed him in revenge. In recent years, however, historians have theorized that Yoshitaka and Sanetaka, father and son, allied themselves with the Satomi Clan's bitter enemy, the Houjou Clan, in order to take over the clan. They then changed the records to hide the fact that they betrayed the Houjou Clan after their plan succeeded.

As clan head, Yoshitaka fought numerous battles with Houjou Ujitsuna and Houjou Ujiyasu. He pushed into Shimousa and Kazusa, making his stronghold Kuruji Castle in Kazusa, and brought about the golden age of the clan. He battled the Houjou to the last and died at Kuruji Castle at the age of 68.

Sayuri was a favored concubine of Sassa Narimasa, said to be a peerless beauty, whom he brutally tortured and killed on suspicion of infidelity.

The story goes that Narimasa fell in love with Sayuri at first sight and made her his concubine. He lavished affection on her, and was overjoyed when she became pregnant in 1584. His other three concubines were jealous of Sayuri, and when Narimasa left Ecchuu on a trip to meet with Tokugawa Ieyasu in December of that year, spread the rumor that she was in secret communication with one of Narimasa's vassals, a man who had stayed behind at Toyama Castle because of illness, Takezawa Kumashirou (sp?) (竹沢熊四郎). They claimed that the child belonged to Kumashirou, not Narimasa.

Narimasa dismissed the rumors at first, but found a small brocade sachet at the door of Sayuri's bedroom which belonged to Kumashirou (said to have been placed there by the other concubines). He flew into rage and put Kumashirou to the sword on the spot. He then hanged Sayuri by her feet to a tree in the Jintsuu River Basin and slowly cut her to pieces. He also beheaded the 18 members of her family and crucified their bodies at the prison gates.

The scene is described in the Taikouki: at the moment of her death, Sayuri, her lips bitten through, bloody tears flowing down a once-beautiful face now twisted into a malevolent mask, cursed Narimasa: "As Narimasa beheads me here, my enmity shall a demon become, to grow year by year until I have killed all thine issue even unto the extinction of thy family name." Those watching covered their eyes, and those who heard felt their hair rise at those words.

Stories say that a drifting fire would appear on stormy nights at the spot where Sayuri died, and sometimes a freshly-severed head with wild hair waving in the air saying "Sayuri, Sayuri." The fire was called "Sayuri Fire". The story goes that Sayuri became a vengeful ghost whose curse later killed Sassa Narimasa (though not his children). Sightings of the fire occurred as late as the Meiji Era.

The hackberry tree from which Sayuri was said to have been hanged was burned during the air-raid of Toyama City in World War II. Two second-generation hackberry trees now stand on the spot.

Sentouin was the daughter of Nagao Tamekage and older sister of Uesugi Kenshin. She married Nagao Masakage in 1537, and they had two sons and two daughters between them. Their oldest son died at the age of 10, but their second son, Uesugi Kagekatsu, became Kenshin's adopted son and later head of the Uesugi Clan.

It is said that Sentouin was the one who recommended that Naoe Kanetsugu become Kagekatsu's attendant.

A fierce commander and brilliant of the Oda Clan, renowned as "Demon Shibata", Shibata Katsuie was born in Owari and served as a vassal of Oda Nobuyuki, Nobunaga's younger brother. He became Oda Nobunaga's vassal after the Battle of Ino, in which Nobunaga executed his younger brother for treason but spared Katsuie.

After Nobunaga's death, Katsuie supported Oda Nobutaka as Nobunaga's successor, but was defeated by Hideyoshi Toyotomi and forced to commit seppuku.

Eldest son and heir of Shibata Tsunasada, brother of Shibata Shigeie, vassal of Uesugi Kenshin, and master of Shibata Castle.

Nagaatsu excelled in diplomacy and was one of Kenshin's Seven Generals. He supported Uesugi Kagekatsu in the Otate no Ran after Kenshin's death and demonstrated his diplomatic finesse in the peace negotiations with Takeda Katsuyori. He died of illness after the war.

Title: Mikawa-no-Kami

Shichiri Yorichika started out as a minor samurai at Hongan Temple, but caught Kennyo's eye and became a temple official and the commander of the Ikkou-ikki forces in Kaga Province.

During Oda Nobunaga's siege of Ishiyama Hongan Temple, he attacked the Oda army repeatedly, earning him the nickname "the Kaga General". As his power and influence increased, so did his arrogance, leading to violent outbursts of anger that sometimes resulted in the executions of his underlings over disputes. Shimozuma Rairen interceded, and in the end Yorichika was driven out of the temple. This resulted in internal strife between the Ikkou sectarians of Echizen and Kaga, providing Nobunaga an opening which he took in August of 1575. Yorichiki fled without putting up a fight.

In the following year he accused the master of the Ikkou castle of Mattou of rebellion and attacked, but was defeated and killed.

A monk who served as an official under Kennyo at Ishiyama Hongan Temple, he along with Suzuki Shigehide commanded the Hongan Temple army against Oda Nobunaga. For this reason they were called the "Left and Right Generals of Osaka".

When Hongan Temple surrendered to the Oda army in 1580 by order of the Emperor, Rairen's signature was among those on the official letter. Afterwards, he left with Kennyo to persuade the Ikkou-ikki of various parts of the country to rise up against Nobunaga.

After Takeda Shingen's death, when both Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu requested help from the Ikki forces, Rairen opposed and remained neutral throughout. In 1589, Hideyoshi bestowed land on him and made him a magistrate.

In Mirage of Blaze: he continues to clash against Nobunaga and eventually performs kanshou on a man of some means named Watanabe, who appears to be a man of amiable disposition and wears silver-rimmed glasses.

A professional Japanese outfielder who played for the Hanshin Tigers, then for the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants and was the first baseball player born in Japan to play in the World Series.

Also known as: Tenya Wanya

A comedy duo formed of the team of Shishi Tenya and Seto Wanya who were popular for a long time in Japan after World War II.

Also known as: Shouji Jinnai (庄司甚内)

According to his sixth-generation descendant Shouji Katsutomi, Jin'emon was the son of a retainer of the Houjou clan in Odawara. His older sister was a favorite concubine of Houjou Ujimasa. His father died with Ujimasa at Odawara in 1590 when the castle fell to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Just fifteen at the time, Jin'emon was taken under the wing of another Houjou retainer and came to Edo, where he later operated a brothel called Nishida-ya. Ashamed of his profession, he never divulged his true name. "Jin'emon" was given him by a magistrate court in 1606 when his assumed name, Jinnai, was used by a criminal of the same name to involve him in a lawsuit.

He later became the first ward leader appointed by the bakufu to oversee the Yoshiwara pleasure disctrict in Edo, and his descendants inherited the position after him.

Emperor Showa was the 124 Emperor of Japan and reigned from 1926 until 1989, the longest of any Japanese Emperor. His reign saw the transformation of Japan from a largely rural country to an industrial and technological world power. It also encompassed two World Wars and the creation of a democratic government in Japan.

Title: Sagami no Kami

Originally from the province of Shinano, he went to Uesugi Kenshin for sanctuary along with Murakami Yoshikiyo after being attacked by Takeda Shingen. He became a vassal of Kenshin and fought in the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561. But he was a better diplomat than commander, and Kenshin used him as such.

He supported Uesugi Kagekatsu in the Otate no Ran after Kenshin's death. He succeeded Kawada Nagachika as supreme commander of Ecchuu after the latter's death and became the master of Uozu Castle. When Uozu Castle fell to Sassa Narimasa in 1583, he became master of Kaidu Castle. He also served as negotiator for Kagekatsu, but eventually fell out of Kagekatsu's favor. However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi valued Mitsuchika's skills highly, eventually taking him into the Toyotomi Clan and bestowing the Toyotomi name upon him.

The headman of Nakagaya village in Matsumoto who submitted a petition to lower taxes in Matsumoto to the same level as that of surrounding areas, thus inciting the Kasuke Uprising. He was one of the 28 ringleaders executed, along with his two sons and younger brother.

It was said that as he was being crucified, Kasuke set a curse against Matsumoto Castle, whose main tower began to tilt from that time and remained tilted until its major renovation in the 1950s.

He was enshrined in 1736, fifty years after the uprising, in a small shrine within the Kasuke home. Two hundred years after his death, the Joukyou Gimin Shrine was built in his hometown (now Sankyou Nakagaya in Azumino), and his and the remains of twelve other people executed with him were transferred there. In 1992 the Joukyou Gimin Memorial was founded.

The 123rd emperor of Japan, who reigned from 1912 upon the death of his father, Emperor Meiji, until his death in 1926. He contracted meningitis within weeks of his birth, which affected his health both physically and mentally. He would eventually be nicknamed "Baka Tennou", "the Mad/Idiot Emperor". His son, Emperor Shouwa, succeeded him upon his death of heart attack.

Also called: Takeda Katsuchiyo, Takeda Harunobu
Title: Shinano no Kami

Historically: Daimyo of Kai who became the head of the Takeda clan by rebelling against his father. Conquered Shinano and fought against Uesugi Kenshin. The two clans clashed five times on the plains of Kawanakajima, where neither gained complete victory until Shingen died of illness in his campaign against Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Titles: Mikawa no Kami

A vassal of Uesugi Kenshin who fought in the Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561. He was commended for his bravery when he continued fighting even after losing both his horse and his armor. He supported Uesugi Kagekatsu in the Otate no Ran. Later, he committed suicide in the Battle of Uozu Castle along with twelve other Uesugi commanders.