Oichi no Kata (1547-1583), celebrated as the greatest beauty of the Sengoku period and younger sister of Oda Nobunaga, lived a dramatic life defined by two political marriages. Her first husband was Azai Nagamasa, daimyo of Omi; when their alliance with Nobunaga collapsed, she escaped from Odani Castle in 1573 with her three young daughters — Chacha, Hatsu, and Go — while Nagamasa took his own life. The famous ‘bean bag anecdote’ tells how she warned Nobunaga of being surrounded by tying a bean bag at both ends. After Nobunaga’s death in 1582, she married Shibata Katsuie. Defeated at the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, she refused Hideyoshi’s terms for surrender and chose to die alongside Katsuie at Kitanosho Castle in Echizen, at age 36. Key sites: Odani Castle Ruins (Shiga), Nagahama Castle (Shiga), and Kitanosho Castle Ruins (Fukui).