, better known as , was a Japanese samurai, shinobi, and guerrilla leader.
Biography Momochi is said to have been the overseer (jitō) of a manorial estate owned by the Kōfuku-ji in northern Yamato Province. His father was .
When Oda Nobukatsu invaded Iga Province in 1579, Momochi's home was destroyed and he fled to Mount Kōya. He later led local in a guerilla campaign which saw the Oda armies repelled from Iga. Momochi is credited as one of the commanders who led the ambush at Onikobu Pass where the Oda general was killed by a shinobi sniper.
In 1581, Momochi was one of the defenders of when it was overrun by the forces of Oda Nobunaga. He escaped the castle alive and reportedly lived on into the early 17th century, dying in 1640. His descendants were known to have settled in Yamato Province.
Legacy During the Edo period, Momochi was fictionalized into a folkloric character and archetypical master shinobi named , credited in popular yomihon novels as the ninjutsu teacher of Ishikawa Goemon and Kirigakure Saizō. Momochi Sandayū was one of the first characters referred to as a .
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