Katano

Katano is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, formerly part of the region of Izumi Settsu during the Sengoku period.

History

In September 1581, the city was visited by the Iga kunoichi Fujibayashi Naoe during her quest to recover an important box from the masked samurai Ido Yoshihiro. Infiltrating Katano Castle, Naoe assassinated Yoshihiro and retrieved the box, only to be ambushed outside the castle by Yoshihiro's fellow Shinbakufu members. Naoe's father Nagato came to her defense but was mortally wounded by the Shinbakufu, who left both him and Naoe for dead and departed with the box.

In June 1582, Naoe, having been rescued by the monk Sorin and his apprentice Junjiro, returned to Katano to meet with the daimyō Akechi Mitsuhide. Secretly a member of the Shinbakufu, Mitsuhide learned that Naoe had begun hunting his group and decided to use this to his advantage by manipulating the kunoichi into killing Oda Nobunaga. At Katano Castle, Mitsuhide framed Nobunaga as the Shinbakufu's masked leader and convinced Naoe to help him launch an attack against his lord in Kyoto.

Shortly after Nobunaga's death, Naoe, realizing that Mitsuhide had deceived her, returned to Katano to look for leads to his whereabouts. She arrived at Katano Castle at the same time as Junjiro, who was there to destroy any clues about the Shinbakufu to prevent Naoe from continuing her hunt, and Yasuke, who had tracked down Naoe following their encounter in Kyoto. After Yasuke eliminated the castle's garrison to protect Naoe and Junjiro, he expressed his willingness to join their group.

Naoe at first refused to forgive Yasuke for his involvement in the conquest of Iga, but eventually did so after Junjiro revealed that Ido Yoshihiro was his father and that he had learned to forgive Naoe for killing him. The kunoichi subsequently accepted Yasuke's proposal to join forces against the Shinbakufu, and the pair left Katano alongside Junjiro.

Later, Naoe and Yasuke returned to the city and infiltrated Katano Castle once more to loot its treasure chest and retrieve an insect cage for Niwa Nagahide's collection. They also established a kakurega in the northern part of the city, and assassinated the rōnin Chief Cuckoo at the Katano Oil Trading warehouse. Usami Yoshiko, a concubine who had inadvertently betrayed Oda Nobunaga during the Honnō-ji incident, also lived in Katano and was confronted by Naoe and Yasuke, who ultimately spared her life.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Shadows