She was born the eldest daughter of Okita Katsujirō, in a
samurai family from
Mutsu Province. In 1846, she married Inoue Rintarō, who later became Okita Rintarō, after being adopted into the Okita family. They had a child in 1853. In 1868, during the
Boshin War, Sōji was suffering from tuberculosis and thus stayed with Mitsu and her family in
Edo, while the rest of the
Tokugawa shogunate forces retreated to the
Tohoku region. Mitsu looked after the terminally ill Sōji, until she and her family were forced to evacuate to
Shonai han. Sōji died on May 30 of that year. Mitsu returned to Edo in 1872. Her husband died in 1883, and she went to live with her youngest son in
Manchuria. She died in 1907. ==In popular culture==