called Okudaira Sadamasa (奥平貞昌), was a Japanese ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

'' of the

Sengoku The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various ...

and early Edo periods. Nobumasa's family considered their origins to have been associated with

Mikawa Province was an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces. Mi ...

. The clan was descended through the Akamatsu from the Murakami-Genji. Papinot, Edmund. (2003)
''Nobiliare du Japon'' -- Okudaira, p. 47
Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''. (in French/German).

Biography

When Nobumasa was born, he was called Okudaira Sadamasa (奥平貞昌). He was the son of Okudaira Sadayoshi, an influential local figure in Mikawa. The Okudaira family were originally retainers of the Tokugawa, but were forced to join

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

. In 1573, after Shingen died and Katsuyori assumed leadership of the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

, Okudaira Sadamasa walked his men out of

Tsukude Castle was a village located in Minamishitara District, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of May 1, 2004, the village had an estimated population of 3,263 and a . Its total area was . Geography Tsukude was located in east-central of Aichi Prefecture. Some ...

and rejoined the Tokugawa. Katsuyori had Sadamasa's wife and brother – hostages to the Takeda – crucified for what the Takeda construed as betrayal. Tokugawa allowed Nobumasa to marry his eldest daughter,

Kamehime Kamehime (, 27 July 1560 – 1 August 1625) was a Japanese woman from the Sengoku period. She was the eldest daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu with his first wife, Lady Tsukiyama. She married Okudaira Nobumasa. The marriage was arranged as a reward fo ...

; and he was given Nagashino Castle. Sadamasa was entrusted with the defense of

Nagashino Castle was a Sengoku period Japanese castle located in what is now Shinshiro, eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is noteworthy as the site of the crucial Battle of Nagashino between the combined forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga against Takeda ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

. Sadamasa's decision to remove himself and his forces from the Takeda supporters became one of the antecedents of the

Battle of Nagashino The took place in 1575 near Nagashino Castle on the plain of Shitaragahara in the Mikawa Province of Japan. Takeda Katsuyori attacked the castle when Okudaira Sadamasa rejoined the Tokugawa, and when his original plot with Oga Yashiro for t ...

in 1575. Katsuyori was enraged at Sadamasa's decision to leave the Takeda forces. Nagashino Castle was attacked by Katsuyori with a force of 15,000 troops; but Sadamasa held firm, repelling the Takeda siege until forces of a Tokugawa-Oda alliance eventually arrived to support the beleaguered Okudaira. Oda Nobunaga was so impressed by the Okudaira's performance in the battle that he offered Sadamasa the honor of adopting part of his name—Nobu. After the battle was won, the hardy warrior was changed from Sadamasa to Nobumasa. In 1590, after Ieyasu moved to

Kanto region Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain * Kantō region * Kantō-kai, organized crime group * Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in th ...

, Nobumasa was given a fief in Miyazaki, Kōzuke. In 1600, at the

Sekigahara Campaign The Sekigahara Campaign was a series of battles in Japan fought between the Eastern Army aligned with Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Western Army loyal to Ishida Mitsunari, culminating in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. The conflict was sparke ...

, he participated in the

Siege of Ueda The siege of Ueda was staged in 1600 by Tokugawa Hidetada, son of the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu, against Ueda castle garrison in Shinano province, which was controlled by the Sanada family. Hidetada came across the castle as he marched his army a ...

(the family history and Nakatsu-han shi (history record of

Nakatsu Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Buzen Province in modern-day Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. The domain was centered at Nakatsu Castle in what is now Nakatsu, Ōita. In the han system, Nakatsu was a po ...

) described that he belonged to the

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

's army). Later, Nobumasa served as the first

Kyoto Shoshidai The was an important administrative and political office in the Tokugawa shogunate. The office was the personal representative of the military dictators Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Kyoto, the seat of the Japanese Emperor, and was ado ...

of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. Murdoch, James. (1996)
''A History of Japan,'' pp. 10 160.
/ref> When Nobumasa completed his service as ''Kyoto shoshidai'' in 1601, he was transferred to

Kanō Domain 270px, Remnants of the walls of Kanō Castle was a '' fudai'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. The domain was centered at Kanō Castle, located in what is now part of the city of Gifu in Gifu Prefecture. History Before the Battle of Sek ...

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

. He built

Kanō Castle Kanō Tenman-gū was a ''hirajirō''-style Japanese castle located in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It was one of the few castles built after the Battle of Sekigahara and establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate and was used as an adm ...

in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, and commissioned the building of

Kanō Tenman-gū is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It was built as the shrine to protect Izumii Castle (predecessor to Kanō Castle). As a Tenman-gū, it is dedicated to Tenjin, the deified form of Sugawara no Michizane. Add ...

. In 1602, he retired in Kano and handed over the position of the lord of the Kano Castle to the third son Okudaira Tadamasa. In 1614, he outlived Tadamasa and even the first son Okudaira Iemasa in

Utsunomiya Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Shimotsuke Province (modern-day Tochigi Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Utsunomiya Castle in what is now part of the city of Utsunomiya. Utsunomiya was ruled ...

Shimotsuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Tochigi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''SHimotsuke''" in . Shimotsuke was bordered by Kōzuke, Hitachi, Mutsu and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was ...

, in 1615 the following year he died.

Daihannya sword

The name ("Daihannya") refers to the Daihannya sutra, made by Junkei Nagamitsu. The sword is in the possession of Oda Nobunaga who gave it to

at the

Battle of Anegawa The Sengoku period (30 July 1570) occurred near Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province, Japan, between the allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, against the combined forces of the Azai and Asakura clans._It_is_notable_as_the_first_battle ...

, who then gave it to

Okudaira Sadamasa called Okudaira Sadamasa (奥平貞昌), was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku and early Edo periods. Nobumasa's family considered their origins to have been associated with Mikawa Province. The clan was descended through the Akamatsu ...

at the

. The value of the sword during the Muromachi period, 600 kan, was associated with the sutra's 600 volumes; said to have belonged to the

Ashikaga clan The was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1333 to 1573. The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga ...

Notes

References

* Meyer, Eva-Maria. (1999). ''Japans Kaiserhof in de Edo-Zeit: Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867''. Münster: Tagenbuch. * Murdoch, James. (1996)
''A History of Japan.''
London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

. * Papinot, Edmond. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaish
..Click link for digitized 1906 ''Nobiliaire du japon'' (2003)
* Sasaki Suguru. (2002). ''Boshin sensō: haisha no Meiji ishin.'' Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha. , - , - {{People of the Sengoku period , state=autocollapse Kyoto Shoshidai Okudaira clan 1555 births 1615 deaths Fudai daimyo