was ''

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 nominall ...

'' of Odawara Domain in Sagami Province in early

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 character ...

, Japan. Ōkubo Tadachika was the son of Ōkubo Tadayo, a hereditary vassal to the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful '' daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this cl ...

in what is now part of the city of Okazaki, Aichi. He entered into service as a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

from age 11, and took his first head in battle at the age of 16. He served in most of the campaigns of his father, including the Battle of Anegawa (1570), Battle of Mikatagahara (1573),

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 ...

(1575), Battle of Komaki and Nagakute (1584), and Battle of Odawara (1590). He came to be regarded as one of Ieyasu's most experienced and trusted advisors, along with Honda Masanobu. In 1593, he was assigned the post of Karō to Tokugawa Hidetada. Upon the death of his father in 1594, he became head of the Ōkubo clan, and daimyō of Odawara Domain, whose revenues were raised to 65,000 '' koku.'' During the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara ( Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ( Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, his forces accompanied those of Tokugawa Hidetada along the Nakasendō, and were late in arriving at the battle due to resistance by Sanada Masayuki at Ueda Castle in

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo Province, Echigo, Etchū Province, Etchū, Hida Province, Hida, Kai Province, Kai, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Mikawa Province, Mikawa, Mino Province, Mi ...

. In 1610, after the foundation of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

, he became a ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two '' sh� ...

''. This was a period of great political intrigue, as

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 fel ...

had retired to Sunpu, but continued to manipulate politics from behind-the-scenes, much to the growing discontent of Hidedata and his retainers. Ōkubo Tadachika fell afoul of the shogunate in what was later termed the

Ōkubo Nagayasu Incident , also Okubo, Ohkubo and Ookubo, is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Ōkubo clan **Ōkubo Tadayo (1532–1594), Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku period **Ōkubo Tadasuke (1537–1613), Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku an ...

of 1614. His domain was confiscated, and he was reassigned to a small 5,000 ''koku'' '' hatamoto'' holding in Ōmi Province. Shortly afterwards, he retired from public life, became a Buddhist monk by the name of Keian Dōhaku (渓庵道白).

References

* Japanese Wikipedia article on Tadachika (21 Sept. 2007)

References

Further reading