was a general under

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who united all of Japan toward the end of the Sengoku period. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's sec ...

, and fought in the

Siege of Osaka A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

in 1615. He became lord of

Osaka castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Layout Th ...

after the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

. Ono led forces against those of Wakayama Castle in the Battle of Kashii, also the Battle of Shigino, and the Battle of Tennoji, where he was killed in action. He held the rank at court of Junior Fifth Rank. Harunaga had a fiefdom of 15,000 koku.

Life

In 1569, Ono Harunaga was born in the capital of Japan at this time, Kyoto. He was the son of Ōkurakyō no Tsubone, who had served as wet-nurse to

Yodo-dono or (1569 – June 4, 1615), also known as Lady Chacha (茶々), was a Japanese historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She was the concubine and the second wife of Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As the mother of his son and successor ...

, he served as bodyguardwith a stipend of 3,000 koku given from

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

. Following Hideyoshi's death, he served as an advisor close to

. In 1599 following questioning by

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

, he was banished to Shimotsuke Province, under suspicion of being a ringleader of a failed plot to assassinate

that had been hatched by servants of Tokugawa Ieyasu and

Honda Masanobu was a commander and ''daimyō'' in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. In 1563, when an uprising against Ieyasu occurred in Mikawa Province, Masanobu took the side of the peasants against Ieyasu ...

. In the following year, 1600, Ono Harunaga joined forces with the Eastern army at the

and distinguished himself in battle, thereby earning a pardon for his crime from Ieyasu. Following the battle, under orders from Ieyasu he bore a note from Ieyasu to the Toyotomi clan, in which Ieyasu declared, 'I bear no animosity towards the Toyotomi clan' after which he remained in Osaka and did not return to Edo. In 1614, upon the banishment of Toyotomi's chief elder retainer

Katagiri Katsumoto was a Japanese warlord (''daimyō'') of Ibaraki, in the Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. In his youth he was famed as one of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake, during the Battle of Shizugatake in May 1583. Biography Katsumoto ...

, Ono came to be in a position to lead the Toyotomi family. Afterwards, the pro-war faction within the Toyotomi family gained ascendancy and enlisted the services of ronin from various parts of the country to take part in the

winter campaign however; Harunaga passively sued for peace, earning him the animosity of Sanada Yukimura's pro-war faction. In 1615 during the summer campaign of the Siege of Osaka, Harunaga sent Senhime (daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada and Hideyori's wife) as a messenger for Ono, to plead for clemency for Hideyori and Yodo-dono, on the condition that he commit ritual suicide, but subsequently he and Hideyori committed suicide in a mountain hamlet in the vicinity of Osaka Castle. He died at the age of 47. Records show that rumours abounded throughout the Edo period regarding Harunaga having an adulterous affair with Yodo-dono, and some accounts maintain that Hideyori was not a biological child of Hideyoshi, but of Harunaga and Yodo-dono. As described above, because he was a foster brother to Yodo-dono, it is likely that their relationship was extremely close; however, with the decline of the fortune of the Toyotomi family and the accompanying 'futility of ruin,' it can also be thought that the rumors of the sin of adultery were created with a view to casting him as an evil person (from a Confucian sense of resignation).

References

*Sansom, George (1961). "A History of Japan: 1334-1615." Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. *Turnbull, Stephen (1998). ''The Samurai Sourcebook''. London: Cassell & Co. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ono, Harunaga 1615 deaths Samurai Japanese warriors killed in battle 1569 births Place of birth unknown Date of death unknown