was a Japanese samurai of the early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

who served as ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of

Wakayama Domain Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city) file:Wakayama city hall03nt3200.jpg, Wakayama City Hall is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had ...

, and was later transferred to the

Hiroshima Domain The was a large domain that owned all of Aki Province and half of Bingo Province. It occupies most of current Hiroshima Prefecture. The domain office was located at Hiroshima Castle in Sato District, Aki Province (renamed Numata District in 1 ...

.浅野氏
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Biography

Born Asano Iwamatsu, he was the son of Asano Nagamasa, who was a senior retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1594, Nagaakira was made a retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and awarded a stipend of 3,000 ''koku''. Allying his forces to

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 ...

six years later at 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, ...

, he was subsequently awarded with the 24,000 ''koku'' Ashimori Domain. As his brother Yukinaga died heirless in 1613, Nagaakira succeeded him, becoming daimyō of

. At the Siege of Ōsaka, he commanded a portion of

's army. In the summer of 1615,

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 ...

's Western Army moved to attack Asano's castle at Wakayama. Though most of Asano's forces were at Ōsaka, besieging Toyotomi's fortress, the remaining garrison outnumbered the Western warriors, and Asano led his men in sallying forth to meet the enemy in the Battle of Kashii. Asano also fought in the Battle of Tennōji, the decisive final battle in the Siege of Ōsaka, where he commanded Tokugawa's rear guard. In 1619, he was granted the lordship of

Aki Province or Geishū () was a province in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture. History When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist prie ...

, which would be the home of the Asano family until the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. Nagaakira was married to Furihime, the widow of

Gamō Hideyuki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' who ruled the Aizu domain. He was the son of Gamō Ujisato. A Catholic, Hideyuki was moved to Utsunomiya (180,000 ''koku'') in Shimotsuke Province after his father died in 1595. In 1600, he was given Aizu, worth 600, ...

and third daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Family

* Father: Asano Nagamasa * Mother: Cho-Sei-in (d.1616), adopted daughter of Asano Nagakatsu, daughter of Sugihara Sadatoshi and Asahidono. * Wife: Furihime (1580-1617), third daughter of the shōgun

* Children: ** Asano Nagaharu (1614-1675) ** Asano Mitsuakira by Furihime

Biography

Family

References

Further reading