was a Japanese

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

who served the

Oda clan The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they reached the peak of their power under Oda Nobunaga and fell soon after, several branches of the ...

for two generations. His original name was .

Life

Masahide first served

Oda Nobuhide was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and magistrate of the Sengoku period known as "Tiger of Owari" and also the father of Oda Nobunaga, the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobuhide was a deputy ''shugo'' (Shugodai) of lower Owari Province and head of t ...

and then become one of the Four karōs that helped Oda Nobunga in his early life. He was a talented samurai as well as skilled in sado and waka. This helped him to act as a skilled diplomat, dealing with the Ashikaga shogunate and deputies of the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. In 1533, a well-known regent Yamashina Tokitsugu visited

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces w ...

, the domain of the Oda clan. Finding the reception prepared by Masahide superb, Tokitsugu praised Masahide's knowledge highly. Other signs of his importance as a diplomat can be found in the fact that he paid a visit to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

in the name of Nobuhide to offer the funds needed to repair the Emperor's residence. When Nobuhide's son Nobunaga was born in 1534, Masahide became the second highest ranking

Karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anothe ...

as well as the tutor of the newborn heir. In 1547 Nobunaga finished his coming-of-age ceremony, and on the occasion of his first battle, Masahide served beside him. The next year, he exerted himself to establish peace between Nobuhide and his agelong rival

Saitō Dōsan , also known as Saitō Toshimasa (斎藤利政), was a Japanese samurai lord and daimyo during the Sengoku period.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Saitō Dōsan"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 809. He was also known as the f ...

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, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...

, and to arrange the marriage between Nobunaga and Dōsan's daughter Nōhime. This move made it possible for the Oda clan to concentrate on the fight against the

Imagawa clan was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan. Origins Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in ...

. Masahide served the Oda family faithfully in many ways, but he was also deeply troubled by Nobunaga's eccentricity. After Nobuhide's death, discord in the clan increased and so did Masahide's concern about the future of his master. In 1553, Masahide committed ''kanshi'' ("remonstration death") to startle Nobunaga into his obligations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirate, Masahide 1492 births 1553 deaths Samurai Suicides by seppuku