was a

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 ...

, and ''

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 ...

'' and the 26th hereditary chieftain of the

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Ge ...

. His

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

was ''Daizen Daibu'', and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. Nobunao was the second son of Nanbu Masayasu, the 22nd chieftain of the Nanbu clan, and was born at the clan’s Ikatai Castle in what is now the town of Iwate in 1546. In 1565, he was adopted by his cousin, the 24th chieftain of the Nanbu clan Nanbu Harumasa to be his heir, and resided at

Sannohe Castle was a Muromachi period Japanese castle located in the center of what is now the town of Sannohe, in Sannohe District of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of far northern Japan. It was located on a river terrace of the Mabechi River, wh ...

. In 1566 and 1568 he successfully defended the clan’s territory in

Kazuno is a cities of Japan, city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 28,329 in 12,570 households, and a population density of 40 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kazuno is located in ...

against incursions by the forces of

Andō Chikasue was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period, who was a powerful figure in the north half of Dewa Province. Chikasue was the son of Andō Kiyosue. Chikasue united the Hiyama Ando and Minato Ando families who had been divided. He obtained s ...

. In 1570, one of Harumasa’s concubines gave birth to a biological son, Nanbu Harutsugu. Nobunao remained heir, but in 1576, Nobunao’s wife (the daughter of Harumasa) died. Fearing his position had been perhaps fatally undermined, Nobunao formally renounced his position as heir and went into hiding, taking refuge at Ne Castle with the Hachinohe branch of the clan. In 1582, Harumasa died and Harutsugu came 25th chieftain. Harutsugu then died within a year, possibly of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

, although it was widely rumored that he had been assassinated by Nobunao. With Harutsugu’s death, the various branches of the Nanbu clan decided to make Nobunao the 26th chieftain. However, this decision was opposed by a faction of the clan led by Kunohe Masazane, a noted warrior who felt that his blood ties to the succession were stronger. In 1590, during the Siege of Odawara Nobunao led a force of 1000 men, primarily from Sannohe and Hachinohe, and pledged fealty to

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: ...

. In return, he was confirmed as daimyō of his existing holdings in northern Mutsu province (the districts of Nukanobu, Hei, Kazuno, Kuji, Iwate, Shiwa and Tōno). However, since the Ōura clan had already pledged fealty to Hideyoshi before Nobunao, he was denied control over Tsugaru, which had been seized by the Ōura from the Nanbu in 1571. Hideoyoshi subsequently sent a huge army to quell the

Kunohe Rebellion The was an insurrection of the Sengoku period of Japan that occurred in Mutsu Province from 13 March to 4 September 1591. The Kunohe Rebellion was the final battle in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaigns during the Sengoku period and completed the ...

which secured Nobunao in his position. Nobunao was subsequently awarded with the additional territories of Hienuki and Waga as compensation for the loss of Tsugaru. Although his territory was vast geographically, it had an assessed ''

kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 5 ...

'' of only 100,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'', as much of the area was not suitable for growing rice. In 1592, Hideyoshi ordered Nobunao to

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Hizen Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...

to provide 1000 troops for the invasion of Korea. However, he and his forces were never given the order to cross over, and subsequently returned home. Nobunao relocated his seat from

to the more central location of

Morioka is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 August 2023, the city had an estimated population of 283,981 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of t ...

, and began work on Morioka Castle and its surrounding

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

in 1592. He did not live to see its completion, but died at Kunohe Castle in 1599. He was succeeded by his son, Nanbu Toshinao, who became the 1st daimyō of

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

References

* Papinot, Edmond. (1948). ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan''. New York: Overbeck Co. *

External links

Morioka Domain on "Edo 300 HTML"
(3 Nov. 2007)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanbu, Nobunao 1546 births 1599 deaths Daimyo People from Iwate Prefecture People of the Sengoku period Nanbu clan