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 ...

from Sakuma clan who served

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

. He is believed to be the first "general' killed by gunfire in Japan. In 1556, Morishige fought at the Battle of Ino, Before the battle, where Nobunaga clashed with his brother, Nobunaga erected Fort Nazuka in Nishi-ku, Nazuka, Nagoya City, placing Sakuma Morishige in charge. During this conflict, Sakuma notably claimed the head of Hashimoto Juzo, a general under

Oda Nobuyuki , also known as , was the son of Oda Nobuhide and younger brother of Oda Nobunaga, who lived during the Sengoku period of Japan. Nobuyuki conspired against his brother Nobunaga with the Hayashi clan (Owari), which Nobunaga viewed as treason. ...

, earning him significant rewards In 1560, during the invasion of

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 ...

Imagawa Yoshimoto was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the Sengoku period. Based in Suruga Province, he was known as ; he was one of the three ''daimyō'' that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He died in 1560 while marching to Kyoto to become Shogun. He ...

, leading up to the

Battle of Okehazama The took place on 12 June 1560 in Owari Province, in today's Aichi Prefecture. In this battle, the heavily outnumbered Oda clan troops, commanded by Oda Nobunaga, defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto and established Oda as one of the front-running warlo ...

, Morishige was appointed to defend the Marune fortress on the border of the province. The fortress came under attack 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 ...

(who was at that time named Matsudaira Motoyasu). During the

Siege of Marune The was a battle during the Sengoku period (16th century) of Japan. Marune was a frontier fortress in the possession of Oda Nobunaga. Matsudaira Motoyasu (who would later come to be known as Tokugawa Ieyasu) was at the time a forced retaine ...

, Ieyasu made effective use of concentrated

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...

fire. Morishige was killed by a bullet, and the fortress fell to Imagawa forces.

References

Samurai 1560 deaths Japanese warriors killed in battle Year of birth unknown {{samurai-stub