Masakatsu Hachisuka

Japanese: 蜂須賀正勝 - はちすか・まさかつ

Year of death: May 22, 1586 (July 8, 1586)
Year of birth: 1526
A military commander during the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the son of Hachisuka Masatoshi, a local lord in Hachisuka Village, Kaito County, Owari Province (Miwa Town, Aichi Prefecture). He was fondly known by his nickname, Koroku. He was also called Hikoemon-no-jo. As a local lord near the border between Nomoi and Ooyama, he led the Hachisuka clan and changed lords many times, first serving Saito Dosan in Mino, then serving Oda Nobukata at Iwakura Castle in Owari, and Oda Nobukiyo at Inuyama Castle, but eventually he came under the sway of Oda Nobunaga. He joined Nobunaga through the efforts of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and eventually became Hideyoshi's direct vassal. In the Ehon Taikoki and other popular books from the Edo period, Masakatsu is portrayed as the leader of a band of bandits, but this is incorrect. After serving Hideyoshi, he fought particularly bravely in the siege of Inabayama Castle in 1567 and in the retreat from Kanazaki Castle in Echizen in 1570, among the Hideyoshi troops who served as the rear guard, and after the Battle of Anegawa in June of the same year, Hideyoshi entrusted Omi Yokoyama Castle, a subsidiary castle of Odani Castle, to him, and he was stationed there. In 1573, after the downfall of the Azai clan, Hideyoshi granted him a fief within Nagahama in Omi. After that, he participated in battles against the Ikko Ikki in various places, and after Hideyoshi's full-scale conquest of Harima that began in the 5th year of the same year, he defeated Bessho Nagaharu at Miki Castle, and became the lord of Tatsuno Castle in Harima for his achievements. In 1577, during the siege of Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu, he was appointed as the sobugyo (general magistrate) of embankments for the siege, and also worked with Kuroda Takataka to persuade the castle to surrender. After the invasion of Shikoku in the same year, he was awarded the province of Awa, but he declined and the province was passed on to his son, Iemasa.

(Tetsuo Owada)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天正14.5.22(1586.7.8)
生年：大永6(1526)
戦国・安土桃山時代の武将。尾張国海東郡蜂須賀村(愛知県美和町)の土豪蜂須賀正利の子。通称の小六の名で親しまれている。彦右衛門尉とも称した。濃尾国境付近の土豪として蜂須賀党を率い,たびたび主君を代え,はじめは美濃の斎藤道三に仕え,次いで尾張岩倉城の織田信賢,犬山城の織田信清に属したこともあったが,最終的には織田信長に従うことになった。信長に属すきっかけとなったのが豊臣秀吉の働きかけで,やがて秀吉の直臣となった。『絵本太閤記』その他の江戸時代の俗書に正勝を野伏の棟梁のごとく描いているが,それは誤り。秀吉に仕えてのち,永禄10(1567)年の稲葉山城攻め,元亀1(1570)年の越前金崎城よりの撤退に際して,殿軍をつとめた秀吉軍のなかでも特に奮戦し,同年6月の姉川の戦ののち,秀吉が小谷城の付け城である近江横山城をまかされると,その在番となった。天正1(1573)年,浅井氏の滅亡後,秀吉から近江長浜の内において所領を与えられている。以後,各地の一向一揆との戦いに参陣し,同5年からはじまる秀吉の本格的な播磨攻略に従い,三木城の別所長治を滅ぼしたあと,その功によって播磨竜野城主となった。同10年の備中高松城攻めのときには水攻めのための築堤惣奉行となり,また黒田孝高と共に開城の説得に当たった。同13年の四国攻め後,阿波一国を与えられたが辞し,子家政が拝領した。

(小和田哲男)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Hachisuka Mochiaki

>>: Bathyscaphe (English spelling)