Asai Nagamasa

Japanese: 浅井長政 - あさい・ながまさ

Year of death: 8/28/1573 (9/24/1573)
Year of birth: Tenbun 14 (1545)
A sengoku period daimyo in northern Omi (Shiga Prefecture). Son of Hisamasa. Commonly known as Shinkuro. Bizen no Kami. He took the name Kensei after one character of the given name of southern Omi daimyo Rokkaku Yoshikata, and in 1559 he was forced to marry the daughter of Yoshikata's vassal Hirai Sadatake, but was soon divorced. The following year he defeated the Rokkaku army in the Battle of Norada (Hikone City), and with the support of his senior vassals, he succeeded his father as head of the family. In the same year, he abandoned the name Kensei and changed his name to Nagamasa, strengthening his confrontational stance against the Rokkaku clan. He then aggressively invaded southern Omi, and due to internal conflicts within the Rokkaku clan, he expanded his territory to around Aichi County (Shiga Prefecture). In the 10th year of the Eiroku era, when Oda Nobunaga pacified Mino (Gifu Prefecture), Nagamasa married his sister Oichi (Otani no Kata) and formed an alliance with Oda Nobunaga. However, in April 1570, when Nobunaga advanced to Tsuruga to kill Asakura Yoshikage in Echizen (Fukui Prefecture), Nagamasa suddenly defected and raised an army. Nobunaga narrowly escaped danger, and in June of the same year, Nagamasa invaded Omi together with Tokugawa Ieyasu. With the support of the Asakura clan, Nagamasa fought across the Anegai River, but was defeated (Battle of Anegai River). In September, he marched with the Asakura clan to Sakamoto (Otsu City) to attack the rear of Nobunaga's army attacking Hongan-ji Temple. In December, a peace agreement was made with the mediation of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, but thereafter, Nagamasa cooperated with the Ikko Ikki forces centered on the Ten Temples of Kohoku, and confronted Nobunaga's forces including Kinoshita Hideyoshi at Yokoyama Castle (Nagahama City). In July of the same year, when Nobunaga approached his base of Odani Castle (Kohoku Town), he received reinforcements from the Asakura clan and fought them, but the Asakura forces suddenly returned home before the arrival of Takeda Shingen, who was marching westward in response, and Nobunaga missed his chance to win. The following year, Nobunaga expelled Shogun Yoshiaki, and in August he dispatched forces to Odani Castle, first pursuing the Asakura clan, who had rushed to his aid, to Echizen, destroying them, and immediately sending his troops back to Omi. Isolated and without support, Nagamasa followed his father in committing suicide in Odani Castle, and his head was hanged on a gallows in Kyoto. He is buried at Tokusho-ji Temple (Nagahama City). His wife Oichi and three daughters were rescued, and Oichi later remarried Shibata Katsuie, and their eldest daughter Chacha became Hideyoshi's concubine Yodo-dono, while their second daughter Hatsu and third daughter Kogo became the wives of Kyogoku Takatsugu and Tokugawa Hidetada, respectively. <References> Tetsuo Owada, "The Asai Clan of Omi"

(Akira Kawamura)

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

Japanese:

没年：天正1.8.28(1573.9.24)
生年：天文14(1545)
北近江(滋賀県)の戦国大名。久政の子。通称新九郎。備前守。南近江の大名六角義賢の諱の1字を受けて賢政と名乗り,永禄2(1559)年義賢の家臣平井定武の娘と結婚させられたが,すぐに離縁。翌年野良田(彦根市)の合戦で六角軍を破ると,重臣らの支持を得て父に代わってその家督を継いだ。同4年,賢政の名を捨て長政と改名することで六角氏との対決姿勢を強める。以後積極的に南近江に侵攻し,六角氏の内紛もあってその版図を愛智郡(滋賀県)あたりにまで広げた。永禄10年,織田信長が美濃(岐阜県)を平定するとその妹お市(小谷の方)と結婚して同盟関係を結ぶが,元亀1(1570)年4月,信長が越前(福井県)の朝倉義景を討つため敦賀まで進むと,突然離反して兵を挙げた。信長はあやうく危地を脱し,同年6月徳川家康と共に近江に侵攻した。長政は朝倉氏の支援を得て,姉川をはさんでこれと戦うが敗北(姉川の戦)。9月には本願寺を攻める信長軍の背後を突くべく朝倉氏と共に坂本(大津市)に出兵した。12月,将軍足利義昭の仲介でいったんは和睦するが,以後江北10カ寺を中心とする一向一揆勢力と連携しながら,横山城(長浜市)の木下秀吉ら信長勢と対峙した。同3年7月,信長が本拠小谷城(湖北町)に迫ると朝倉氏の来援を得て戦ったが,それに呼応して西進していた武田信玄の到着を待たずに突然朝倉軍が帰国してしまい,勝機を逸した。翌年信長は将軍義昭を追放し,8月には小谷城に出兵,まずは救援に駆けつけた朝倉氏を越前に追撃してこれを滅ぼし,ただちに兵を近江に返した。孤立無援となった小谷城で,長政は父に続いて自害し,首は京都で獄門に懸けられた。墓は徳勝寺(長浜市)にある。妻お市と3人の娘は助け出され,お市の方はのち柴田勝家と再婚,長女茶々は秀吉の側室淀君となり,次女初,3女小督はそれぞれ,京極高次,徳川秀忠の妻となっている。<参考文献>小和田哲男『近江浅井氏』

(河村昭一)

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

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