Nobumasa Okudaira

Japanese: 奥平信昌 - おくだいら・のぶまさ

Year of death: Genna 1.3.14 (1615.4.11)
Year of birth: Koji 1 (1555)
A military commander in the Sengoku and early Edo periods, lord of Kano Domain in Mino Province. Son of Okudaira Mimasaka no Kami Sadayoshi. His mother was the daughter of Makino Shigetane. Nicknamed Kuhachiro, his name was originally Sadamasa, and later changed to Nobumasa. He served Tokugawa Ieyasu, and fought alongside his father in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570. The Takeda clan gradually gained power in Oku-Mikawa, the main territory of the Okudaira clan, and Nobumasa surrendered to the Takeda clan, sending his newly married wife as a hostage to the Takeda side. Later, he returned to serve Ieyasu through Honda Bungo no Kami Hirotaka, a retainer of Ieyasu, and was entrusted with the defense of Nagashino Castle in Mikawa. The Battle of Nagashino in 1575 began when Takeda Katsuyori's large army surrounded Nagashino Castle, where Nobumasa and his men were holed up. Nobumasa defended the castle, and the forces of Nobunaga and Ieyasu were completely victorious in the battle. Nobumasa was so highly praised for his achievements that Ieyasu even gave his eldest daughter, Kamehime, to Nobumasa in marriage in place of his wife, who had been killed by the Takeda for being taken hostage. He later distinguished himself in the siege of Takatenjin Castle in Totomi in 1581, and is said to have defeated Hideyoshi's general, Mori Nagayoshi, at Haguro in the Battle of Komaki in 1582, taking 200 enemy heads. In 1583, he was appointed to the rank of Junior Fifth Rank and Mimasaka no Kami. When Ieyasu was transferred to the Kanto region in 1584, he was given 30,000 koku in Miyazaki, Kozuke (Tomioka City, Gunma Prefecture). Although he did not achieve any notable military merit in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he was appointed Kyoto Shoshidai from September of that year to March of the following year, during which time he captured Ankokuji Ekei, a defeated general of the Western Army who was hiding out at the Honganji Temple in Kyoto, and was subsequently transferred to 100,000 koku in Kano, Mino.

(Tetsuo Owada)

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

Japanese:

没年：元和1.3.14(1615.4.11)
生年：弘治1(1555)
戦国・江戸前期の武将,美濃国加納藩主。奥平美作守貞能の子。母は牧野成種の娘。通称九八郎,名ははじめ定昌で,のち信昌と改めた。徳川家康に仕え,元亀1(1570)年の姉川の戦には父と共に従軍している。奥平氏の本領である奥三河は,次第に武田氏の勢力が強くなり,信昌は結婚したばかりの妻を人質として武田方に送り,武田氏に降っている。のち家康の家臣本多豊後守広孝を介して再び出仕することになり,三河長篠城の守りをまかされた。天正3(1575)年の長篠の戦は信昌らの籠る長篠城を武田勝頼の大軍が包囲したことが発端となった。信昌は城を守りぬき,この戦いで信長・家康軍は完勝。信昌は功を賞され,人質となったために武田方に殺された妻のかわりとして,家康は長女の亀姫を信昌に嫁がせるほどであった。その後,天正9年の遠江高天神城攻めで戦功をあげ,また,同12年の小牧の戦では秀吉方の武将森長可を羽黒で破り,敵の首級200をあげたといわれている。同15年,従五位下・美作守に叙任された。18年,家康が関東に転封されたとき,上野の宮崎(群馬県富岡市)で3万石を与えられた。慶長5(1600)年の関ケ原の戦では目立った軍功はなかったものの,同年9月から翌年3月まで京都所司代に任じられ,その間,京都本願寺に潜伏中の西軍の敗将安国寺恵瓊を捕らえ,その後美濃加納10万石に転じた。

(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

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