was a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

during the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He is known as one of the "

Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen 24 (twenty-four) is the natural number following 23 and preceding 25. The SI prefix for 1024 is yotta (Y), and for 10−24 (i.e., the reciprocal of 1024) yocto (y). These numbers are the largest and smallest number to receive an SI prefix to da ...

". Nobutomo also served under Shingen's son,

Takeda Katsuyori was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen. He was son in law of Hojo Ujiyasu. Early life He was the son of Shingen by the daughter ...

Biography

In 1531, Akiyama Nobutomo was born at in Kai province. His father was Akiyama Nobutou, a descendant of Takeda Mitsutomo, and a member of a cadet branch of the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

. When Nobutomo came of age, he entered into the service of Takeda Shingen, patriarch of the clan and lord of Kai province, in the mountainous area of central Japan. In 1547, during the campaign for the Ina district, Nobutomo fought with excellence and was granted a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

in the northern half of Ina, present day Kamiina District in

Nagano prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

. Nobutomo continued his service, most often tasked in a defensive role and holding such castles as

Takatō Castle is a Japanese castle located in the city of Ina, southern Nagano Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Takatō Castle was home to a cadet branch of the Naitō clan, '' daimyō'' of Takatō Domain. The castle was also known as . Bui ...

and Iida Castle. During this time, Nobutomo acquired the nickname (literally: ''Raging Bull of the Takeda Clan''). By 1568, Nobutomo was esteemed enough to be entrusted with diplomatic duties. In that year, he was dispatched to

Gifu Castle is a Japanese castle located in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Along with Mount Kinka and the Nagara River, it is one of the main symbols of the city. The castle is also known as . It was designated a National Historic Site in 2011 ...

where he represented his lord,

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

, at the wedding ceremony of

Oda Nobutada was a samurai and the eldest son of Oda Nobunaga, who fought in many battles during the Sengoku period of Japan. He commanded armies under his father in battles against Matsunaga Hisahide and against the Takeda clan. Biography Oda Nobutada w ...

, eldest son of

Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

, and Matsuhime, daughter of Shingen. In 1571, Takeda Shingen organized a campaign against

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

, intent on taking the coastal lowlands of

Tōtōmi province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...

and pushing westward toward the fertile fields of

Mikawa province was an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces. Mik ...

. Nobutomo was recalled from Iida Castle and ordered to lead an invasion of

Mino province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

. His advance was checked by troops of the Saigo clan, led by Saigo Yoshikatsu. The two armies met at the Battle of Takehiro, and though Yoshikatsu was killed in action, Nobutomo was forced to retreat. In 1572, the Takeda organized another campaign against Mikawa province which would culminate in the

Battle of Mikatagahara The was a battle of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu in Mikatagahara, Tōtōmi Province on 25 January 1573. Shingen attacked Ieyasu at the plain of Mikatagahara north of Hamamatsu during his cam ...

in January 1573. As Takeda Shingen drove south and west, Nobutomo would descend from the north, cutting off an escape route and blocking reinforcements. To accomplish this, Nobutomo laid siege to Iwamura Castle. When Toyama Kagetou, lord of Iwamura Castle, died of a sudden illness, the morale of the defending troops collapsed, and the

Lady Otsuya Lady Otsuya (おつやの方 ''Otsuya no Kata'') was a Japanese female samurai (onna-musha) from the Sengoku period. She was the aunt of the famous samurai Oda Nobunaga, the wife of Tōyama Kagetō and foster mother of Oda Katsunaga. She was the r ...

(Kageto's widow and an aunt of Oda Nobunaga) entered into negotiations with Nobutomo. They agreed on a treaty, and under its terms the castle was surrendered without bloodshed, and Lady Otsuya agreed to marry Nobutomo, thus securing his protection and the safety of the defending troops. Also among the spoils was , the biological son of Oda Nobunaga, adopted son of Kageto, who was then seven years old. Nobutomo sent him to Kai Province as a hostage; the boy would later become known as

Oda Katsunaga was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period through early Azuchi-Momoyama Period, who was the fifth son of Oda Nobunaga. At a very young age, Katsunaga, then known as "Gobomaru", was given in adoption to Toyama Kagetou and his wife, Lady Ots ...

. With the fulfillment of treaty stipulations, Nobutomo made Iwamura Castle his headquarters and a front-line defensive position from which he could support the Takeda.

Death

After the death of

in the spring of 1573, Nobutomo continued to support Shingen son,

, in the prosecution of his campaigns. In 1575, Katsuyori lost the

Battle of Nagashino The took place in 1575 near Nagashino Castle on the plain of Shitaragahara in the Mikawa Province of Japan. Takeda Katsuyori attacked the castle when Okudaira Sadamasa rejoined the Tokugawa, and when his original plot with Oga Yashiro for taki ...

, a disaster for the Takeda clan which left Nobutomo at Iwamura Castle without support. Under repeated siege by

, the forces under Nobutomo managed to hold the castle until November when Nobunaga swept in with the main army. Nobutomo signed a truce to surrender the castle after realizing that he had no chance to hold out any longer. Unfortunately, Nobunaga broke the truce and ordered Nobutomo, his wife (Nobunaga's own aunt), and the troops of the castle garrison to be executed. On December 23, 1575, Nobutomo and his wife, the Lady Otsuya, were

crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

on the banks of the

Nagara River The has its source in the city of Gujō, Gifu Prefecture, and its mouth in the city of Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Along with the Kiso River and Ibi River, the Nagara River is one of the Kiso Three Rivers of the Nōbi Plain. Previously, ...

and his holdings in Shinano passed to his eldest son Akiyama Katsuhisa.

Cultural references

The main character in the book, ''

The Samurai's Tale The Samurai's Tale, by Erik Christian Haugaard, is a fiction novel published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1984. The novel is about a boy named Taro originally named Murakami. He loses his parents when he is young and is then captured by Takeda ...

'', by

Erik Christian Haugaard Erik Christian Haugaard (April 13, 1923 – June 4, 2009) was a Danish-born American writer, best known for children's books and for his translations of the works of Hans Christian Andersen. Biography Erik Christian Haugaard was born in Frede ...

served under Akiyama Nobutomo.

References

External links

"Legendary Takeda's 24 Generals" at Yamanashi-kankou.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akiyama, Nobutomo 1531 births 1575 deaths

Akiyama Nobutomo was a samurai during the Sengoku period in Japan. He is known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". Nobutomo also served under Shingen's son, Takeda Katsuyori. Biography In 1531, Akiyama Nobutomo was born at in Kai provin ...

Takeda retainers People of Muromachi-period Japan