, also known as Hori Kyūtarō (堀久太郎), was a samurai retainer of

Oda 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

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

during Japan's

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 ...

. He was Nobunaga

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

, and one of Hideyoshi's greatest generals. He commanded Hideyoshi forces in several of his more important battles.

Early life

Born in

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 ...

, he was raised along with his cousin Hori Naomasa, by his uncle, an Ikkō priest. Originally serving Ōtsu Chōji and

Kinoshita Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

. At the age of 13 he became Oda Nobunaga's

. By sixteen, he was assigned prefect (''

bugyō was a title assigned to ''samurai'' officials during the feudal period of Japan. ''Bugyō'' is often translated as commissioner, magistrate, or governor, and other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given official' ...

'') in charge of the construction of ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Ashikaga Yoshiaki "Ashikaga Yoshiaki" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the 15th and final ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan who reigned from 1568 to 1573.Ackroyd, J ...

's residence at Hongaku-ji, working with the likes of Sugaya Nagayori, Ōtsu Nagaaki, Yabe Iesada, Hasegawa Hidekazu, Manmi Shigemoto and Fukutomi Hidekatsu. Gradually, however, he began to spend more and more time on the battlefield.

Military life

Service under Nobunaga

In 1575, he aided in Nobunaga's assaults on the

Ikkō-ikki were rebellious or autonomous groups of people that were formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries; backed up by the power of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism, they opposed the rule of governors or ''daimyō''. Mainly con ...

Echizen Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga, Wakasa, Hida, and Ōmi Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abbreviated form ...

, and fought the

Saika Ikki The , based in Ōta in the Kii Province (now part of Wakayama Prefecture) of Honshū, were one of many ''ikkō-ikki'' mercenary groups in feudal Japan. Those in Ōta, led by Suzuki Magoichi, were better known as Saika Magoichi. Saika-ikki was form ...

two years later, leading Nobunaga's army alongside Hashiba Hideyoshi and

Sakuma Nobumori was a retainer for the Oda clan. He was thus treated as Nobunaga's most important retainer and would come to fight in every important battle under Nobunaga's command such as the 1567 Siege of Inabayama Castle, the 1571 and 1573 Siege of Nagashim ...

. He also led a corps of

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. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

iers in a number of battles. Though some sources say he also controlled

Nagahama Castle is a ''hirashiro'' (castle on a plain) located in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. History Nagahama Castle was built in 1575-1576 by Hashiba Hideyoshi (later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) in the village then called Imahama, renaming the area ...

at this point, most sources indicate the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

belonged to Hideyoshi. While there was a nearby fief held by a Buddhist temple, with the same ''kokutaka'' (assessment of land-value in ''koku''), these should not be confused. He was ''bugyō'' throughout this period, and oversaw the construction of a mansion for Portuguese missionaries, and playing a role in hosting the 1579 Azuchi religious debate (, ''Azuchi shūron''). Serving as Nobunaga's representative, he also hosted the likes of

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 ...

Niwa Nagahide , also known as Gorōzaemon (五郎左衛門), his other legal alias was Hashiba Echizen no Kami (羽柴越前守), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi-Momoyama periods of the 16th century. He served as senior retainer to the Od ...

, and others. In 1581, Hidemasa fought in Second Tenshō Iga War and followed

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 ...

into battle against 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 ...

Siege of Takatō (1582) The 1582 was one of the final battles of the Takeda clan against the forces of Oda Nobunaga. The only Takeda stronghold in Shinano province to put up any resistance to Nobunaga's final invasion of Takeda domain (in February 1582), the castle w ...

and was granted the fief of Sakata Domain, in

Ōmi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countrie ...

, with an income of 25,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

''.

Service under Hideyoshi

In 1582, Oda Nobunaga was killed in the

Honnō-ji Incident The was an attempt to assassinate Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at the Honnō-ji temple in Kyoto on 21 June 1582, resulting in the suicide by '' seppuku'' of both Nobunaga and his son Oda Nobutada. The unprotected Nobunaga was ambushed by his ...

. Hidemasa came to once more serve Toyotomi Hideyoshi, after the latter's political maneuvering made him effective lord of much of the Oda's former lands. Hidemasa aided Hideoyshi in the 1582

battle of Yamazaki The was fought in 1582 in Shimamoto, Osaka, Yamazaki, Japan, located in current-day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt. Tennō (天王山の戦い ''Tennō-zan no tatakai''). In the Honnō-ji Incident, ...

, along with

Nakagawa Kiyohide Nakagawa Kiyohide (中川清秀; 1542 – June 6, 1583) was a ''daimyō'' in Azuchi–Momoyama period. His childhood name was Nakagawa Toranosuke (中川虎之助). His common name was Nakagawa Sebe (中川瀬兵衛). Biography His fathe ...

and

Takayama Ukon , born and also known as Dom Justo Takayama (c. 1552 – 3 or 5 February 1615) was a Catholic Church in Japan, Japanese Catholic Kirishitan daimyō and samurai who lived during the Sengoku period that witnessed anti-Catholic sentiment. Takay ...

, and received great praise the following year from Tokugawa Ieyasu for his battle prowess. At that time, Hideyoshi had just begun fighting

Shibata Katsuie or was a Japanese samurai and military commander during the Sengoku period. He served Oda Nobunaga as one of his trusted generals, was severely wounded in the 1571 first siege of Nagashima, but then fought in the 1575 Battle of Nagashino an ...

, and Ieyasu expressed his confidence that the campaign would go smoothly. Hidemasa was promoted to the fifth rank, appointed to the Saemonfu (左衛門, Court Security Office), and granted

Sawayama ''Sawayama'' (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by Japanese-British singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama, released on 17 April 2020 by the independent record label Dirty Hit. A follow up to her self-released debut EP '' Rina'' (2017), ...

as his fief, with an income of 90,000 ''

''. He then arranged negotiations for Hideyoshi with the Ikkō sect which had fervently opposed Nobunaga; the head priest of Renshō-ji was Hidemasa's cousin Hori Rokuemon, and so the negotiations went quite smoothly. Hidemasa led portions of Hideyoshi's forces once again, in the 1584

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute The was a series of battles in 1584 between the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi (who would become Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1586) and the forces of Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hideyoshi and Ieyasu had both served Oda Nobunaga and had not previou ...

, in which they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa army. Ambushed by Ōsuga Yasutaka and

Sakakibara Yasumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period through early Edo period, who served the Tokugawa clan. As one of the Tokugawa family's foremost military commanders, he was considered one of its Shitennō (Tokugawa clan), "Four Guardian K ...

, they successfully held off their attackers for a time, but upon meeting the main Tokugawa force of 9,000, were forced to retreat. The following year, Hideyoshi became Kampaku (Imperial regent), and Hidemasa was promoted to the fourth rank at court, and appointed to a new post as well. Following the

siege of Negoro-ji The was commanded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a former vassal of Oda Nobunaga, who came to inherit his armies, his land, and his rivalry with the warrior monks of Japan when Nobunaga was killed in 1582. Thus, in a way this was the next in a series of ...

and the

invasion of Shikoku (1585) The was a conflict of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Chōsokabe Motochika on the island of Shikoku in 1585. Hideyoshi invaded Shikoku with a force of over 100,000 men in June and led a campaign against the C ...

, he was given the lands of the late Niwa Nagahide, Kita no shō in

, with an income of 180,000 ''koku''. During the 1587

Kyūshū Campaign is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, Hidemasa once again led the vanguard of Hideyoshi's forces. As various castles fell, and fifty or so

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

warriors were captured, he released them rather than killing them. It is said that he had absolutely no rest for much of the campaign, fighting battle after battle with no break. The 1590 siege of Odawara would see Hidemasa commanding in battle for the last time. He commanded the left flank of the besieging army with a number of great warriors under him, and captured a number of surrounding fortifications.

Death

June 28, 1590, Hidemasa suddenly fell very ill and died. His lands and posts were inherited by his eldest son,

Hori Hideharu Hori may refer to: Ancient Egypt *Sewadjkare Hori, late 13th dynasty Pharaoh, also known as Hori II *Hori (High Priest of Osiris) Son of Wennenufer and High Priest of Osiris during the reign of Ramesses II (19th dynasty) *Hori I (High Priest of Pta ...

Notes

*''Most of the content of this article is derived from the corresponding article on the Japanese Wikipedia.'' *Turnbull, Stephen (1998). ''The Samurai Sourcebook''. London: Cassell & Co.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hori, Hidemasa Daimyo 1553 births 1590 deaths People from Gifu Prefecture Oda retainers Toyotomi retainers