Nakagawa Hidemasa (中川秀政; 1568 – November 27, 1592) 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 ...

commander in the

Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nobuna ...

. He was the eldest son of

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 ...

. His young brother was

Nakagawa Hidenari (1570 – September 9, 1612) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' in the Azuchi–Momoyama to Edo period. He was the 2nd son of Nakagawa Kiyohide. Career In 1582, Kiyohide died in the Battle of Shizugatake and Hidenari's brother Hidemasa succeeded t ...

. His wife was Tsuruhime who was the daughter 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 ...

Career

At first, Hidemasa and Kiyohide served Nobunaga. They served

Hashiba 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 Co ...

after Nobunaga died. In 1583, Hidemasa succeeded to a house and his father's domain which was 50,000

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 ...

at Ibaraki,

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

since Kiyohide killed by

Sakuma Morimasa was the son of Sakuma Moritsugu, cousin of Sakuma Nobumori, a prominent Oda retainer to Oda Nobuhide and Oda Nobunaga. After several campaigns in which he had fought, he was given the nickname ''oni-genba'' which literally means "Demon Genba", G ...

at the

Battle of Shizugatake The was a battle of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then Hashiba Hideyoshi) and Shibata Katsuie in Shizugatake, Ōmi Province in May 1583. Katsuie supported Oda Nobutaka's claim as successor of Oda Nobunaga in a ...

. Hidemasa was active in the

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 1584 and the expedition to Shikoku in 1585. Hideyoshi praise him, and gave him 65,000 koku at Miki,

Harima Province or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During the ...

instead of his domain which he had ruled. After that, Hidemasa took part in the expedition to Kyushu in 1587 and the siege of Odawara in 1590.

Death

In 1592, he died at 25 in the Battle of Bunroku.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakagawa, Hidemasa 1568 births 1592 deaths Samurai Oda retainers People from Ibaraki, Osaka