was a

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 ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 ...

, and ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' and the 26th hereditary chieftain of the

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai P ...

. His courtesy title was ''Daizen Daibu'', and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. Nobunao was the second son of Nanbu Masayasu, the 22nd chieftain of the Nanbu clan, and was born at the clan’s Ikatai Castle in what is now the town of Iwate in 1546. In 1565, he was adopted by his cousin, the 24th chieftain of the Nanbu clan

Nanbu Harumasa Nanbu may refer to: Places * Nanbu, Aomori, Japan * Nanbu, Tottori, Japan * Nanbu, Yamanashi, Japan * Nanbu County, Sichuan Province, China * Nanbu Domain, a feudal domain in northeastern Japan People with the surname *, Japanese samurai and ''da ...

to be his heir, and resided at

Sannohe Castle was a Muromachi period Japanese castle located in the center of what is now the town of Sannohe, in Sannohe District of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of far northern Japan. It was located on a river terrace of the Mabechi River, whi ...

. In 1566 and 1568 he successfully defended the clan’s territory in

Kazuno is a city located in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 30.715, and a population density of 43 persons per km² in 12.970 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kazuno is located in a valley in t ...

against incursions by the forces of Andō Chikasue. In 1570, one of Harumasa’s concubines gave birth to a biological son, Nanbu Harutsugu. Nobunao remained heir, but in 1576, Nobunao’s wife (the daughter of Harumasa) died. Fearing his position had been perhaps fatally undermined, Nobunao formally renounced his position as heir and went into hiding, taking refuge at

Ne Castle is a Muromachi period Motte-and-bailey-style Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of far northern Japan. It has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site ...

with the Hachinohe branch of the clan. In 1582, Harumasa died and Harutsugu came 25th chieftain. Harutsugu then died within a year, possibly of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

, although it was widely rumored that he had been assassinated by Nobunao. With Harutsugu’s death, the various branches of the Nanbu clan decided to make Nobunao the 26th chieftain. However, this decision was opposed by a faction of the clan led by Kunohe Masazane, a noted warrior who felt that his blood ties to the succession were stronger. In 1590, during the Siege of Odawara Nobunao led a force of 1000 men, primarily from Sannohe and Hachinohe, and pledged fealty to

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 ...

. In return, he was confirmed as daimyō of his existing holdings in northern Mutsu province (the districts of Nukanobu, Hei, Kazuno, Kuji, Iwate, Shiwa and Tōno). However, since the

Ōura clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled the northwestern half of what is now Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The Tsugaru were ''daimyō'' of Hirosaki Domain and its semi-subsidiary, K ...

had already pledged fealty to Hideyoshi before Nobunao, he was denied control over

Tsugaru Tsugaru (津軽) may refer to: * Tsugaru, Aomori, a city of Aomori Prefecture, Japan * Tsugaru Peninsula * Tsugaru Strait, between Honshū and Hokkaidō ** Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry, a ferry crossing this strait * Tsugaru-jamisen, a traditional style of ...

, which had been seized by the Ōura from the Nanbu in 1571. Hideoyoshi subsequently sent a huge army to quell the Kunohe Rebellion which secured Nobunao in his position. Nobunao was subsequently awarded with the additional territories of Hienuki and Waga as compensation for the loss of Tsugaru. Although his territory was vast geographically, it had an assessed ''

kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 54 ...

'' of only 100,000 ''

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 ...

'', as much of the area was not suitable for growing rice. In 1592, Hideyoshi ordered Nobunao to

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Hizen Province was an old province of Japan in the area of the Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in Saikaidō. It did not incl ...

to provide 1000 troops for the

invasion of Korea An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

. However, he and his forces were never given the order to cross over, and subsequently returned home. Nobunao relocated his seat from

to the more central location of

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

, and began work on

Morioka Castle is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

and its surrounding

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

in 1592. He did not live to see its completion, but died at Kunohe Castle in 1599. He was succeeded by his son, Nanbu Toshinao, who became the 1st daimyō of

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

References

* Papinot, Edmund. (1948). ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan''. New York: Overbeck Co. *

External links

Morioka Domain on "Edo 300 HTML"
(3 Nov. 2007)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanbu, Nobunao 1546 births 1599 deaths Daimyo People from Iwate Prefecture People of Sengoku-period Japan Nanbu clan