was a Japanese ''

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 ...

'' who served the

Oda clan The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they had the climax of their fame under Oda Nobunaga and fell from the spotlight soon after, several ...

. Nagashige was the eldest son of

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 married the 5th 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 ...

. He took part in his first campaign in 1583, assisting his father in 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 ...

against

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 ...

. In 1584, the Battle of Nagakute, at the age of thirteen, Nagashige led a troop of the

Niwa clan The was a Japanese samurai clan of northern Honshū that claimed descent from Emperor Kanmu via Prince Yoshimine no Yasuo (785-80) and Kodama Koreyuki (d.1069). Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géograp ...

in place of his father, who was ill. In 1585, upon Nagahide's death, Nagashige received his father's fief of 1,230,000 ''

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 ...

'' (spanning Echizen, Wakasa, and parts of Kaga). During the

Siege of Toyama The siege of Toyama was a battle during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (16th century) of Japan. History During the late summer of August 1585, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had led his army of around 100,000 soldiers against Sassa Narimasa , also known a ...

against the forces of

Sassa Narimasa , also known as Kura-no-suke (内蔵助), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi–Momoyama period.">DF 7 of 80">"Asa ..., where he was in the rear guard. In 1575, Narimasa fought at the Battle of Nagashino">DF 7 of 80/nowiki>">DF ...

, Hideyoshi accused the Niwa clan with collaboration, and seized most of their territories, leaving the clan with only Wakasa Province at 150,000 koku. This is believed to have been Hideyoshi's effort to reduce the Niwa clan's strength. During the subsequent

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 ...

in 1589, one of the Niwa clan retainers was again accused of collaboration with the enemy, and the clan was reduced further to a small 40,000 koku holding around Komatsu in Kaga Province. However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was mercurial in his moods, and in response to Nagashige's efforts at the Siege of Odawara, his status was brought back to 120,000 koku. In 1600, at the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, Nagashige took part in

Ishida Mitsunari Ishida Mitsunari (, 1559 – November 6, 1600) was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the A ...

's force and fought against

Maeda Toshinaga was a Sengoku period Japanese samurai and the second early-Edo period ''daimyō'' of Kaga Domain in the Hokuriku region of Japan, and the 3rd hereditary chieftain of the Maeda clan. He was the eldest son of Maeda Toshiie. His childhood name was ...

of Kaga at

Battle of Asai A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

; he consequently had his holdings briefly confiscated. His daimyo status was restored in 1603, when the Tokugawa family granted him 10,000 ''koku'' at Futsuto, in

Hitachi Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hitachi fudoki''" in . It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Shimōsa Province, S ...

. At the

siege of Osaka The was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege ...

from 1614 to 1615, Nagashige fought on

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 ...

's side. For his service in battle, he had his stipend increased; his fief was transferred to the Edosaki Domain (20,000 ''koku''). Nagashige was promoted again in 1622 with a move to the

Tanagura Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in southern Mutsu Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Tanagura Castle, located in what is now part of the town of Tanagura in Fukushima ...

and a stipend increase to 50,000 ''koku''. His rise culminated in 1627, when he was granted the

Shirakawa Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in southern Mutsu Province. It was centered on Komine Castle in what is now the city of Shirakawa, Fukushima. Its most famous ruler was Matsudaira Sadanobu, the archite ...

(worth 100,700 ''koku'') and built

Shirakawa Castle is a Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Shirakawa, southern Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Throughout the middle to later Edo period, Komine Castle was home to the Abe clan, ''daimyō'' of Shirakawa Domain. It was also referred to ...

. Nagashige's successor was his son,

Niwa Mitsushige was an Edo period Japanese samurai, 2nd Niwa ''daimyō'' of Shirakawa Domain and the 1st Niwa ''daimyō'' of Nihonmatsu Domain in the Tōhoku region of Japan. He was the 2nd hereditary chieftain of the Niwa clan. His courtesy title was ''Saiky ...

References

* Japanese Wiki article on Nagashige (17 September 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Niwa, Nagashige 1571 births 1637 deaths Samurai Daimyo Niwa clan Oda retainers