was a Japanese

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 ...

who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

s. He was the ''

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 ...

'' of Fukui Domain in Echizen.

Early life

Hideyasu was born as in 1574, the second son 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 ...

, by Lady Oman (also known as Lady Kogō), a handmaiden to his wife,

Lady Tsukiyama Lady Tsukiyama or (d. 9 September 1579) was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat from the Sengoku period. She was the chief consort of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ''daimyō'' who would become the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunat ...

. When Oman became pregnant, Ieyasu feared his wife's wrath, so he sheltered the girl in the home of his retainer

Honda Shigetsugu (1529 – August 9, 1596), also known as , was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period through Azuchi-Momoyama Period, who served the Tokugawa clan. He served as one of Ieyasu's "three magistrates". Biography He was known as Hachizo, Sakujur ...

, in Ofumi Village near

Hamamatsu Castle is a replica ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various ''fudai daimyō'' who ruled over Hamamatsu Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunat ...

, and it was there that Ogimaru and his brother were born. Oman is said to have given birth to twins, and that Ogimaru's brother succeeded Oman's father as priest of Chiryū Shrine in

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 ...

. The young Ogimaru was, for some reason, disliked by his father Ieyasu. It was not until age three that he met Ieyasu, and even that meeting, cold as it was, was not arranged by the father, but instead by Ogimaru's elder half-brother,

Matsudaira Nobuyasu was the eldest son of Matsudaira Ieyasu. His ''tsūshō'' ("common name") was . He was called also , because he had become the lord of in 1570. Because he was a son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, he is often referred to, retroactively, as . Biography No ...

. After

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 ...

demanded that Ieyasu order Nobuyasu's ''

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

'', Ogimaru would have been the next in line to inherit the Tokugawa headship by birth; however, as part of the peace negotiations following the

Battle of Komaki-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 ...

, he was given in adoption (in reality as a hostage) to the childless

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 ...

in 1584. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)
"Matsudaira" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 30
retrieved 2013-4-9. Coming of age while living with Hideyoshi, Ogimaru was given the name Hashiba Hideyasu, which combined the names of his adoptive father and biological father. He was also granted

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

of ''Mikawa-no-kami'', and his Court rank was Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade, raised to ''Ukonoue-gon-shōshō'' and Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade in 1585

Mature years

Hideyasu took part in his first campaign during the

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 ...

of 1587, leading the assault on Buzen-Iwaishi Castle. He also received honors for his distinction in the pacification of

Hyūga Province was an old province of Japan on the east coast of Kyūshū, corresponding to the modern Miyazaki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hyūga''" in . It was sometimes called or . Hyūga bordered on Bungo, Higo, Ōsumi, and Sats ...

. Hideyasu also took part in the

Siege of Odawara (1590) The third occurred in 1590, and was the primary action in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign to eliminate the Hōjō clan as a threat to his power. The months leading up to it saw hasty but major improvements in the defense of the castle, as H ...

and the

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) 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 ...

. His successes in these campaigns earned him respect as an able field commander, despite his youth. However, in 1589, a natural son was born to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi had adopted several promising candidates as heir over the years, and began to give these men in adoption to other great houses to avoid a potential conflict over the succession. Hideyasu was given in adoption in 1590 to

Yūki Harutomo was a retainer of the Japanese Hōjō clan and an early ''daimyō'' of Shimōsa Province. Harutomo was the son of Oyama Takatomo and was adopted by his uncle Yūki Masakatsu. Harutomo ultimately accepted the authority of the Hōjō, by his ties ...

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area modern Chiba Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shimōsa''" in . It lies to the north of the Bōsō Peninsula (房総半島), whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from ...

, and married Harutomo's niece, becoming Yūki Hideyasu and succeeded to the Yūki headship and its 101,000 ''

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 ...

'' holding.

Later years

During 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 ...

, Yūki Hideyasu was ordered by Ieyasu to remain in his holdings in Shimōsa, possibly because of his pro-Toyotomi sympathies, and possibility because his emergence as a strong military leader might threaten the prestige and position of his younger half-brother,

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

. Following the Battle of Sekigahara and the establishment of 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 ...

, he was given all of

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 ...

(670,000 ''koku'') as his fief. In 1604, he was allowed to take the surname

Matsudaira The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of th ...

. Appert, Georges. (1888)
"Matsudaira" in ''Ancien Japon'', p. 70
''compare'' Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon; Papinot, (2003)
''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 29–30
retrieved 2013-3-26. In 1605, his court rank was elevated to Senior Third Rank, and his courtesy title to ''Gon-Chūnagon''. Hideyasu died, possibly from

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

in 1607, at the age of 34, seven years after the Battle of Sekigahara, eight years before Tokugawa Ieyasu completed the destruction of the Toyotomi clan 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 ...

. He left a will to his heir urging support for

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's second son. The birth of Hideyori cre ...

even if the Tokugawa decided to attack. His son and heir,

Matsudaira Tadanao was a Sengoku to early Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 2nd ''daimyō'' of Fukui Domain in Echizen Province. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Matsudaira Tadanao"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 617] Biography Tadanao was born in Settsu P ...

ignored his father's will and thus the Echizen-Matsudaira clan survived to the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

of 1868.

Family

* Father:

(1543-1616) * Mother: Lady Oman (1548–1620) later Chōshō-in * Wife, concubines, children: ** Wife: Tsuruhime, daughter of Yūki Harutomo ** Concubine: Nakagawa no Tsubone later Seiryō-in ***

(1595-1650) ***

Matsudaira Tadamasa was an early to mid-Edo period Japanese samurai, and ''daimyō''. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Matsudaira" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 30 retrieved 2013-4-9. ...

(1598-1645) ** Concubine: ??? *** Kisahime (1598–1655) married

Mōri Hidenari was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period, who ruled the Chōshū Domain. Family *Father: Mōri Terumoto (1553–1625) *Wife: Kisahime (1598–1655) daughter of Yūki Hideyasu and adopted daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada was the s ...

** Concubine: Gesshoōin *** Matsudaira Naomasa (1601–1666) inherited

Matsue Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Izumo Province in modern-day Shimane Prefecture.

** Concubine: Shinryō-in *** Matsudaira Naomoto (1604–1648) inherited

Himeji Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Harima Province in what is now the southern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Himeji Castle, which is located in what is now the ...

** Concubine: Nao no Tsubone later Nagaju-in *** Matsudaira Naoyoshi (1605–1678) inherited

Ōno Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003). It was based at Ōno Castle (Echiz ...

References

External links

Fukui City Museum
(in Japanese)

*
越前松平氏 (Echizen Matsudaira) at ReichsArchiv.jp
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuki, Hideyasu 1574 births 1607 deaths Echizen-Matsudaira clan People from Hamamatsu Shinpan daimyo Tokugawa clan Toyotomi clan Yūki clan