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 ...

'' of the late

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 ...

through 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 ...

, who served the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

. As one of the Tokugawa family's foremost military commanders, he was considered one of its "Four Guardian Kings" (''shitennō'' 四天王) along with

Sakai Tadatsugu was one of the most favored and most successful military commanders serving Tokugawa Ieyasu in the late-Sengoku period. He is regarded as one of the Four Guardians of the Tokugawa (''Tokugawa-Shitennō''). along with Honda Tadakatsu, Ii Naoma ...

Honda Tadakatsu , also called Honda Heihachirō (本多平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings along with Ii N ...

and

Ii Naomasa was a general under the Sengoku period ''daimyō'', and later ''shōgun'', Tokugawa Ieyasu.Shikibu-Shō The was one of eight ministries of the Japanese imperial court. History It was established by the Taihō Code of early 8th century. The ministry was replaced in the Meiji period. The ministry was renamed ''Mombushō'' for a brief number of yea ...

'' (式部大輔).Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005). "Sakakibara Yasumasa" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File
.

Early life

Sakakibara Yasumasa was born in the year

Tenmon is the ninja art of understanding and using meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back m ...

-17 (1548), the second son of Sakakibara Nagamasa, in the Ueno district of

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 Sakakibara were hereditary retainers of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan, classified as '' fudai''. However, they did not serve the clan directly, but instead served one of its senior retainers, which at that time was Sakai Tadanao (which classified the Sakakibara as ''baishin'', or "rear vassals"). The young Yasumasa interacted with

Matsudaira Motoyasu 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 ...

(later Tokugawa Ieyasu) often from a young age, and was soon appointed his page. Due to his valor at Battle of Batogahara 1564 in the suppression of 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 ...

'' uprising in Mikawa, he was allowed to use the "yasu" from Motoyasu's name. At this time, he unseated his brother and became head of the Sakakibara clan. There are two explanations for this. One is that his brother had been an ally of the Ikko Ikki rebels, and the other is that his brother was a retainer of Ieyasu's son

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 ...

, who was implicated in what was most probably a non-existent

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

plot against

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 ...

Service under Ieyasu

Eiroku was a after '' Kōji'' and before ''Genki.'' This period spanned the years from February 1558 through April 1570. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1558 : The era name was changed to mark the enthronement of Emperor Ōgimachi. The pre ...

-9 (1566), at age 19, Yasumasa had his coming-of-age ritual, and soon after, he and

were made ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

'' by Ieyasu, and each granted command of 50 cavalrymen. From that point on, they would function as Ieyasu's ''

'' unit commanders. In 1570, Yasumasa battled at Anegawa, He was on second division along with

onto Asakura's left flank, surrounding

Asakura Kagetake was a Japanese samurai commander of the Sengoku era from Asakura clan. In_the_1570,_he_defended_against_an_invasion_by_ ">DF_7_of_80">"Asa_.... In_the_1570,_he_defended_against_an_invasion_by_Oda_Nobunaga">DF_7_of_80/nowiki>">DF_7_of_80">"As ...

. Later, He battled at Mikatagahara in 1573, along with the Nagashino in 1575. In 1584, When Ieyasu chose to defy

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 ...

, Yasumasa still served under Ieyasu, suggesting the region of

Komaki is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 148,872 in 68,174 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city was . Komaki is commonly associated with the former Komaki Airport, whic ...

would be suitable for the ensuing campaign. Yasumasa was given the title of "'

Shikibu-Shō The was one of eight ministries of the Japanese imperial court. History It was established by the Taihō Code of early 8th century. The ministry was replaced in the Meiji period. The ministry was renamed ''Mombushō'' for a brief number of yea ...

'", when accompanying Ieyasu to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

to meet with Hideyoshi. In 1590, after the Tokugawa moved to the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

, he was to have a team responsible for the allocation of fiefs. While Ieyasu was serving as one of Hideyoshi's staff in

Kyūshū 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 ...

, Yasumasa was to supervise Kantō, as one of the chief administrators. Yasumasa received the 100,000 koku fief of Tatebayashi han following the Tokugawa victory 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 ...

in 1600, which remained in the family for a few generations.

Death

Yasumasa himself died in 1606, at the age of 59, and is buried at Zendoji Temple in Tatebayashi, where his grave still stands. His son Sakakibara Yasukatsu fought at the

Osaka Campaign 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 ...

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

.
OCLC 48943301

Early life

Service under Ieyasu

Death

See also

Notes

References

Further reading