was a Japanese

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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 no ...

'' of Fukui Domain in Echizen.

Early life

Hideyasu was born as in 1574, the second son of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

, by Lady Oman (also known as Lady Kogō), a handmaiden to his wife, Lady Tsukiyama. When Oman became pregnant, Ieyasu feared his wife's wrath, so he sheltered the girl in the home of his retainer Honda Shigetsugu, in Ofumi Village near Hamamatsu Castle, 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 Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari Province, O ...

. 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. After

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

demanded that Ieyasu order Nobuyasu's ''

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

'', 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, he was given in adoption (in reality as a hostage) to the childless Hashiba Hideyoshi 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 is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

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

Hyūga Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to modern Miyazaki Prefecture Hyūga bordered on Ōsumi to the south, Higo to the west, and Bungo to the north. Its abbreviated form name was , although it was als ...

. 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). 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 of

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture as well as the bordering parts of Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo (the parts that used to be located east of the lower reaches of the old Tone River prior to the ...

, 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. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' holding.

Later years

During the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

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

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, he was given all of

Echizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, 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 Province, Kaga, Wakasa Province, Wakasa, Hida Province, Hida, and Ōmi Provin ...

(670,000 ''koku'') as his fief. In 1604, he was allowed to take the surname Matsudaira. In 1605, his court rank was elevated to Senior Third Rank, and his courtesy title to ''Gon-Chūnagon''. Professor Sunao Kawaguchi suspected the reason Hideyasu was not appointed as successor of Ieyasu as Shogun was because he spent most of his life close to the house of

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary ...

. Hideyasu died in 1607 at the age of 34, possibly from

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

. His death came seven years after the Battle of Sekigahara and eight years before Tokugawa Ieyasu completed the destruction of the Toyotomi clan at the

Siege of Osaka A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

. He left a will to his heir urging support for

Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who united all of Japan toward the end of the Sengoku period. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's sec ...

even if the Tokugawa decided to attack. His son and heir, Matsudaira Tadanao 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

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 *** Matsudaira Tadanao (1595-1650) *** Matsudaira Tadamasa (1598-1645) ** Concubine: ??? *** Kisahime (1598–1655) married Mōri Hidenari ** Concubine: Gesshoōin *** Matsudaira Naomasa (1601–1666) inherited Matsue Domain ** Concubine: Shinryō-in *** Matsudaira Naomoto (1604–1648) inherited

Himeji Domain was a Han (Japan), 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 ...

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

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