Okubo Tadataka
Encyclopedia
or Ōkubo Hikozaemon (1560 – April 2, 1639) was a Japanese
warrior in the Sengoku
and Edo period
s. He was the eighth son of Ōkubo Tadakazu, a vassal of the Tokugawa clan
. Tadataka wrote the , a work he wrote for his descendants, telling the way a warrior should live, mixed with a chronicle of the accomplishments of the Tokugawa and Ōkubo clans.
, the son of Tokugawa retainer Ōkubo Tadakazu. His older brother was Ōkubo Tadayo
. He joined Tadayo at age 17 for his first campaign, during the subjugation of Tōtōmi Province
. Tadataka's first battle was the siege of Inui Castle. From then on, he fought in many battles, under Tadayo or his other brother, Ōkubo Tadasuke
. Tadataka served with distinction at the Battle of Takatenjin Castle, taking the head of enemy general Okabe Motonobu
. He also fought at the siege of Ueda Castle
. After the Siege of Odawara
, when Tokugawa Ieyasu
moved to the Kantō Region
, he granted Tadataka land assessed at 3,000 koku
, and appointed him yari-bugyō
(magistrate of spears) in the Tokugawa main battle camp.
Tadataka also served at Sekigahara
and the Siege of Osaka
; his service stretched over the careers of the first three Tokugawa shoguns.
Tadataka died at age 80. His graves are in Okazaki
, Kyoto
, and at Ryūgyō-ji, a temple in Minato, Tokyo
.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
warrior in the Sengoku
Sengoku period
The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
and Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
s. He was the eighth son of Ōkubo Tadakazu, a vassal of the Tokugawa clan
Tokugawa clan
The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan. However, the early history of this clan remains a mystery.-History:...
. Tadataka wrote the , a work he wrote for his descendants, telling the way a warrior should live, mixed with a chronicle of the accomplishments of the Tokugawa and Ōkubo clans.
Biography
Tadataka was born in Kamiwada, Mikawa ProvinceMikawa Province
is an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....
, the son of Tokugawa retainer Ōkubo Tadakazu. His older brother was Ōkubo Tadayo
Okubo Tadayo
was a samurai general in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Azuchi-Momoyama period, subsequently becoming a daimyō in early Edo period , Japan.Ōkubo Tadayo was the eldest son of Ōkubo Tadakazu, a hereditary retainer of the Tokugawa clan...
. He joined Tadayo at age 17 for his first campaign, during the subjugation of Tōtōmi Province
Totomi Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .-History:...
. Tadataka's first battle was the siege of Inui Castle. From then on, he fought in many battles, under Tadayo or his other brother, Ōkubo Tadasuke
Okubo Tadasuke
was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku period through early Edo period....
. Tadataka served with distinction at the Battle of Takatenjin Castle, taking the head of enemy general Okabe Motonobu
Okabe Motonobu
, also known by his common name Gorobei, was Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period, in the service of the Imagawa clan. The second son of Okabe Chikatsuna, he became a senior retainer of the Imagawa, following in his father's footsteps. After his lord Imagawa Yoshimoto was killed at the Battle of...
. He also fought at the siege of Ueda Castle
Ueda Castle
Ueda Castle was the original home of the Sanada clan, built by Sanada Masayuki.It was this castle that the Sanada defended twice from the Tokugawa, first in 1583 and again in 1600, putting up a very impressive defense both of those times....
. After the Siege of Odawara
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 Hideyoshi's intentions became clear...
, when Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
moved to the Kantō Region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
, he granted Tadataka land assessed at 3,000 koku
Koku
The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
, and appointed him yari-bugyō
Bugyo
', often translated as "commissioner" or "magistrate" or "governor," was a title assigned to government officers in pre-modern Japan; other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given commissioner's tasks or jurisdiction....
(magistrate of spears) in the Tokugawa main battle camp.
Tadataka also served at Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara
The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...
and the Siege of Osaka
Siege of Osaka
The was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages , and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate's establishment...
; his service stretched over the careers of the first three Tokugawa shoguns.
Tadataka died at age 80. His graves are in Okazaki
Okazaki, Aichi
is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of August 2011, the city had an estimated population of 373,339 and a population density of 964 persons per km². The total area was 387.24 km².-Geography:...
, Kyoto
Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto
is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Located in the center of the present-day city of Kyoto, Japan it previously occupied the northern region of the ancient capital of Kyoto. The Kamo River flows on the eastern border of the ward...
, and at Ryūgyō-ji, a temple in Minato, Tokyo
Minato, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 March 2008, it had an official population of 217,335 and a population density of 10,865 persons per km². The total area is 20.34 km².Minato hosts 49 embassies...
.
Further reading
- Bolitho, HaroldHarold BolithoHarold Bolitho was an Australian academic, historian, author and professor emeritus in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University The name Bolitho is of Cornish origin.-Career:...
. (1974). Treasures Among Men: The Fudai Daimyo in Tokugawa Japan. New Haven: Yale University Press. 10-ISBN 0-300-01655-7/13-ISBN 978-0-300-01655-0; OCLC 185685588 - Tsumoto Yō 津本陽 (2004). Ōkubo Hikozaemon: fufū no toki koso 大久保彦左衛門: 不遇の時こそ. Tokyo: Kōbunsha 光文社.