was the 4th daimyō

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

of Hirosaki Domain

Hirosaki Domain

The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in northern Mutsu Province . It was ruled by the Tsugaru clan...

 in northern Mutsu Province

Mutsu Province

was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori prefecture and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture...

, Honshū

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (modern-day Aomori Prefecture

Aomori Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region. The capital is the city of Aomori.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Aomori prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....

). His courtesy title was Etchū-no-kami.

Biography

Tsugaru Nobumasa was the eldest son of Tsugaru Nobuyoshi

Tsugaru Nobuyoshi

was the 3rd daimyō of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan . His courtesy title was Tosa-no-kami.-Biography:...

, 3rd daimyō of Hirosaki Domain. He was still 9 years old when his father died, and his uncle Tsugaru Nobufusa acted as regent until this coming of age. Of scholarly disposition, he studied in Edo under the great Confucian scholar Yamaga Sokō

Yamaga Soko

was a Japanese philosopher and strategist during the Tokugawa shogunate. He was a Confucian, and applied Confucius's idea of the "superior man" to the samurai class of Japan...

, and the kokugaku

Kokugaku

Kokugaku was a National revival, or, school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period...

scholar Yamakawa Koretari. On assuming power in Hirosaki, he embarked on a large public works

Public works

Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...

 program, enlarging the castle town

Castle town

A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns are common in Medieval Europe. Good example include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles...

, developing the forestry industry, developing new paddy field

Paddy field

A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice farming in east, south and southeast Asia. Paddies can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such...

s, irrigation, and inviting over 40 cultural figures to settle in Hirosaki to raise its level of culture. His military forces were also called to Ezo

Ezo

is a Japanese name which historically referred to the lands to the north of Japan. It was used in various senses, sometimes meaning the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō, and sometimes meaning lands and waters further north in the Sea of Okhotsk, like Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands...

 by the Tokugawa bakufu in the suppression of Shakushain's Revolt

Shakushain's Revolt

was an Ainu rebellion against Japanese authority on Hokkaidō between 1669 to 1672. It was led by Ainu chieftain Shakushain against the Matsumae clan, who represented Japanese trading and governmental interests in the area of Hokkaidō then controlled by the Japanese .The war initially began as a...

, an Ainu

Ainu people

The , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...

 uprising against Japanese rule.

However, in 1695 a crop failure resulted in famine in the Tsugaru area, and Hirosaki Domain lost 30,000 people. Nobumasa had 5 sons and 26 daughters. He died on December 8, 1710 and his grave is at the Takateru Jinja in Hirosaki

Hirosaki, Aomori

is a city located in southwest Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It is a castle town and was the Tsugaru clan ruled the 100,000 koku tozama han Hirosaki Domain from Hirosaki Castle during the Edo period. The city is currently a regional commercial center and the largest producer of apples in Japan...

. Nobumasa was succeeded by his eldest son, Tsugaru Nobuhisa

Tsugaru Nobuhisa

was the 5th daimyō of Hirosaki Domain in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, Japan . His courtesy title was Tosa-no-kami.-Biography:...

.