was a Japanese daimyo

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...

 who lived during the Azuchi-Momoyama

Azuchi-Momoyama period

The came at the end of the Warring States Period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place. It spans the years from approximately 1573 to 1603, during which time Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, imposed order...

 and early 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. Born the second son of 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...

, he established the Echizen

Echizen Province

was an old province of Japan, which is today the northern part of Fukui Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Etchū and Echigo Provinces.Echizen is famous for washi . A text dated AD 774 mentions the washi made in this area. Echizen-produced Washi is still the most commonly sold traditional...

 Fukui Domain

Fukui Domain

The was a feudal domain in Echizen Province of Japan during the Edo period. It is also sometimes called '. The family name of the heads of the domain is "Matsudaira".- List of heads :# Hideyasu# Tadanao...

.

Birth

Hideyasu was born Tokugawa Ogimaru in 1574, the 2nd son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, by Ieyasu's concubine, Lady Oman. 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

Mikawa 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....

. He was born near Hamamatsu Castle

Hamamatsu Castle

is a reconstructed 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...

, in Ofumi Village.

Oman was a servant to Lady Tsukiyama, Ieyasu's first wife. After Ieyasu impregnated her, he feared Tsukiyama's wrath, and so he sheltered her in the home of his retainer Honda Shigetsugu

Honda Shigetsugu

, also known as , was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period through Azuchi-Momoyama Period, who served the Tokugawa clan. He fought in many of the Tokugawa clan's major battles, and was known as for his ferocity....

. Ogimaru was born there.

Indifference from Ieyasu

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 half-brother, Matsudaira Nobuyasu. After Nobuyasu's execution by order of Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

, Ogimaru would have been the next in line to inherit the Tokugawa headship; however, as part of the peace negotiations following the Battle of Komaki-Nagakute, he was given in adoption (in reality as a hostage) to Hashiba Hideyoshi. Coming of age while living with Hideyoshi, Ogimaru then took the name Hashiba Hideyasu, which combined the names of his adoptive father and biological father.

Young Adulthood and Battles

Hideyasu took part in his first campaign during the subjugation of Kyushu in 1587, leading the assault on Buzen-Iwaishi Castle. He also received honors for his distinction in the pacification of Hyūga Province

Hyuga Province

was an old province of Japan on the east coast of Kyūshū, corresponding to the modern Miyazaki Prefecture. It was sometimes called or . Hyūga bordered on Bungo, Higo, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Province.The ancient capital was near Saito.-Historical record:...

. Hideyasu also took part in the Siege of Odawara (1590) and the Korean Campaign (1592). His successes in these campaigns earned him respect as an able field commander, despite his young age.

In 1589, a son was born to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and so Hideyasu was given in adoption the following year to Yūki Harutomo of Shimōsa Province. Marrying Harutomo's niece, Hideyasu succeeded to the Yūki headship and its 111,000 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...

 landholding.

Later years

Following the Battle of 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...

, he received a transfer from the fief the Yūki family held in Shimōsa Province (assessed at 101,000 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...

) to one in Fukui (670,000 koku). In 1604, he took the surname Matsudaira

Matsudaira clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. It first originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province . Over the course of its history, the clan produced many branches, most of which also centered around Mikawa Province...

. When he died in 1607, his first son Matsudaira Tadanao

Matsudaira Tadanao

was a Japanese daimyo who ruled the Echizen-Fukui Domain in the early Edo period. Tadanao was born Matsudaira Senchiyo, the eldest son of Yūki Hideyasu, by his concubine Lady Nakagawa. As his father Hideyasu died in 1607, Senchiyo assumed headship in the same year, taking the name Tadanao...

 succeeded him.

Modern References

In Onimusha:Dawn of Dreams he is the Main Protagonist and the Oni Warrior that Fights Against Hideyoshi Toyotomi Shogunate that's Control Japan with Genma, His Name is Soki
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External links

• Fukui City Museum (in Japanese)