Kawajiri Hidetaka

Kawajiri Hidetaka
Kawajiri Hidetaka
河尻秀隆
	Kawajiri Hidetaka,protector of Hizen province
Personal details
Born	1527 ; (the 7th year of Daiei); Owari Province
Died	June 18th,1582 ; (the 10th year of Tensho; In Chozo-ji , temple in Sakahogi, Gifu
Relations	Kawajiri Chikashige (father)
Children	Hidenaga(秀長); Shigeyuki(鎮行); Suemori-dono(末守殿); (Doi Chikazane’s wife)
Nickname(s)	与四郎(Yoshiro); 与兵衛(Yohē); 鎮吉(Shigeyoshi)
Military service
Allegiance	Oda clan
Rank	protector of Hizen province
Unit	Kawajiri clan
Battles/wars	Battle of Azukisaka; Battle of Okehazama; Mino Campaign; Ise Campaign; Battle of Anegawa; Omi Campaign; Siege of Mount Hiei; Siege Of Saimyoji; Siege of Takatō; Battle of Tenmokuzan

Kawajiri Hidetaka (河尻秀隆, 1527 - July 7, 1582) was a Japanese samurai warrior during the Sengoku period , and was one of the vassals of Oda Nobunaga . He was the first samurai in the "Kuro-horo-shu" (bodyguard unit in black) elite troops selected from Nobunaga's aides, and later served as an assistant to Oda Nobutada, Nobunaga's eldest son. He was also the lord of Mino Iwamura, and later became the lord of Kai province. There are few documents related to Hidetaka and Kawajiri clan , and many of his traces are recorded in Shinchō Kōki, Koyo Gunkan, and records related to Tokugawa clan.

Biography

Service under Nobuhide

It is said that he was born in Iwasaki Village, Owari Province. Hidetaka served Oda Nobuhide from an early stage. His real name Hidetaka's "Hide"(秀) is considered to be a bias from Nobuhide's Hide(秀)

In August 1542, he was only 16 years old and participated in the first Battle of Azukizaka as a vassal of Nobuhide. At this time, he was in a single combat with a commander of Ashigaru, Yuhara(由原), who was the forerunner of the Imagawa clan, and gave a martial art of defeating him at the end of the group battle.

Service under Nobunaga

After Nobuhide's death, he also served Oda Nobunaga and became the head of "Kuro-horo-shu" (bodyguard unit in black). In 1558, when Nobunaga summoned his younger brother Oda Nobuyuki to Kiyosu Castle to murder him, he carried out assassination of Nobuyuki .

He participates in the Battle of Okehazama in May 1560. He followed Nobunaga, who suddenly rushed out, with other only four vassals; Iwamuro Shigeyasu , Hasegawa Hashisuke , Yamaguchi Hidanokami, and Katō Yasaburo. It is said that Mōri Yoshikatsu defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto in the battle, but there is also a different theory that Hidetaka killed Yoshimoto.

In the summer 1565, he was ordered to attack Mino Sarubami Castle with Niwa Nagahide. The castle owner, Tajimi Shuri-no-Suke, used the advantage of the land to protect the castle well, but Nagahide occupied the neighboring mountain and cut off the water source, and Hidetaka launched an onslaught and dropped the castle. In the fierce battle, Battle of Dōhora castle, on September 28 of 1565, he got into the inner citadel first, which let him win fame in the battle, and forced the enemy commander, Kishi Nobuharu to kill himself. After the war, he was given Sarubami Castle by a series of achievements in the attack on Mino, and the castle name was changed to Katsuyama Castle. After entering Katsuyama, the castle town of Sakahogi, Chozoji, was designated as Kawajiri's family temple. He also allegedly supported the reconstruction of Daisen-ji Temple, which was burned down in the war.

In 1569, he was dispatched with Sakai Masahisa as a messenger telling Imai Sōkyū to hand over the testimony of Sakai Kitasho. In August of 1569, he participated in the subdue of Kitabatake clan based in Okawachi Castle, Ise province. At this time, he was in charge of patrols the headquarters of Oda army inside the fence with Sugaya Nagayori, Harada Naomasa, Nakagawa Shigemasa, Maeda Toshiie. The name can be seen in the draft letter of sympathy sent by Munehisa Imai to the Oda clan generals on September 6 of 1569.

On February 19, 1570, Imai Sokyu sent urgent news that Akagi Nobuyasu defeated the army of Miyoshi clan in Awaji province. In the draft letter, the names are listed alongside Kanamori Nagachika, Takei Yūan, Sakai Kōsai, and Sugaya Naganori, and it can be seen that he was recognized as one of the Nobunaga's representative aides at that time. On March 6, 1570, Nakayama Takachika and Kanroji Tsunemoto visited Nobunaga, but Hidetaka responded due to his absence and received 30 swords as a thank-you. On June 28, 1570, he served in the Battle of Anegawa, and in the siege of Sawayama Castle, where Isono Kazumasa, a vassal of Azai Nagamasa, was holding, after the main war, he set up on Nishi-Hikoneyama, one of the attached castles. At the Siege of Shiga in September of 1570, he entered the fort of Anota with Sakuma Nobumori, Akechi Mitsuhide, Murai Sadakatsu, Sassa Narimasa, and played a part in the Siege of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mt. Hiei.

In February 1571, he entered Sawayama Castle after Isono Kazumasa moved out, and since then he has been active as a castle general with Niwa Nagahide. In September of 1571, Nobunaga ordered that the Tendai Temple affiliated with Enryaku-ji at Mt. Hiei was burned down, Hidetaka and Nagahide burned down Saimyōji temple

In 1582, while planning the Conquest of Kōshū, Nobunaga assigned an army to his eldest son, Oda Nobutada, and had him invade Shinano and Kai Province, Hidetaka along with Takigawa Kazumasu became a military commander.

Death

Several months later after Battle of Tenmokuzan, Kawajiri Hidetaka died on June 18, 1582.

References

奥野高廣 (1969). 織田信長文書の研究. Vol. 上巻. 吉川弘文館.
柴辻俊六 (1981). "織田政権東国進出の意義". 戦国大名領の研究―甲斐武田氏領の展開―. 名著出版.
柴辻俊六 (2016). 織田政権の形成と地域支配. 戎光祥研究叢書第10巻.
Masato Okada (1999). Oda Nobunaga Comprehensive Encyclopedia. Yuzankaku.
谷口克広 (1983). "織田信忠軍団の形成と発展". 日本歴史 (419号)./所収:柴裕之, ed. (2016), 論集戦国大名と国衆20 織田氏一門 (in Japanese), 岩田書院
阿部猛; 西村圭子, eds. (2001), 戦国人名事典, 新人物往来社
池上裕子 (2012). 織田信長. 人物叢書. 吉川弘文館.
平山優 (2015). 増補改訂版天正壬午の乱本能寺の変と東国戦国史. 戎光祥出版.
和田祐弘 (2017). 織田信長の家臣団－派閥と人間関係. 中公新書.
丸島和洋 (2017). 武田勝頼試される戦国大名の「器量」. 平凡社.

References

External links

Media related to Kawajiri Hidetaka at Wikimedia Commons