Nagamori possessed remarkable diplomatic and administrative talent while remaining a brave warrior. He is believed to have come from the village of Mashita in the province of Owari, which today is part of Aichi Prefecture. He was a vassal of Oda Nobunaga and later served Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In the Battle of Komaki–Nagakute in 1584, Nagamori took at least two enemy heads. Later, he was entrusted with overseeing major public construction projects, including the reconstruction of Fushimi Castle and the building of the large Sanjō and Gojō bridges in Kyoto.
In 1585, Hideyoshi received the title of kampaku — imperial regent — and created the “Council of Five Commissioners” (go-bugyō) to manage state affairs. Mashita Nagamori became one of the go-bugyō, alongside Ishida Mitsunari, Asano Nagamasa, Natsuka Masaie, and Maeda Gen’i. Nagamori’s diplomatic skills were demonstrated in negotiations with Uesugi Kagekatsu, who eventually agreed to visit Hideyoshi in Kyoto. During the Odawara campaign against the Hōjō clan, it was Nagamori’s efforts that secured the loyalty of daimyō Date Masamune.
Carrying out Hideyoshi’s land reform project, Nagamori conducted cadastral surveys in the provinces of Ōmi in 1591 and Awa and Hitachi in 1595. Thanks to his success in this undertaking, he received possession of Koriyama Castle in Yamato Province, along with extensive lands yielding an income of 200,000 koku of rice. As one of the go-bugyō, Nagamori also took part in Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea in 1592.
After Hideyoshi’s death, as the struggle for power erupted between Ishida Mitsunari and Tokugawa Ieyasu, it appeared that Nagamori was hesitant in choosing a side. Ieyasu personally visited him, attempting to persuade him to join the Eastern coalition. However, when the Sekigahara campaign began in 1600, Nagamori, together with Mōri Terumoto, the nominal leader of the Western coalition, chose to take refuge in Osaka Castle in order to protect Hideyoshi’s heir, Toyotomi Hideyori.
One theory suggests that despite formally joining the Western coalition, Nagamori was secretly providing Ieyasu with information on troop movements. This is regarded as the reason why, after the Eastern coalition’s victory, Ieyasu spared Nagamori’s life. Even so, he stripped him of his lands and titles and sent him to Iwatsuki Castle to serve Koriki Kiyonaga, a vassal of the Tokugawa clan.
During the Winter Campaign of Osaka in 1614, Nagamori received orders to spy on Hideyori’s supporters on behalf of the Tokugawa shogunate. This may have been the cause of the tragic events that followed a year later.
During the Summer Campaign of Osaka in 1615, Nagamori’s son, Mashita Moritsugu, was in the service of Ieyasu’s son, Tokugawa Yoshinao. However, he fled and joined the defenders of Osaka Castle. Scholars still debate the reasons for his actions: some believe Moritsugu was angered by his father’s “betrayal” during the Winter Campaign and sought to “restore the family’s honor,” while others argue that he had been sent into the castle as a spy and supposedly had Yoshinao’s approval. In any case, the events that followed indicate that Tokugawa Ieyasu was extremely displeased with Moritsugu’s actions. He ordered the 71-year-old Mashita Nagamori to commit seppuku. Moritsugu himself was killed in the battle for the castle. Nagamori was buried at Anrakuji Temple in Saitama Prefecture.
See also
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Tachibana Dosetsu
Tachibana Dōsetsu is the name by which Hetsugi Akitsura is more widely known; the name of this lineage is also found read as Hekki or Bekki. For a long period, Akitsura served the Ōtomo clan, the daimyō of Bungo Province, and took part in wars against the Ōuchi family, the principal enemies of the Ōtomo in northwestern Kyushu. In the 1560s, Akitsura seized the castle of the Tachibana clan, which had rebelled against the Ōtomo, and thereafter adopted the surname Tachibana. Around the same time, he took Buddhist vows and assumed the name Dōsetsu, which means “Snowy Road.”
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Taira no Masakado
Taira no Masakado embodied the quintessential samurai of his era—self-assured, harsh, and unyielding. In his youth, he served in the palace guard and repeatedly proved his bravery while suppressing unrest. Thanks to these achievements, Masakado sought the post of chief of the capital’s military-police office (the kebiishi-chō), but he was rejected: by that time, nearly all court positions—now little more than privileged sinecures—were controlled by members of the powerful Fujiwara clan.
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Sakakibara Yasumasa
Yasumasa was the second son of Sakakibara Nagamasa and was born in Ueno in Mikawa Province. From a young age, he began serving Tokugawa Ieyasu and eventually rose to the position of one of his most trusted generals. His wife was the daughter of Osuga Yasutaka. Ieyasu first noticed the young Yasumasa during the suppression of the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa in 1564. Thanks to his demonstrated abilities, Yasumasa was granted the privilege of using the character “yasu”—the second character of Ieyasu’s own name—in his own. Although he was the second child in his family, he became his father’s heir, though the exact reasons for this remain unknown.
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Sakai Tadatsugu
Tadatsugu was one of the most renowned generals serving Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Ieyasu broke ties with the Imagawa clan, Tadatsugu—an ardent supporter of this decision—was granted command of Yoshida Castle in 1565, which controlled the coastal road from Tōtomi to Mikawa. During the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, he held the right flank of the Tokugawa forces even when the troops sent by Oda fled under the assault of the Takeda army. In the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, he personally requested permission to carry out a night attack on the Takeda camp, which he executed brilliantly together with Kanamori Nagachika.
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Ryuzoji Takanobu
Takanobu was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Takaie and the great-grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane. His father was killed by a man named Baba Yoritiku in 1544. At a young age, Takanobu took Buddhist vows and received the monastic name Engetsu. However, around the age of eighteen, he returned to secular life, and in 1548, after the death of Ryūzōji Tanehide, he became the head of both branches of the Ryūzōji family.
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Ouchi Yoshihiro
Ōuchi Yoshihiro was the second son of Ōuchi Hiroyo, who headed the Ōuchi clan in the western part of Honshu. In 1363, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu confirmed the Ōuchi family in the position of shugo of Suō and Nagato Provinces. In his youth, Yoshihiro assisted his father in strengthening the influence of the Northern Court on the island of Kyushu — they served under Imagawa Ryōsun, who had been tasked with subjugating the nine provinces of Kyushu.
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Ouchi Yoshioki
Ouchi Yoshioki, the ruler of the provinces of Suo, Nagato, and Iwami, was one of the most capable military commanders and politicians of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The son of Ouchi Masahiro, he governed from his residence in Yamaguchi in the province of Suo. In 1499, Yoshioki gave refuge to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane, who had been driven out of Kyoto by Hosokawa Masamoto. Shogun Yoshizumi, Masamoto’s protégé, ordered the lords of Kyushu to unite their forces against Yoshioki; however, they did not dare to do so, fearing the power of a man who by that time controlled six provinces. Having gathered a substantial army, Yoshioki marched from his native Suo toward Kyoto in order to restore Shogun Yoshitane to power.
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Otomo Sorin
Ōtomo Yoshishige came from a noble lineage, being the eldest son of Ōtomo Yoshiaki, the ruler of Funai Province. The roots of the Ōtomo family traced back to Fujiwara Hidesato, the adopted son of Nakahara Chikayoshi. Fujiwara served Minamoto Yoritomo during the Genpei War and took part in battles in Mutsu Province in 1189. In 1193, he was appointed shugo of Buzen and Bungo Provinces, after which he adopted a new surname—Ōtomo.
