Matsudaira Hirotada (June 9, 1526 – April 3, 1549) was a daimyo and lord of Okazaki Castle in Mikawa Province during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku Period. He is best known as the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Early Life and Rise to Power
Hirotada was the son of Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, the seventh head of the Mikawa Matsudaira clan. In his early years, he was known by several childhood names, including Senshomaru, Senchiyo, and Jirozaburo. After his father was assassinated in 1535, Hirotada came under the protection of Abe Sadayoshi, a loyal retainer of the Matsudaira clan.
With the support of the Imagawa clan, Hirotada was established as the lord of Okazaki Castle. This alliance with the Imagawa strengthened his position but also brought him into direct conflict with the powerful Oda clan.
Conflicts with the Oda Clan
In 1540, Oda Nobuhide attacked and captured Anjo Castle, which was under Matsudaira control. Nobuhide installed his son, Oda Nobuhiro, as the castle’s new lord. Despite assistance from Mizuno Tadamasa, Hirotada could not reclaim the castle, cementing a bitter rivalry with the Oda clan.
Marriage and Family
In 1541, Hirotada married Okichi, the daughter of Mizuno Tadamasa. In 1542, they had a son, Matsudaira Takechiyo, who would later become Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, tensions between Hirotada and his father-in-law, Mizuno Tadamasa, led to Hirotada divorcing Okichi in 1544. He subsequently married Makihime, the daughter of Toda Yasumitsu.
Military Struggles
Hirotada aligned with Imagawa Yoshimoto to combat Oda Nobuhide at the First Battle of Azukizaka in 1542. The coalition suffered a defeat, further weakening Hirotada’s position. In 1543, his uncle, Matsudaira Nobutaka, betrayed the family and allied with the Oda clan, exacerbating the clan's challenges.
Assassination and Legacy
In 1549, when Hirotada's son Takechiyo was only six years old, Hirotada was betrayed and assassinated by his own retainers, who had been bribed by the Oda clan. Despite his untimely death, Hirotada’s legacy endured through his son, who rose to unify Japan and establish the Tokugawa shogunate.
In 1612, decades after his death, Hirotada was posthumously awarded the court rank of Dainagon by Tokugawa Ieyasu, honoring his father’s role in the clan’s history.
See also
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Okudaira Sadamasa
Sadamasa was the son of Okudaira Sadayoshi and took part in several battles under Tokugawa Ieyasu, distinguishing himself in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570, where he took two heads. Around 1572 he was forced to enter the service of the Takeda clan, but after the death of Takeda Shingen in 1573 he returned to Tokugawa, leaving Tsukude Castle together with his men. As a result of this defection, Takeda Katsuyori ordered the execution of Sadamasa’s wife and brother, who were being held as hostages.
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Okubo Tadatika
Tadatika, the son of Okubo Tadayō, entered the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the age of eleven, and took his first head in battle when he was sixteen. After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, he was appointed as a rōjū — a senior bakufu official — and was regarded as one of Ieyasu’s most trusted advisors, alongside Honda Masanobu. He is also known for his military chronicle Mikawa Monogatari, which describes Ieyasu’s rise to power and the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate.
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Okubo Nagayasu
Nagayasu was the second son of Okura Nobuyasu, a sarugaku theater actor from the Takeda clan. Takeda Shingen recognized the young man’s potential and took him into service, appointing him as a vassal to his general, Tsuchiya Masatsugu. During this period, Nagayasu changed his family name to Tsuchiya. He was entrusted with developing the Takeda clan’s gold mines as well as handling matters related to taxation.
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Nitta Yoshisada
Nitta Yoshisada was a loyal soldier of Emperor Go-Daigo, who in the 1330s attempted to restore direct imperial rule in Japan. The Nitta family was related to the Ashikaga house and was older in lineage. However, they did not join Minamoto Yoritomo at the start of his war with the Taira, as the Ashikaga did, and therefore did not receive high positions in the Kamakura shogunate. This may have been one of the reasons why Yoshisada rose against the Hōjō clan in 1333.
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Natsume Yoshinobu
Yoshinobu, a long-time vassal of the Matsudaira and Tokugawa clans, governed Hamamatsu Castle on behalf of the Tokugawa house. During the clashes between the Imagawa, Takeda, and Matsudaira clans, he served in the garrison of Nagasawa Castle and in 1562 took part in raids under the command of Itakura Shigezane. When, in 1563, a revolt of the Sōtō-shū sect followers broke out in Mikawa Province, Yoshinobu joined the rebels together with Honda Masanobu and Hachiya Sadatsugu.
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Nambu Nobunao
The Nambu clan was an ancient and powerful family that traced its lineage back to the Minamoto shoguns and had controlled a significant part of the Tohoku region in northern Honshu since the 12th century. Nobunao was born in Ikatai Castle, located in what is now the city of Iwate. He was the second son of Ishikawa (Nambu) Takanobu, the 22nd head of the Nambu clan. In 1565, Nobunao’s uncle, Nambu Harumasa, adopted him, brought him to Sannohe Castle, and named him his heir, later giving his daughter in marriage to him.
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Naito Ienaga
Ienaga was the son of Naitō Kiyonaga and served Tokugawa Ieyasu from an early age. Like his father, he was exceptionally brave, and thanks to his remarkable skill with the bow, he earned the nickname “the unrivaled archer.” Although both the elder and the younger Naitō belonged to the Jōdo Shinshū (“True Pure Land”) sect, during the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa Province in 1565, Ienaga did not support his fellow believers and instead sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu, earning his special trust. He later took part in the battles of Mikatagahara, Nagashino, and many other engagements while accompanying Ieyasu.
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Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Minamoto no Yoshitsune was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and his second wife, Tokiwa Gozen, as well as the younger half-brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the first shogunate, who had once suffered defeat in the struggle against the Taira clan. Yoshitsune spent his childhood in exile at the Kuramayama Temple. According to legend, he studied not so much Buddhist sutras there as the arts of war. At the age of fifteen, he entered the service of the governor in Mutsu, Fujiwara Hidehira.
