Matsudaira Nagachika (1473–1544?) was a daimyō of Japan’s Sengoku period and the third son of Matsudaira Chikatada. He was also the great-grandfather of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
In 1496, Nagachika succeeded his father as the head of the main branch of the Matsudaira clan. At the time, the Matsudaira clan was locked in a bitter conflict with the neighboring Imagawa clan over control of Mikawa Province. Shortly after assuming leadership, Nagachika was attacked by Imagawa Ujichika but emerged victorious after a hard-fought battle.
Beyond his military achievements, Nagachika was also skilled in the art of renga poetry. His decade-long leadership was marked by the consolidation of the Matsudaira family's power in Mikawa—a foundation that would later prove crucial for the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
In 1508, conflict with the Imagawa reignited, and Nagachika once again successfully repelled their forces. That same year, he formally passed leadership of the clan to his eldest son, Nobutada, then 28 years old, and retired. However, despite stepping down, Nagachika continued to fight alongside Nobutada and later served as guardian to his grandson, Kiyoyasu.
Nobutada struggled with leadership and alienated many of the Matsudaira clan's vassals. Under pressure and fearing for his life, he relinquished power to his son, Kiyoyasu, and withdrew from public affairs. Nagachika then took on the role of mentor to his grandson, just as he had with his son.
Under Nagachika’s guidance in the early 1530s, Kiyoyasu pressed forward against the Imagawa, particularly in eastern Mikawa. However, internal clan tensions remained. Kiyoyasu faced rivalry from his uncle, Matsudaira Nobusada, and animosity from vassal Abe Masatoyo. On December 5, 1535, Abe Masatoyo assassinated Kiyoyasu, who was just 24 years old at the time.
Following Kiyoyasu’s death, a power struggle over leadership of the Matsudaira clan erupted between Nobusada and Kiyoyasu’s nine-year-old son, Matsudaira Hirotada. Hirotada, who would later become the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu, sought support by aligning himself with the Imagawa clan.Though briefly ousted from Mikawa by Nobusada, Hirotada managed to rally enough support to reclaim leadership. However, Nobusada remained a persistent source of trouble.
Over time, Hirotada solidified his authority, while his great-grandfather, Matsudaira Nagachika, withdrew completely from clan affairs. Nagachika died on August 22, 1544, at the age of 72.
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.
