Born in modern-day Ibaragi City, Osaka, in 1542, the daimyo Nakagawa Kiyohide, also known as Nakagawa Toranosuke in his childhood and commonly referred to as Nakagawa Sebe, began his journey in the service of Ikeda Katsumasa, the daimyo of Settsu (now spanning Osaka and Hyogo Prefectures). However, he later sought independence.
In 1568, when Oda Nobunaga seized Kyoto under the pretext of aiding the Ashikaga Shogunate, the Ikeda clan, and Nakagawa Kiyohide's forces opposed him. Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Oda forces, both Kiyohide and Ikeda Katsumasa surrendered. Another encounter with Nobunaga occurred in 1578 when Araki Murashige of Itami Castle rebelled. Kiyohide followed suit, prompting Nobunaga to amass a formidable attack force. Once again, Kiyohide surrendered and, in an effort to reconcile with Nobunaga, turned his forces against the Araki clan. Pardoned by Nobunaga, Kiyohide subsequently served under Niwa Nagashige and Ikeda Tsuneoki, participating in several battles.
After Nobunaga's death in 1582, Kiyohide remained loyal to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, contributing to the Battle of Yamazaki. However, in the following year, during the Battle of Shizugatake, Nakagawa Kiyohide met his end while defending Oiwayama Toride, a small fort, falling to the forces led by Shibata Katsuie's general, Sakuma Morimasa.
Kiyohide's younger sister married Furuta Shigenari (Furuta Oribe), and his sons included Hidemasa, who married Oda Nobunaga's daughter, Tsuruhime, and Hidenari, who became the Daimyo of Oka (Oita in Kyushu).
See also
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Hosokawa Sumimoto
Sumimoto came from the Hosokawa clan: he was the biological son of Hosokawa Yoshiharu and at the same time the adopted son of Hosokawa Masamoto, the heir of Hosokawa Katsumoto, one of the principal instigators of the Ōnin War. Masamoto was homosexual, never married, and had no children of his own. At first he adopted Sumiyuki, a scion of the aristocratic Kujō family, but this choice provoked dissatisfaction and sharp criticism from the senior vassals of the Hosokawa house. As a result, Masamoto changed his decision and proclaimed Sumimoto as his heir, a representative of a collateral branch of the Hosokawa clan that had long been based in Awa Province on the island of Shikoku. Almost immediately after this, the boy became entangled in a complex and bitter web of political intrigue.
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Honda Masanobu
Masanobu initially belonged to the retinue of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but later entered the service of Sakai Shōgen, a daimyo and priest from Ueno. This shift automatically made him an enemy of Ieyasu, who was engaged in conflict with the Ikkō-ikki movement in Mikawa Province. After the Ikkō-ikki were defeated in 1564, Masanobu was forced to flee, but in time he returned and once again entered Ieyasu’s service. He did not gain fame as a military commander due to a wound sustained in his youth; nevertheless, over the following fifty years he consistently remained loyal to Ieyasu.
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Honda Masazumi
Masazumi was the eldest son of Honda Masanobu. From a young age, he served Tokugawa Ieyasu alongside his father, taking part in the affairs of the Tokugawa house and gradually gaining experience in both military and administrative matters. At the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Masazumi was part of the core Tokugawa forces, a clear sign of the high level of trust Ieyasu placed in him. After the campaign ended, he was given a highly sensitive assignment—serving in the guard of the defeated Ishida Mitsunari, one of Tokugawa’s principal enemies—an obligation that required exceptional reliability and caution.
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Hojo Shigetoki
Hōjō Shigetoki, the third son of Hōjō Yoshitoki, was still very young—only five years old—when his grandfather Tokimasa became the first member of the Hōjō clan to assume the position of shogunal regent.
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Hojo Masako
Masako was one of the most influential and powerful political figures of the era of military rule in Japan. She was the daughter of Hōjō Tokimasa and the wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo.
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Hojo Soun
Hōjō Nagaudji was one of the prominent military commanders of the late Muromachi period. Thanks to a successful marriage alliance and skillful use of political intrigue, he managed to concentrate full power over the provinces of Suruga, Izu, and Sagami in his own hands. His origins remain unclear, but there is a possibility that he was connected to the Heiji clan of Ise Province, since early in his life he bore the name Ise Shinkurō.
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Hirano Nagayasu
From an early age, Hirano Nagayasu was in the service of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, since Nagayasu’s father, Nagaharu, had faithfully served Hideyoshi during Hideyoshi’s own childhood. Thus, the connection between the Hirano family and the Toyotomi house was established long before Hideyoshi’s rise to power and took the form of hereditary vassal loyalty.
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Hattori Hanzo
Hattori Hanzō, also known by the name Hattori Masanari, was the third son of Hattori Yasunaga, a samurai who served the Matsudaira clan. In his childhood he was called Tigachi Hanzō. His father held the highest rank in the shinobi hierarchy, that of jōnin, and Hanzō followed in his father’s footsteps, choosing the same path.
