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.
In 1566 and 1568, Nobunao successfully repelled two invasions by the neighboring daimyo Ando Chikasue in the Kazuno area. In 1570, one of Harumasa’s concubines gave birth to a son, Harutsugu, but despite this, Nobunao remained the official heir until 1576, when his wife died and his position within the clan weakened. Officially, he renounced his status as heir himself and withdrew to Ne Castle in Hachinohe. When Harumasa died in 1582, Harutsugu became the 25th head of the Nambu clan, but he died just a year later—reportedly from smallpox. Persistent rumors circulated, however, suggesting Nobunao might have had a hand in his death. After Harutsugu’s passing, the clan split into factions supporting and opposing Nobunao, and the selection of a new clan leader was delayed for a long time.
In 1590, Nobunao sought the support of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had effectively become the ruler of all Japan. Along with his supporters, he swore loyalty to Hideyoshi, presenting him with a gift of one hundred horses and fifty falcons, and then led a thousand warriors to assist his overlord in the Odawara campaign. When he returned, his rights to the northern part of Mutsu Province were officially confirmed by the new ruler of Japan, and Nobunao became the 26th head of the Nambu clan. This decision greatly displeased Kunohé Masazane, who believed he had a stronger claim to the title. In 1591, Masazane launched a rebellion that became known as the Kunohé Rebellion.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi took the uprising as a personal challenge and sent a massive army of sixty thousand men to support Nobunao. Many renowned commanders of the Sengoku period took part in the campaign, including Maeda Toshiie, Date Masamune, Mogami Yoshiaki, Satake Yoshishige, Gamo Ujisato, and the future shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The rebellion was crushed in a very short time. Masazane became the last daimyo not under central control, and after his defeat, Japan was fully unified under Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s authority.
In 1592, Hideyoshi ordered Nobunao to lead a thousand-man contingent to the city of Nagoya on Kyushu and await deployment to Korea. However, this reserve force was never used, and the troops eventually returned home without taking part in the invasion. That same year, Nobunao decided to move his seat from Sannohe to Morioka and began the construction of a new castle. He did not live to see its completion, dying in 1599 in Kunohé Castle. He was succeeded by his son, Nambu Toshinao, who became the first lord of the Morioka Domain under the new administrative system of the Tokugawa shogunate.
See also
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Yamagata Masakage
Masakage was one of Takeda Shingen’s most loyal and capable commanders. He was included in the famous list of the “Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen” and also belonged to the inner circle of four especially trusted warlords known as the Shitennō.
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Yagyu Munenori
Yagyū Munenori began his service under Tokugawa Ieyasu while his father, Yagyū Muneyoshi, was still at his side. In 1600, Munenori took part in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. As early as 1601, he was appointed a kenjutsu instructor to Tokugawa Hidetada, Ieyasu’s son, who later became the second shogun of the Tokugawa clan.
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Yagyu Muneyoshi
A samurai from Yamato Province, he was born into a family that had been defeated in its struggle against the Tsutsui clan. Muneyoshi first took part in battle at the age of sixteen. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was forced to enter the service of the Tsutsui house and later served Miyoshi Tōkei. He subsequently came under the command of Matsunaga Hisahide and in time became a vassal first of Oda and later of Toyotomi.
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Endo Naozune
Naozune served under Azai Nagamasa and was one of the clan’s leading vassals, renowned for his bravery and determination. He accompanied Nagamasa during his first meeting with Oda Nobunaga and at that time asked for permission to kill Nobunaga, fearing him as an extremely dangerous man; however, Nagamasa did not grant this request.
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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.
