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.
When the Takeda clan was destroyed in 1582, Nagayasu entered the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was adopted by Okubo Tadatika and took his family name. Nagayasu assisted Tokugawa administrators in restoring operations at the mines of Kai Province and in establishing a system for governing newly acquired territories.
After Ieyasu was transferred to the Kanto region in 1590, Nagayasu took part in the cadastral survey of the new Tokugawa lands, the results of which proved crucial for Ieyasu when distributing land among his vassals.
Following Ieyasu’s victory in the Sekigahara campaign of 1600, Nagayasu was appointed overseer of mining operations, which included supervision of silver and gold mines. In this role he was highly valuable to Ieyasu, although he was suspected of fraud. Nevertheless, Nagayasu was granted the domain of Hachijo in Musashi Province, with an income of 30,000 koku of rice, and in 1606 he assumed the post of daikan in Izu Province, where he supervised tax collection and the financial administration of the region. His influence was so great that he earned the nickname Tenka-no-Sodaikan — the “Great Administrator of the Realm.”
Nagayasu became entangled in a feud with Honda Masazumi, who sought to tarnish the entire Okubo clan. Over time, Nagayasu lost Ieyasu’s favor, since Ieyasu grew dissatisfied with the continual decline in gold and silver production. Gradually, Nagayasu was stripped of all his high-ranking positions.
After his death in April 1613, his illegal dealings came to light, and his family was punished: their lands were confiscated, and his children were ordered to commit suicide.
See also
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Takeda Nobuyoshi
Takeda Nobuyoshi (1128–1186 or later) was a prominent Japanese samurai lord of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods and the founder of the Takeda clan.
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Tokugawa Iemochi
Tokugawa Iemochi (1846–1866) was the fourteenth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1858 until his death. His reign came during the turbulent final years of the shogunate, when Japan faced growing Western pressure and serious internal political conflict.
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Tokugawa Ienari
Tokugawa Ienari (1773–1841) was the eleventh shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1787 to 1837, making him the longest-serving Tokugawa shōgun. He was a great-grandson of the eighth shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshimune.
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Matsudaira Nobuyasu
Matsudaira Nobuyasu was only twenty years old when his father ordered him to commit seppuku. The reason was not a defeat in battle, but a crisis inside the Tokugawa family that had become too dangerous to ignore.
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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.
