Okubo Tadayo (1532 – October 28, 1594) was a samurai general who served Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and later became the daimyo of Odawara Domain in the early Edo period.
Born in Mikawa Province (modern-day Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture), Tadayo was the eldest son of Okubo Tadakazu, a hereditary retainer of the Tokugawa clan. He was also known by the nickname "Shinjuro." As one of Ieyasu’s sixteen generals, he was entrusted with the defense of Futamata Castle in Totomi Province and played a key role in several major battles.
In 1564, Tadayo fought in the Battle of Azukizaka against the Ikko-ikki in Mikawa Province. During the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, he and Amano Yasukage led a small but effective group of Tokugawa foot soldiers and matchlock gunners in a surprise attack on the Takeda camp, causing confusion in their ranks.
In 1574, when Oga Yashiro, a minor Tokugawa official, was discovered plotting with the Takeda clan to overthrow Ieyasu, Tadayo was tasked with eliminating him. Acting on orders from the Okazaki magistrate, Ooka Tadasuke, Tadayo swiftly captured Yashiro, paraded him through Hamamatsu Castle, and then carried out a brutal execution—mutilating him alive with a saw. He also ordered the crucifixion of Yashiro’s wife and children as a warning to other would-be traitors.
Tadayo accompanied Ieyasu in nearly all of his military campaigns, including the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. Following Oda Nobunaga’s assassination in 1582, Ieyasu expanded his control into Shinano Province, assigning Tadayo to oversee operations from Komoro Castle.
After the Battle of Odawara in 1590, Ieyasu was relocated to the Kanto region by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As a reward for his service, Tadayo was elevated to the rank of daimyo and granted Odawara Domain, with an income of 45,000 koku. He ruled there until his death in 1594, after which his son, Okubo Tadachika, succeeded him.
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.
