Sadamasa was the son of Okudaira Sadayoshi and took part in several battles under Tokugawa Ieyasu, distinguishing himself in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570, where he took two heads. Around 1572 he was forced to enter the service of the Takeda clan, but after the death of Takeda Shingen in 1573 he returned to Tokugawa, leaving Tsukude Castle together with his men. As a result of this defection, Takeda Katsuyori ordered the execution of Sadamasa’s wife and brother, who were being held as hostages.
Tokugawa Ieyasu allowed Sadamasa to marry his eldest daughter, Kame-hime. As a reward he received Nagashino Castle and became renowned during its siege in 1575, successfully repelling all attacks by Katsuyori’s forces. This campaign ended with the major Battle of Nagashino.
Oda Nobunaga was so impressed by Sadamasa’s leadership that he granted him the character “nobu” from his own name. After that, Sadamasa took the new name Nobumasa. For his participation in the campaign he also received from Ieyasu the valuable sword Daihannya, named after a Buddhist sutra. The blade had been crafted by Osafune Nagamitsu during the Kamakura period, had belonged to the Ashikaga shoguns, and later came into the possession of Oda Nobunaga, who gifted it to Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Anegawa.
When Ieyasu moved to the Kanto region in 1590, Sadamasa received lands in the province of Kozuke with an income of 30,000 koku of rice. During the 1600 campaign he took part in the siege of Ueda Castle under Tokugawa Hidetada.
In 1601 Sadamasa was transferred to Mino Province, where he built Kano Castle and donated funds for the construction of the Kano Tenmangu Shrine. In 1602 he retired and passed the castle to his third son, Okudaira Tadamasa. His daughter married Okubo Tadatsune.
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.
