Azai Hisamasa

Azai Hisamasa (1526-1573) was the second head of the Azai clan, which ruled northern Ōmi (present-day northern Shiga Prefecture), and the father of Azai Nagamasa. Because he took a subordinate position under Rokkaku Sadayori and Yoshikata, he is said to have faced criticism from within his own retainers. Around Eiroku 3 (1560), he handed the headship of the family to his eldest son, Nagamasa. He then supported Nagamasa's rule as a guardian, but during Oda Nobunaga's attack on Odani Castle in 1573, he took his own life at Komaru, and the next day Nagamasa also killed himself. He met a tragic end, but it is also said that the financial foundations of the Azai family were put in order during Hisamasa's era, which made Nagamasa's later achievements possible.