Ogasawara Nagatoki

Ogasawara Nagatoki was a Sengoku warrior and head of the Shinano Ogasawara clan, holders of the Shinano shugo post under the Muromachi shogunate. Born on 9 November 1514, he died at Aizu on 17 April 1583, reportedly aged 70. His court rank was Junior Fifth Rank Upper, and he held the titles Shinano-no-kami and Daizen-daibu. His childhood name was Toyomatsumaru and his Buddhist name Kosetsusai. His father was Ogasawara Nagamune.

He came of age in 1526 at 13 and seems to have succeeded as head around 1541. In 1545 he opposed Takeda Harunobu (Shingen)'s advance into Ina but lost Ryugasaki Castle. In 1548 he marched on Suwa with Murakami Yoshikiyo and others and was defeated at the battle of Shiojiri Pass. In 1550 he lost his base at Hayashi Castle, and the Shinano Ogasawara fell.

Around 1555 he relied on Miyoshi Nagayoshi, went to Kyoto and had an audience with Ashikaga Yoshiteru. He is said to have taught riding to Hosokawa Rokuro (later Hosokawa Akimoto), a hostage of Miyoshi Nagayoshi. In 1562 he handed the Ogasawara-ryu tradition of archery, horsemanship and etiquette to Akazawa Tsunenao (Ogasawara Sadatsune), splitting the lineage. He later stayed with Uesugi Kenshin, was received by Oda Nobunaga in 1581 and took part in the Kyoto horse parade, and in old age was taken in as a guest by Ashina Moriuji at Aizu.

His wife was a daughter of Nishina Morinori; his sons include Nagataka, Sadatsugu and Sadayoshi, the last of whom stayed with the Oda, later served Tokugawa Ieyasu and recovered the family's old domain.

He is described as brave and skilled in archery and riding but weak at commanding his men. The cause of his death is disputed; most sources say he was killed by his retainer Bansai Katsusaburo, supposedly after behaving rudely to a retainer's wife at a banquet, though natural death and misunderstanding theories also exist. He was played by Arai Yasuhiro in the 1988 taiga drama Takeda Shingen and by Imai Tomohiko in Furin Kazan (2007).