Takeda Nobuyoshi

武田信吉

Ieyasu's fifth son who revived the Takeda house and became young lord of Mito's 150,000-koku domain

Era: Early Edo period
Lifespan: 1583-1603

Description

Origins and the Revival of the Takeda House

Takeda Nobuyoshi (1583-1603) was born in 1583 in Hamamatsu, Tōtōmi Province, as the fifth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. His mother was Otsuma (Shimoyama-dono), daughter of Akiyama Toratai, a former retainer of the Kai Takeda clan. Reluctant to see the name of the prestigious Takeda house die out, Ieyasu had Nobuyoshi take the Takeda surname. As a result, Nobuyoshi stood, in formal terms, as the one to revive the Takeda house, which had been interrupted by the destruction of Takeda Katsuyori in 1582.

Succession of Holdings

In 1590, at the age of eight, he was granted 30,000 koku as lord of Koganei Castle in Shimōsa, and he later moved to Sakura Castle in the same province, holding 40,000 koku. In the eleventh month of 1602, at the age of twenty, he was enfeoffed at Mito Castle in Hitachi Province and became a daimyo with 150,000 koku (some accounts say 250,000). Although still young, he was valued as a son of Ieyasu and entrusted with Mito, a key strategic position, which shows the high hopes Ieyasu placed in Nobuyoshi.

Early Death and the Second Extinction of the Takeda House

Nobuyoshi is said to have been sickly from birth, and less than a year after entering Mito, he died on 15 October 1603 (Keichō 8, 9th month, 11th day) at the age of twenty-one. As he left no heir, the Takeda house name that Ieyasu had revived was extinguished again with Nobuyoshi's death.

Legacy

Nobuyoshi's life was brief, and little record remains of his political or military accomplishments, but he is positioned as a figure emblematic of the process by which Ieyasu conciliated the former Takeda retainers and incorporated the former Takeda domains and vassals into the Tokugawa order. Many of the retainers said to have been assigned to Nobuyoshi are also pointed out to have later formed part of the foundation of the Mito Tokugawa retainer band.