Tsugaru Tamenobu

Tsugaru Tamenobu (1550-1608) was a Sengoku-period daimyō who achieved independence in the Tsugaru region (present-day western Aomori Prefecture), then under the control of the Nanbu clan, and laid the foundations of the Tsugaru Domain. Known as a “cunning warlord” who won independence from the Nanbu main line through strategy and martial prowess, he was also a statesman who pursued skillful diplomacy with the Toyotomi regime to secure the survival of his house.

Tamenobu was originally the head of the Ōura clan, which is said to have been a branch of the Nanbu clan. From around 1571 he gradually began to seek independence from the Nanbu. He expanded his power by capturing one surrounding castle after another, and in Tenshō 6 (1578) he took Namioka Castle, further extending his influence. Using Ōura Castle as his base, he consolidated de facto independence. Many records of this process describe his use of stratagems and unorthodox tactics, which is the source of his reputation as a “cunning warlord.”

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the realm, Tamenobu quickly moved closer to the Toyotomi government. At the Siege of Odawara in 1590, he followed Hideyoshi and joined the campaign, and his domain was confirmed in return. Around this time he became an adopted nominal son (yūshi) of the Konoe family, changed his family name from Ōura to Tsugaru, and established the standing of an independent house as the Tsugaru family. At the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), he fought with the Eastern Army together with his third son, Tsugaru Nobuhira (his eldest son, Tsugaru Nobutake, was at Osaka Castle). After the war he received an increase of 2,000 koku at Ōdate in Kōzuke Province.

In connection with swords, there is a tachi (signed "Tomonari saku"; Important Cultural Property) that Tamenobu is said to have received from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After being passed down to successive domain lords, it was donated to Takateru Shrine by Tsugaru Tsuguakira, the last domain lord, and it is now housed at the Takaoka-no-Mori Hirosaki Domain History Museum.