※圖片為示意圖。Kunohe Masazane
九戸政実
Leader of the Kunohe Rebellion, the final battle of Hideyoshi's unification of Japan
介紹
Life
Kunohe Masazane (1536-1591) headed the Kunohe clan, a branch of the Nanbu family in Mutsu Province, and was lord of Kunohe Castle. The Kunohe are said to descend from Yukitsura, sixth son of Nanbu Mitsuyuki, founder of the Nanbu clan.
The Kunohe Rebellion
When Tago Nobunao (later Nanbu Nobunao) was chosen over Masazane's younger brother Sanechika as head of the Sannohe Nanbu family, tensions between Masazane and Nobunao deepened. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's vermilion-seal decree recognized Nobunao as head of the Nanbu clan and demanded other Nanbu branches submit to him, Masazane rose in revolt in March 1591. In September, a punitive force of 60,000 troops under supreme commander Toyotomi Hidetsugu surrounded Kunohe Castle, a stronghold protected on three sides by the Mabechi, Shirotori, and Nekobuchi rivers.
Surrender and Death
Masazane accepted a call to surrender and opened the castle gates in white funerary robes on September 4. Taken into custody, he was beheaded at Sannohazama on Hidetsugu's orders at the age of 56.
Legacy
The Kunohe Rebellion is regarded as the final campaign of Hideyoshi's unification of Japan, and Masazane is remembered as the warrior who upheld Nanbu pride to the end, honored today alongside the ruins of Kunohe Castle in Iwate Prefecture.