Ōkubo Tadataka

Ōkubo Tadataka
Ōkubo Tadataka
Born	1560 Kamiwada, Mikawa Province
Died	April 2, 1639
Occupation	Hatamoto
Nationality	Japanese
Subjects	History
Notable work(s)	Mikawa Monogatari

Ōkubo Tadataka (大久保忠教, Ōkubo Tadataka^?) or Ōkubo Hikozaemon (彦左衛門) (1560 – April 2, 1639) was a Japanese warrior in the Sengoku and Edo periods. He was the eighth son of Ōkubo Tadakazu, a vassal of the Tokugawa clan. Tadataka wrote the Mikawa Monogatari (三河物語, Mikawa Monogatari^?), a work he wrote for his descendants, telling the way a warrior should live, mixed with a chronicle of the accomplishments of the Tokugawa and Ōkubo clans.

[edit] Biography

Tadataka was born in Kamiwada, Mikawa Province, the son of Tokugawa retainer Ōkubo Tadakazu. His older brother was Ōkubo Tadayo. He joined Tadayo at age 17 for his first campaign, during the subjugation of Tōtōmi Province. Tadataka's first battle was the siege of Inui Castle. From then on, he fought in many battles, under Tadayo or his other brother, Ōkubo Tadasuke. Tadataka served with distinction at the Battle of Takatenjin Castle, taking the head of enemy general Okabe Motonobu. He also fought at the siege of Ueda Castle. After the Siege of Odawara, when Tokugawa Ieyasu moved to the Kantō Region, he granted Tadataka with 3,000 koku, and made him a yari-bugyō (magistrate of spears) in the Tokugawa main battle camp.

Site of Tadataka's grave at Ryūgyōji Temple in Tokyo

Tadataka also served at Sekigahara and the Siege of Osaka; his service stretched over the careers of the first three Tokugawa shoguns.

Tadataka died at age 80. His graves are in Okazaki, Kyoto, and at Ryūgyōji Temple, in Tokyo.

[edit] References

• (Japanese) Japanese Wiki article on Tadataka (21 Sept. 2007)

[edit] Further Reading

• Bolitho, Harold (1974). Treasures among men; the fudai daimyo in Tokugawa Japan. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Tsumoto Yō 津本陽 (2004). Ōkubo Hikozaemon: fufū no toki koso 大久保彦左衛門: 不遇の時こそ. Tokyo: Kōbunsha 光文社.