Oda Nobuyoshi (織田信良)
Nobuyoshi ODA (1573 - May 15, 1615) was a person who lived during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period to the Edo Period. He was the eighth son of Nobunaga ODA. His mother was Kyoun-in (Onabe no kata [Lady Onabe]).
Summary
His mother was Kyoun-in (Onabe no kata [Lady Onabe]), and Nobutaka ODA was his older brother by the same mother (although in reality, he was born in 1576 and was younger, but according to the order of precedence within the Oda family, Nobutaka was situated higher and therefore he was treated as his older brother for convenience sake). His official court rank was Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) with the post of Governor of Musashi Province. His childhood name was Shaku (ladle). This name was given in relation with his mother's other name 'Onabe no kata' which was composed of the character that means'鍋' 'nabe' (pot). In "Ogura-shi Saichi Origami Shahei Zakki" (memorandum record on the territorial certificates of the Ogura clan) (historical document owned by The University of Tokyo), it is written 'Nobuyoshi, the name in his infancy, Shaku Chomaru (長丸), Oda Musashi no Kami (Governor of Musashi Province Oda), a pseudonym after tonsure, Doboku,' and therefore, it is possible that his childhood name was Chomaru (長丸). In relation to this, there is a study that argues that the so-called 'Eighth son, scion of the Prime Minister, Chomaru (長丸),' who carried Nobunaga's Buddhist mortuary tablet in his funeral at the Daitoku-ji Temple, was Nobuyoshi.
After the Honnoji Incident, he was placed in confinement at home in Kokura with his mother Koun-in, however, in 1583 he was summoned by Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, and he was conferred the surname of 'Hashiba', as well as given an official post as the Governor of Musashi Province, and territories that produced a total stipend of 2,000-koku crop yield in Takano-mura Village, Kanzaki Country and Uo-mura Village, Inugami Country in Omi Province. The post he held in the Toyotomi family is unknown. As the time of Nobuyoshi's change of surname varies according to different documents, the possibility that Hidetsugu HASHIBA conveyed the above mentioned surname to Nobuyoshi can not be discarded. Although he had a stipend of 20,000-koku according to "Omi Yochi-shiryaku" (Summary of topography regarding Omi Province) and "Omi Onkoroku" (Record of old matters in Omi Province), he received Shuinjo (a vermilion seal letter) which provided authorization for the ownership of lands with a 2,000-koku stipend in total and a guarantee of their feudal tenure from the chief retainer of the Toyotomi clan, and therefore, the figure of 2,000-koku seems to be correct.
During the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he supported the West squad, joined Tamehiro HIRATSUKA's army with his younger brother Nagatsugu ODA., and set out to the front with 500 soldiers as a defensive force for the Yoshitsugu OTANI troops. In the main fight that took place on September 15th, despite the commander-in-chief Yoshitsugu and other military commanders of the West squad troops, including Tamehiro and Nagatsugu, having fought to the death, Nobuyoshi succeeded in escaping the battle with his life. After the Battle, he underwent Kaieki (sudden dismissal and deprivation of position, privileges and properties), and relied on the Toyotomi family and lived under the family's protection in Osaka. After the fall of the Toyotomi family, he lived in Kyoto. During this period, he entered into priesthood and called himself Doboku (道卜). He died at the age of 43 on April 18, 1615. Posthumous Buddhist name: Shokain Ungen Doboku (省華院雲厳道ト).
Descendents
He had a son and a daughter, and his son Nobuyuki ODA (Samanosuke [vice-minister of Left Division of Bureau of Horses]) (1602 - 1665) became a priest and his daughter became Sezaemon TAKEMORI's wife, after serving as a waiting woman to the Kishu Tokugawa family. Ryoho's (了甫) children became retainers of Takakuni KYOGOKU and others.
His descendents, who migrated to Mito, settled there and used the surname 'Tsuda.'
On Nobuyoshi's gravestone at Soken-in of the Daitoku-ji Temple, the words 'Ancestors of Mito-Tsuda Family' are engraved.