Masanobu Honda (1/2)A man who was called a friend by the people of the world

The period, which was called the Sengoku period after Chinese history, was brought to an end by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Among the vassals who helped Ieyasu unify the country, there was a military commander who was said to have a ``friend'' relationship, Masanobu Honda. Masanobu Honda was born in Mikawa Province and was a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but once left Ieyasu and wandered around the country. Afterwards, he returned to the Tokugawa family and helped Ieyasu. This time we will look at Honda Masanobu, who was said to be a friend of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

What is the Honda family that produced Masanobu Honda?

The Honda family produced Masanobu Honda. The Honda family is one of the Ansho Fudai (seven families since Ansho) that served the Matsudaira family (predecessor of the Tokugawa family) for a long time. ``Ansho Fudai'' is a general term for the vassals who served the Matsudaira family from the time when they were still a small ruling family ruling the area around Ansho Castle in Mikawa Province.

Seven families are represented: Sakai, Okubo, Honda, Abe, Ishikawa, Aoyama, and Uemura. The Honda family was one of these ancient vassals.

The Honda family was said to have 50 feudal lord hatamoto families at the beginning of the Edo Shogunate, and there were many branches of the main branch, and during the Sengoku period, there were many military commanders named Honda ○○ among the vassals of Tokugawa Ieyasu. So to avoid any misunderstandings, I will list the relatively famous Honda family.

Heihachiro family (Honda Tadakatsu)

The Heihachiro family was one of the most influential Honda families. When Tokugawa Ieyasu took over the Matsudaira family, he had one of his vassals who was good at fighting, Honda Tadakatsu (Heihachiro). Honda Tadakatsu had a strong ability to read the flow in battle, and Tokugawa Ieyasu trusted this younger vassal and named him one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings (Tadatsugu Sakai, Tadakatsu Honda, Yasumasa Sakakibara, and Naomasa Ii). Among the many Honda families, the Heihachiro family established a marriage relationship with the Tokugawa family by producing Honda Tadakatsu, and flourished greatly in the early Edo period.

Sakuzaemon family (Shigeji Honda)

The Honda Sakuzaemon family was the lord of Ohira Castle, Nukata District, Mikawa Province. When Tokugawa Ieyasu became the head of the Matsudaira family, Honda Shigetsugu was a member of Sakuzaemon (hereinafter referred to as the Sakusa family). Shigetsugu had strong loyalty to Tokugawa Ieyasu and was courageous, but he had a short temper and was easily angered. The shortest letter in Japan is an anecdote that shows his direct personality. During the Battle of Nagashino, he wrote a letter to his wife that read, ``One word of caution: Osen (my eldest son), don't lose weight, don't let your horses get fat.'' Although Shigetsugu was called ``Oni Sakusa'' by the people, he had a fair and honest personality, and served as one of the three Mikawa magistrates. After that, the Sakuzaemon family split into several branches, but continued until the Meiji era, including joining the Echizen domain (present-day Fukui prefecture) as a chief retainer during the Edo period.

Hikohachiro family (Honda Tadatsugu)

Honda Tadatsugu was the lord of Ina Castle, Ii District, a Mikawa National Treasure. When Tokugawa Ieyasu became independent from the Imagawa family and Mikawa Province was not yet fully consolidated, Honda Tadatsugu went around the eastern part of Mikawa Province to persuade the Tokugawa family (Matsudaira family) to return. Thanks to these efforts during the founding period of the Tokugawa family, the Hikohachiro family was established as several daimyo (feudal lords) during the Edo period, and continued into the Meiji period.

Yahachiro family (Masanobu Honda)

And the Yahachiro family, which produced Masanobu Honda. The Yahachiro family is also one of the Honda families, but their coat color is slightly different from other Honda families. As will be discussed later, Masanobu Honda ran away from Mikawa Province once when he was young and wandered. Masanobu's younger brother, Honda Masashige, was so strong that Oda Nobunaga called him ``the bravest man on Kaido,'' but after Masanobu returned to the Tokugawa clan, this younger brother, Masashige, ran away from the Tokugawa clan. Furthermore, Masanobu's second son and Masashige's children also ran away from the Tokugawa family. Among the samurai of Mikawa, represented by the ``Mikawa Samurai,'' loyalty to the Tokugawa family and courage on the battlefield were sought after, and the Honda Yahachiro family, many of whom had left the Tokugawa family once, was a heresy. Honda Tadakatsu, who was a member of the Honda family, hated Masanobu Honda, who was both a wise man and a heretic, and even went so far as to say, ``Even though we belong to the same Honda family, we are completely unrelated to Masanobu Honda.'' The family was seen as heretical even among the Mikawa samurai. In this way, Masanobu Honda was born from among the many Honda families among the Tokugawa families in Mikawa.

Masanobu Honda in his youth

Masanobu Honda was born in 1538 as the second son of Toshimasa Honda, who was a vassal of Tadanao Sakai, a senior vassal of the Matsudaira family in Mikawa Province. Masanobu was born as the son of a vassal of the Tokugawa family (Matsudaira family), who later established the Edo shogunate. It seems that he was on the battlefield around the time of the Battle of Okehazama, and fought under Tokugawa Ieyasu (Motoyasu Matsudaira), who participated in the war as a member of the Imagawa side. One theory is that he was injured in one of his legs during the Battle of Okehazama, and since then he has been walking with a limp.

This happened in 1563, when Masanobu Honda was in his mid-twenties. Tadanao Sakai, who served with his father, rebelled against Tokugawa Ieyasu. At first, Toshimasa Honda resisted Tokugawa Ieyasu by following his master Tadayasu Sakai, but in the following year, 1564, he left the Sakai family and served Tokugawa Ieyasu (at this time Motoyasu Matsudaira), becoming his direct vassal. have become. Here Masanobu Honda's Yahachiro family became direct vassals of the Tokugawa family.

However, in the same year that he became a vassal, Eiroku 7 (1564). The Ikko-Ikki uprising takes place in Mikawa Province. Masanobu Honda and his younger brother Masashige sided with the uprising as followers of the Jodo Shinshu sect. On the other hand, his father Toshimasa Honda and his eldest son Shigesada Aono (Masanobu Honda's older brother) fought alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu. As a result, the Ikko Ikki was suppressed by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Honda Masanobu fled Mikawa Province.
　
Now, Masanobu Honda ran away from Mikawa Province. No details are known about his period from his mid-twenties to his prime years. It is said that he went to Kaga Province (present-day Ishikawa Prefecture) and led the Ikko Ikki.

In 1700, Shiraishi Arai collected and compiled hearsay and compiled the ``Hankanfu,'' which states that he stopped in Kinai and met or served Hide Matsunaga. At this time, Hisashi Matsunaga said of Honda Masanobu, ``It is not uncommon to see Tokugawa samurai, but most of them are men who are devoted to military prowess.However, one Masanobu is not strong, soft, or base, and is extremely capable. "It's a vessel."

Masanobu Honda thus left Mikawa Province, but at the latest around 1582, when the Honnoji Incident occurred, he returned to the Tokugawa family through the intercession of Tadayo Okubo.

Prominence within the Tokugawa family

Masanobu Honda returned to the Tokugawa family through Tadayo Okubo's mediation, but at first he worked as a falconer for Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, when the Honnoji Incident occurred, Tokugawa Ieyasu took over Shinano (present-day Nagano Prefecture) and Kai Province (present-day Yamanashi Prefecture) by himself. In Shinano Province, Tadayo Okubo was placed as the Sobugyo of Shinshu, and Masanobu Honda also went to Shinshu as a subordinate of Tadayo. Masanobu Honda, who entered Shinano Province, successfully appealed to the Takeda family's former vassals in Shinshu and Kai to become part of the Tokugawa family in exchange for the relief of their territory. Around this time, he began to show his administrative abilities as a magistrate.