The Comeback Kid

Niwa Nagashige was born on May 11, 1571, at a time of great upheaval in Japan. The warring states period in Japan had been going on for a century by the time of his birth, with regional feudal lords jockeying for advantage and waging war against their neighbors. His father, Nagahide, was a vassal of the Oda clan. In 1582, when Nagashige would have been 11 years old (12 in the Japanese system of counting at the time), Oda Nobunaga was betrayed by Akechi Mitsuhide and forced to commit Seppuku at Honno-ji temple in Kyoto. The death of Oda Nobunaga was swiftly avenged, and the Niwa clan swore loyalty to the avenger, Hashiba Hideyoshi (who would later change his family name to Toyotomi). In November of that year, his father Nagahide met with Hideyoshi, and young Nagashige was betrothed to the fifth daughter of Oda Nobunaga. His wife is mostly lost to history; we do not even know her birth name or who her mother was. According to records, 11-year-old Nagashige's bride was age 8 when their marriage was ordained.

In 1583, in what must have been a 'take your child to work day' event, Nagashige accompanied his father at the Battle of Shizugatake. Forces loyal to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, including the Niwa clan, fought Shibata Katsuie, who supported Oda Nobutaka, third son of Oda Nobunaga, for succession. The ruling council, headed by Hideyoshi, had declared Oda Hidenobu, grandson of Oda Nobunaga and child of Nobunaga's eldest son, to be the rightful heir. Hidenobu was only three years old, so Toyotomi Hideyoshi could rule as the guardian of Hidenobu. The Toyotomi forces won the day when a samurai leader named Sakuma Morimasa defied Katsuie's order to retreat and pressed on with an attack on Shizugatake castle, on the belief that the castle could be taken before Toyotomi's main force arrived. However, another leader named Maeda Toshiie unexpectedly withdrew from the conflict, slowing the advance by the Shibata forces, and Hideyoshi manufactured another incredible forced march as he had done at Yamazaki, and arrived after covering 50 miles in 6 hours on foot. Sakuma was captured and beheaded, and Shibata Katsuie retreated to his own castle in Echizen, murdered his own family, including his wife Oichi who was Oda Nobunaga's sister, set the donjon on fire and committed seppuku. The Niwa clan, having backed the winning side, saw its fortunes rise. The Niwa clan received Shibata Katsuie's land in Echizen.

In 1584, 13-year-old Nagashige led the Niwa clan forces at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, a long campaign where the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi (not yet called Toyotomi) fought forces advocating for Oda Nobunaga's second son, Nobukatsu, led by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The fighting lasted several months, and only ended when Nobukatsu independently negotiated peace with Hideyoshi, enraging Ieyasu. With his reason for fighting gone, Ieyasu sent his second son, Ogimaru, to Hideyoshi as a hostage and peace offering, and the conflict ended. Nagashige had been largely unconsequential to the fighting, being only 13 years old, but he was leading in place of his father, who was ill. When his father died the next year, Nagashige inherited all his father's holdings, some 1.23 million koku. Additionally, as a mark of great respect and affection, Hideyoshi bequeathed his family name, Hashiba, on Nagahide. He controlled lands in Echizen, Wakasa, and Kaga provinces.

However things began to turn against Nagashige, when he participated in the quelling of Sasa Narimasa, a feudal lord in neighboring Etchu province. While Nagashige's forces had only fought on the side of Hideyoshi, there were rumors that he had sent vassals in secret to negotiate with Narimasa. As a punishment, Hideyoshi seized the Echizen and Kaga holdings, leaving only Wakasa, 150,000 koku from 1.23 million. Later, as punishment for misbehavior by Nagashige's vassals, he was punished again in 1587, reduced to 40,000 koku, and stripped of most of Wakasa province. By 1588, he was seemingly back in the good graces of Hideyoshi, being awarded the new surname Hideyoshi had given himself, Toyotomi. In recognition of his service during Hideyoshi's pacification campaign against the Odawara clan, his holdings were transferred to Komatsu, where he was given control of 120,000 koku of land and given a gift rank of Jusanmi by Hideyoshi.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598, the Niwa clan again lost their patron. Nagashige, now a very mature 27, was secretly contacted by Tokugawa Ieyasu and asked to spy on feudal lord Maeda Toshinaga, who was in line to succeed his father as a member of the Council of Five Elders. Nagashige shadowed Maeda intensively for the next year and a half, which enraged Maeda to the point that he tried to kill him in 1600. However this was interrupted by the Battle of Sekigahara, where the Eastern army (led by Tokugawa Ieyasu) fought a conclusive battle against the Western army (led by Ishida Mitsunari.) Nagashige sided with the Western army, who lost, and as a result had all of his feudal domains confiscated.

Nagashige quickly rebounded, gaining 10,000 koku in Hitachi province and daimyo status in 1603. By 1614, he fought on the Tokugawa side during the Osaka seige when the remainders of the Oda and Toyotomi clans attempted to wrest control from the Tokugawa clan once again. His performance in this battle impressed Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and annointed successor to Tokugawa Ieyasu, that Hidetada named Nagashige as one of his "four stars" of the Osaka campaign. "Players of the Match" was a thing even in the 1600s, it would seem. Nagashige saw his lands increased first to 20,000 koku in 1619, and then in 1622 he was granted 50,000 koku in Mutsu province (present day Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Aomori prefectures.) Previous retainers of the Niwa clan, who had scattered to the four winds after Sekigahara, returned to serve Nagashige. He constructed a new castle at Tanagura, and continued to add to his holdings. When given more holdings in Shirakawa, he constructed another castle there to consolidate his power. Shirakawa Komine Castle had all stone walls, one of the few castles in the Tohoku region (Northeast Japan) to have this technology.

He died on April 18th, 1637, and was succeeded by his son Mitsushige. After death he was given the Buddhist name "Dairin-ji Denmae Sangi Sanshin Ketsu Shun Joei Daikoji." His final words to his son and vassals was, "Put the favor of the shogun first, get along smoothly with his vassals, and strive to be loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate, but it is not good to be too tactful or to flatter." Of the many daimyo who fought on the side of Western army at Sekigahara, Niwa Nagashige was one of the very few who managed to return to the good graces of the Shogunate. Only Nagashige and Tachibana Muneshige came back from that loss to control holdings over 100,000 koku. On his 453rd birthday, we remember "The Comeback Kid."