Hachisuka Masakatsu

Portrait of Hachisuka Masakatsu

Hachisuka Masakatsu family crest, known as the Hachisuka swastika

Hachisuka Masakatsu (蜂須賀 正勝, 1526 – July 8, 1586), also Hachisuka Koroku (蜂須賀小六), was a daimyō and retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japanese history. He was the son of Hachisuka Masatoshi.

The Hachisuka clan were the kokujin of the Kaitō District of Owari Province (in present-day Ama District, Aichi Prefecture). They controlled water transport on the Kiso River. Their knowledge of local terrain made them useful to the Oda and Saitō clans, although they remained independent of control of the powerful clans.

Later, Masakatsu served Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and may have participated in the building of Sunomata Castle as well as the campaigns against the Mōri. In 1585, Hideyoshi awarded him Awa Province as a fief, but he declined in favor of his son, Iemasa, serving instead as an intimate of Hideyoshi.

Family

• Father: Hachisuka Masatoshi (d. 1553)
• Mother: daughter of Yasui Shigeyuki
• Wife: Matsu later Daishou'in (d. 1611)
• Concubine: Hakun'in
• Children:
  • Hachisuka Iemasa by Matsu
  • Narahime (d. 1606) married Kashima Nagamasa by Matsu
  • Itohime (1571–1645) married Kuroda Nagamasa by Hakun'in

References

• Hachisuka Masakatsu (in Japanese)

Further reading