Editing Sakuma Morimasa

{{family name hatnote|Sakuma|lang=Japanese}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office = Lord of [[Kanazawa Castle]]
| term_start = 1580
| term_end = 1583
| successor = [[Maeda Toshiie]]
| name = Sakuma Morimasa
| nickname = "Demon Genba"
| native_name = 佐久間 盛政
| image = Morimasa.jpg
| caption = Sakuma Morimasa (from Riding image of Sakuma Morimasa held by Kenkun Jinja, Kyoto)
| birth_date = 1554
| birth_place = [[Shōwa-ku, Nagoya|Shōwa-ku]], [[Nagoya]]
| death_date    = July 1, 1583
| death_place   = [[Battle of Shizugatake]]
| allegiance = [[File:Mon-Oda.png|15px]] [[Oda clan]]<br>[[File:Japanese Crest Maru ni futatu Karigane.svg|15px]] [[Shiba clan|Owari-Shibata clan]]
| battles = [[Kannonji Castle|Battle of Kannonji]] (1568)<br>[[Siege of Tezutsuyama Castle]] (1570)<br>[[Battle of Yasugawara]] (1573)<br>[[Battle of Makishima Castle]] (1573)<br>[[Hokuriku Region|Hokuriku Campaign]] (1580)<br>[[Battle of Shizugatake]] (1583)
| unit = 
| commands = [[Kanazawa Castle]]
| children = 
| relations = [[Sakuma Moritsugu]] (father)<br>[[Sakuma Nobumori]] (uncle)<br>[[Shibata Katsuie]] (uncle)
}}

{{nihongo|'''Sakuma Morimasa'''|佐久間 盛政||1554&nbsp;&ndash; July 1, 1583}} was the son of Sakuma Moritsugu, cousin of [[Sakuma Nobumori]], a prominent Oda retainer to [[Oda Nobuhide]] and [[Oda Nobunaga]]. After several campaigns in which he had fought, he was given the nickname ''oni-genba'' which literally means "Demon Genba", Genba being his middle name.

==Biography==
Morimasa was born in what is now [[Shōwa-ku, Nagoya|Shōwa-ku]], [[Nagoya]] (situated in contemporary [[Aichi District, Aichi|Aichi District]], [[Owari Province]]), He was a retainer of [[Shibata Katsuie]] and one of his top generals in many of his campaigns. 

Morimasa's first battle was the [[Kannonji Castle|Battle of Kannonji Castle]] in 1568 against [[Rokkaku Yoshikata]], he was 15 years old. 
Morimasa continued joining various battles, including the [[Siege of Tezutsuyama Castle]] in [[Echizen Province]] against [[Asakura clan]] in 1570, the [[Battle of Yasugawara]] against [[Rokkaku Yoshikata]] and the [[Battle of Makishima Castle]] against [[Ashikaga Yoshiaki]] in 1573, and performed distinguished war service.

Morimasa was given the former Ikko Sect fortress Oyama Gobo in the Kaga prefecture by Oda Nobunaga; the fortress was subsequently named Oyama Castle in 1580 but went on to become [[Kanazawa Castle]].

In 1581, he beats [[Uesugi Kagekatsu]] from [[Shirayama Castle]] at [[Kaga Province]]. Later, Morimasa headed for a rescue in response to a demand by [[Maeda Toshiie]] and beat the Uesugi army stationed at the back of the [[Arayama Castle]] at [[Noto Province]].

In 1582, after the betrayal of [[Akechi Mitsuhide]] which led to the death of both [[Oda Nobunaga]] and his heir [[Oda Nobutada]], Morimasa sided with [[Shibata Katsuie]] over making [[Oda Nobutaka]] (the third son of Nobunaga) as heir to the Oda clan whereas Hashiba Hideyoshi (later [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]) supported Lord Sanboshi. Sanboshi was the heir to Oda Nobutada and was still an infant at that time. This argument led to the split of the Oda clan retainers into the two main factions led by Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi. 
Armies of the two factions eventually came to war.

==Death==
===Battle of Shizugatake===
{{Main|Battle of Shizugatake}}
[[File:SakumaMorimasa.png|thumb|Sakuma Morimasa (from Shizugadake Kassen Zu Byōbu)]]

In 1583, Morimasa led an offensive force against [[Dom Justo Takayama|Takayama Ukon]] in Iwasakiyama. 
Morimasa then proceeded against Shibata Katsuie's orders, killing [[Nakagawa Kiyohide]] in the early stages of the [[battle of Shizugatake]]. However, he ignored Shibata Katsuie's orders to fall back and this led to his defeat as [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]'s forces approached the next morning.  Morimasa was captured and beheaded.<ref name=Turnbull>{{cite book|last1=Turnbull|first1=Stephen|title=The Samurai Sourcebook|date=1998|publisher=Cassell & Co|location=London|isbn=9781854095237|page=76,234}}</ref>

The charge by Morimasa was the spark necessary for the [[battle of Shizugatake]] where Hideyoshi's troops were able to suppress any resistance led by [[Maeda Toshiie]] and prevented the support of [[Sassa Narimasa]] and [[Takigawa Kazumasu]]. 

In all, Hideyoshi's troops swelled to 120,000 whereas Shibata Katsuie's troops had only reached 25,000. This eventually forced Shibata Katsuie to commit ''seppuku'' along with his wife Lady [[Oichi]] (younger sister of Nobunaga) following the betrayal of Maeda Toshiie.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{openhistory}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakuma, Morimasa}}
[[Category:1554 births]]
[[Category:1583 deaths]]
[[Category:Samurai]]
[[Category:People executed by Japan by decapitation]]