50 Facts About Ii Naomasa

Ii Naomasa was a general under the Sengoku period daimyo, and later shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Ii Naomasa led the clan after the death of Ii Naotora.

Ii Naomasa married Tobai-in, Matsudaira Yasuchika's son and adopted son of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Ii Naomasa joined the ranks of the Tokugawa clan in the mid-1570s, rising swiftly through the ranks and became particularly famous after the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, as he is recognized as one of the Four Guardians of the Tokugawa along with Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Sakai Tadatsugu.

Ii Naomasa was notable for his command over elite troops named the akazonae that formerly served the Takeda clan.

Ii Naomasa was born in Hoda Village of Totomi Province.

Naomasa's father, Ii Naochika, was falsely convicted of treason by Yoshimoto's paranoid successor, Imagawa Ujizane, and was killed.

In 1576, Ii Naomasa fought for the first time in the battle against Takeda Katsuyori's forces at Shibahara in Totomi Province.

Since then Ii Naomasa has been seen alongside Ieyasu's Hatamoto vanguards, alongside Honda Tadakatsu and Sakakibara Yasumasa.

At the age of 18, Ii Naomasa participated in the Tokugawa army attack on Tanaka castle which guarded by Takeda clan general named Ichijo Nobutatsu.

In 1578, Ii Naomasa was given control of 10,000 koku of domain, due to unspecified distinguished military merit during that year Later, Arthur Lindsay Sadler wrote that At the age of 19, Ii Naomasa gained attention for his first notable performance in battle.

Later, at the age of 22, Ii Naomasa performed another distinguishing military service against the Takeda clan, at Siege of Takatenjin in 1581.

In 1582, after the Honnoji Incident, Ii Naomasa accompanied Ieyasu on an arduous journey to escape the enemies of Nobunaga in Sakai and return to Mikawa.

Ieyasu Tokugawa planned to subduct the largest portions of former Takeda samurai under Ii Naomasa's command, having consulted and reached agreement with Sakai Tadatsugu, a senior Tokugawa clan vassal.

Later in 1583, Ii Naomasa sent a detachment of former Takeda samurai who originated from Kai, and were led by his subordinate, Kimata Morikatsu, to invade the Takato area of Shinano province and subdue an area there which had still not submitted to the Tokugawa clan.

In 1585, during the Tokugawa clan's first siege of Ueda Castle against Sanada Masayuki, Ii Naomasa led 5,000 soldiers along with Osuga Yasutaka and Matsudaira Yasushige led reinforcements to cover the retreat of Tokugawa forces after they failed to pacify the castle due to hostile movements from Uesugi Kagekatsu.

In 1588, during a visit of the Tokugawa clan to pay respect to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Ii Naomasa was appointed to the rank of Jiju, and became the highest-ranking senior vassal in the Tokugawa family.

Ii Naomasa significantly expanded the castle and dug deep and wide dry moats and replaced earthen ramparts with stone walls along the main route into the castle.

The siege of Odawara, as the last Hojo clan stronghold, nearly saw no significant military action, with the exception of Ii Naomasa's night raid attack.

Ii Naomasa who participated in this expedition brought in his "Red Demons" unit as vanguard of Tokugawa forces.

Ii Naomasa brought some veteran vassals such as Kondo Hideyo here.

Ii Naomasa undertook political initiatives as he built a relationship with Kuroda Yoshitaka and Kuroda Nagamasa and formed a pact.

In 1600, on the eve of the Sekigahara campaign, Ii Naomasa led the forces in the Tokaido area together with Honda Tadakatsu, and played a central role as Ieyasu's representative.

The troops of Ii Naomasa were reinforced with a detachment of Kugai Masatoshiwho was a vassal of Tokugawa Hidetada who was himself at that moment still busy in the Siege of Ueda castle.

Daimon argued that as Ii Naomasa was appointed by Ieyasu supreme field commander, Ii Naomasa was responsible for all commands and strategies during the clash in Sekigahara.

However, Ii Naomasa was shot and wounded by a stray bullet during his attempt to pursue Shimazu Yoshihiro.

Ii Naomasa had his fief increased from 60,000 koku into 180,000 koku.

Ii Naomasa complained of this to Nagai Naokatsu, as he considered it small when compared to Ikeda Terumasa who received 520,000 Koku.

Ii Naomasa was appointed to the rank of Junior Fourth Rank.

Several months after the battle in Sekigahara, Ii Naomasa sent military reinforcements to assist Yamauchi Kazutoyo in pacifying the rebellion in Tosa Domain against retainers of Chosokabe clan, and the Ichiryo Gusoku peasant army.

Ii Naomasa sent his vassal, Suzuki Hyoe, with force as strong as 8 ships to help Kazutoyo, which finally pacified the area in 5 weeks, after killing about 273 enemies.

Ii Naomasa was highly regarded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, so it is no surprise that his sons Naotsugu and Naotaka succeeded him in his service and title.

In 1917, Ii Naomasa was posthumously granted the courtesy title of junior third rank by Emperor Taisho.

The "Clan records" chronicles from Edo period stated that during the battle of Komaki-Nagakute, Ii Naomasa were described as "handsome and has small physical stature".

However, despite his unintimidating built, Ii Naomasa fought ferociously in the Battlefield and wearing distinguishable red armor and helmet with long horns, which rendered him a nickname 'Aka-oni'.

Ii Naomasa was known as a brutal disciplinarian with a violent temper, and punished his subordinates for the slightest mistakes, earning him the nickname of Hitokiri Hyobu.

An anecdote from Sakakibara clan historical records has stated that among Ieyasu generals, Honda Tadakatsu excelled in bravery and Sakakibara Yasumasa excelled in leadership, while Ii Naomasa possessed both qualities.

Kikuchi argued that instead of Ii Naomasa, it was Ii Naomasa subordinates, the former Takeda clan "Red Guard" troops.

Ii Naomasa was known for his political astuteness, which enabled him to command respect when he was tasked to lead the garrison of Minowa Castle.

When Ii Naomasa was married to Tobai-in, Ako came to the Ii family as a maid to serve as maid.

Ii Naomasa had built up close relations with the Matsudaira clan through marriages, as his wife, Hana, was a daughter Matsudaira Yasuchika.

However, after the decline of Imagawa clan and Ii Naomasa offered his service to the Tokugawa clan which led by Ieyasu, his career got rapid increase with the support of Ieyasu and the Ii clan saved from the danger of disbandment.

However, since at that time Nobuyasu already died, Ii Naomasa was the strongest candidate since the Ii clan historically has equal standing of ranks with Tokugawa clan.

Ii Naomasa was known as the founder of Hikone Castle, after he given task by Tokugawa Ieyasu appoint him the rule of a new domain centered at Sawayama Castle.

Ii Naomasa known as the first governor of the newly established Hikone Domain, which formed from the eastern part of Omi Province that formerly known as Sawayama domain which ruled by Ishida Mitsunari.

Ii Naomasa was known for his notable elite troops which were nicknamed as Ii clan's Red Demons, or Red Guards.

Later, during the Tensho-Jingo War in 1582 between Tokugawa and the Hojo clan, Ii Naomasa further absorbed many samurai warriors from various clans that formerly served under various Takeda generals such as Ichijo Nobutatsu, Yamagata Masakage, Masatsune Tsuchiya, and Hara Masatane, into his ranks.

The negotiation to convince them to join Ii Naomasa was aided by a former Takeda clan retainer named Kimata Morikatsu, who organized the contacts of those samurai clans with Ii Naomasa.

The warriors which Ii Naomasa commanded on the battlefield were notable for being outfitted almost completely in blood-red armour from their mounted samurai, bannermen, to even ashigaru.

Furthermore, Ii Naomasa employed Iga ninja clans from Iga Province which led by Miura Yo'emon.