View source for Akiyama Nobutomo

{{Short description|Japanese samurai (1527–1575)}}
{{family name hatnote|Akiyama|lang=Japanese}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Akiyama Nobutomo
| native_name = {{nihongo2|秋山 信友}}
| image         = Akiyama nobutomo.jpg
| caption       = Akiyama Nobutomo
| birth_date    = 1527
| death_date    = Dec 28, 1575  (aged 47-48)
| placeofburial_label = 
| placeofburial = 
| birth_place   = Tsutsujigasaki Hall, [[Kai Province]]
| death_place   = [[Mino Province]]
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      = Raging Bull of the Takeda <br />
 {{nihongo2|武田の猛牛}}
| birth_name    = 
| allegiance    = [[Takeda clan]] {{nihongo2|武田氏}}
| commands      = 
| battles       = [[Nishikawa Castle|Battle of Takehiro]] (1571)<br />[[Siege of Iwamura]] (1572)
| battles_label = 
| awards        = 
| relations     = ''Father:'' Akiyama Nobutou<br />
''Wife:'' [[Lady Otsuya]]
}}

{{nihongo|'''Akiyama Nobutomo'''|秋山 信友||1527 &ndash; December 28, 1575}} was a [[samurai]] during the [[Sengoku period]] in [[Japan]].  He is known as one of the "[[Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen]]".<ref>Internet Movie Database (IMDb), [https://www.imdb.com/character/ch0019073/bio  "Shingen Takeda (Character) from ''Kagemusha'' (1980)]; retrieved 2013-5-17.</ref>  Nobutomo also served under [[Takeda Shingen|Shingen's]] son, [[Takeda Katsuyori]].

==Biography==
In 1527, Akiyama Nobutomo was born at {{nihongo|[[Tsutsujigasaki Castle]]|躑躅ヶ崎館}} in [[Kai province]].  His father was Akiyama Nobutou, a descendant of Takeda Mitsutomo, and a member of a cadet branch of the [[Takeda clan]].  When Nobutomo came of age, he entered into the service of Takeda Shingen, patriarch of the clan and lord of Kai province,<ref name=samurai>{{Cite book|last=Turnbull|first= Stephen|title=The Samurai Sourcebook |year=1998|place= London|publisher= Cassell & Co. }}</ref> in the mountainous area of central Japan. In 1547, during the campaign for the Ina district, Nobutomo fought with excellence and was granted a [[fief]] in the northern half of Ina, present day [[Kamiina District, Nagano|Kamiina District]] in [[Nagano prefecture]]. Nobutomo continued his service, most often tasked in a defensive role and holding such castles as [[Takatō Castle]] and [[Iida Domain|Iida Castle]].  During this time, Nobutomo acquired the nickname {{nihongo|''Takeda no Mogyu''|武田の猛牛}} (literally: ''Raging Bull of the Takeda Clan'').

By 1568, Nobutomo was esteemed enough to be entrusted with diplomatic duties.  In that year, he was dispatched to [[Gifu Castle]] where he represented his lord, [[Takeda Shingen]], at the wedding ceremony of [[Oda Nobutada]], eldest son of [[Oda Nobunaga|Nobunaga]], and Matsuhime, daughter of Shingen.<ref name=samurai/>

In 1571, Takeda Shingen organized a campaign against [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], intent on taking the coastal lowlands of [[Tōtōmi province]] and pushing westward toward the fertile fields of [[Mikawa province]].<ref name=samurai/>  Nobutomo was recalled from Iida Castle and ordered to lead an invasion of [[Mino province]].  His advance was  checked by troops of the Saigo clan, led by Saigo Yoshikatsu.  The two armies met at the [[Nishikawa Castle|Battle of Takehiro]], and though Yoshikatsu was [[killed in action]], Nobutomo was forced to retreat.<ref>{{Cite book |last1= Kobayashi |first1=Sadayoshi |last2= Makino |first2 =Noboru |script-title=ja:西郷氏興亡全史 |language=ja |trans-title= Complete History of the Rise and Fall of the Saigo Clan |year=1994 |publisher= Rekishi Chosakenkyu-jo |place=Tokyo |pages= 372 }}</ref>

In 1572, the Takeda organized another campaign against Mikawa province which would culminate in the [[Battle of Mikatagahara]] in January 1573.  As Takeda Shingen drove south and west, Nobutomo would descend from the north, cutting off an escape route and blocking reinforcements.  To accomplish this, Nobutomo laid [[Siege of Iwamura Castle|siege to Iwamura Castle]].  When Toyama Kagetou, lord of Iwamura Castle, died of a sudden illness, the morale of the defending troops collapsed, and the [[Lady Otsuya]] (Kageto's widow and an aunt of Oda Nobunaga) entered into negotiations with Nobutomo.  They agreed on a treaty, and under its terms the castle was surrendered without bloodshed, and Lady Otsuya agreed to marry Nobutomo, thus securing his protection and the safety of the defending troops.<ref name=iwamura>{{cite web| url= http://www.asahi.com/travel/kosenjo/TKY200908170117.html| script-title=ja:岩村城 結婚受け入れた女城主| first= Tatsuhiro| last = Hayashi| year = 2009| work = 東海の古戦場をゆく| publisher = Asahi Shimbun Corporation| language = ja|trans-title=Iwamura Castle: The Lady of the Castle who Gave Herself into Marriage| access-date = 1 Jan 2011}}</ref> Also among the spoils was {{nihongo|Gobomaru|御坊丸}}, the biological son of Oda Nobunaga, adopted son of Kageto, who was then seven years old.  Nobutomo sent him to Kai Province as a hostage; the boy would later become known as [[Oda Katsunaga]].  With the fulfillment of treaty stipulations, Nobutomo made Iwamura Castle his headquarters and a front-line defensive position from which he could support the Takeda.<ref name=iwamura/>

==Death==
After the death of [[Takeda Shingen]] in the spring of 1573, Nobutomo continued to support Shingen's son, [[Takeda Katsuyori]], in the prosecution of his campaigns.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Shibatsuji |first1=Shunroku |last2= Hirayama |first2=Masaru |script-title=ja:武田勝頼のすべて |language=ja|trans-title= On Takeda Katsuyori |year=2007|place= Tokyo |publisher= Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha 新人物往来社 }}</ref>  

In 1575, Katsuyori lost the [[Battle of Nagashino]], a disaster for the Takeda clan<ref>{{Cite book|last=Turnbull |first= Stephen |title= Nagashino 1575: Slaughter at the Barricades |year=2000| place= Oxford |publisher= Osprey Publishing}}</ref> which left Nobutomo at Iwamura Castle without support.  Under repeated siege by [[Oda Nobutada]], the forces under Nobutomo managed to hold the castle until November when Nobunaga swept in with the main army. Nobutomo signed a truce to surrender the castle after realizing that he had no chance to hold out any longer.  However, Nobunaga broke the truce and ordered Nobutomo, his wife (Nobunaga's aunt), and the troops of the castle garrison to be executed.<ref name=iwamura/>

On December 28,{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} 1575, Nobutomo was [[crucifixion|crucified]] upside down on the banks of the [[Nagara River]] along with his wife Otsuya no Kata, and his elder retainers Oshima Nagatoshi and Zakouji Sadafusa on the banks.{{efn|November 26 according to ''Nobunaga Koki'' chronicle.<ref>{{Cite journal|page=296|author = 平山優|year = 2008|title = 秋山虎繁|journal = 新編 武田信玄のすべて|publisher = 新人物往来社}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author = 丸島和洋|year = 2015|title = 秋山虎繁」「秋山昌詮」「秋山源三郎」「秋山式部右衛門尉|journal = 武田氏家臣団人名辞典|publisher = 東京堂出版 |page=224}}</ref>}}

His domain holdings in Shinano passed to his eldest son [[Akiyama Katsuhisa]].

==Cultural references==
The main character in the book, ''[[The Samurai's Tale]]'', by [[Erik Christian Haugaard]] served under Akiyama Nobutomo.

== Appendix ==
=== Footnote ===
{{notelist}} 
=== References ===
{{reflist}}

==External links ==


{{Twenty-Four Generals of the Takeda}}
{{People of the Sengoku period |state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akiyama, Nobutomo}}
[[Category:1527 births]]
[[Category:1575 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century samurai|Akiyama Nobutomo]]
[[Category:Takeda retainers]]
[[Category:People from Kōfu, Yamanashi]]
[[Category:People of the Muromachi period]]