Kunohe Rebellion

The Kunohe Rebellion (九戸政実の乱) was a battle which occurred in what is now Ninohe, Iwate in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan during the late Sengoku period. This was one of the final battles in Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s campaign to reunify Japan.

Kunohe Castle was held by Kunohe Masazane (1536–1591), from a branch line of the Nanbu clan who had ruled the region since the early Muromachi period. After the death of the 24th hereditary chieftain of the main Nanbu clan, Nanbu Harumasa in 1582, the clan split into several competing factions. In 1590, the Sannohe faction led by Nanbu Nobunao organized a coalition of most of the Nambu clans and pledged allegiance to Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the Siege of Odawara. In return, he was recognized as chieftain of the Nanbu clans, and confirmed as daimyō of his existing holdings in the northern districts of Mutsu Province. However, Kunohe Masazane, who felt that he had a stronger claim to the title of clan chieftain, immediately rose in rebellion.

With a large number of Nanbu samurai in the south serving in Hideyoshi’s forces against the Odawara Hōjō, the rebellion soon spread to many locations by 1591. Hideyoshi took the rebellion as a personal affront to his authority and efforts to bring the Sengoku period to a close, and by mid-year organized a retaliatory army to retake northern Tōhoku and to restore the area to Nanbu Nobunao’s control. The army had 60,000 troops and a cast of the most famous generals in the Sengoku period, including Toyotomi Hidetsugu, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Maeda Toshiie, Ishida Mitsunari, Satake Yoshishige, Date Masamune, Mogami Yoshiaki, Tsugaru Tamenobu and others. The army quickly suppressed the rebellion in many locations and reached the gates of Kunohe Castle by 2 September 1591. Command of the attack on the castle itself was assigned to Gamo Ujisato, assisted by Asano Nagamasa.

Within Kunohe Castle, Kunohe Masazane had only 5,000 defenders but due to his strong defensive position with three sides of his castle protected by rivers, he rejected initial offers that he surrender. However, he was so strongly outnumbered that after only four days he agreed to a proposal made by a trusted family priest that the defenders would be pardoned if they surrendered. On 4 September, Masazane’s brother, Kunohe Sanechika (who was with the attacking forces) entered the castle and led out several Nanbu clan members who were willing to surrender, and who had donned white robes and had shaved their heads as a sign of humility. The attackers reneged on their promises, and executed the prisoners, along with Kunohe Masazane himself. The remaining defenders, including women and children, were forced into the second bailey, which was then set on fire. According to contemporary records, the fire burned for three days and three nights and killed all within. With the suppression of the Kunohe Rebellion, Japan was officially reunified.