Abe Masatsugu

Who was Abe Masatsugu?

Abe Masatsugu was a daimyō in early Edo period, Japan.

Abe Masatsugu was the eldest son of Abe Masakatsu, one of the hereditary retainers of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was born in Mikawa Province. In 1600, on his father's death, he became head of the Abe clan, and inherited his father's 5,000 koku holding in Hatogaya, Musashi Province. In 1610, he was transferred to Kanuma, Shimotsuke Province. He distinguished himself as a general during the 1614 Siege of Osaka, taking the most enemy heads of any of Ieyasu's generals. He was awarded with the rank of daimyō in 1617, and was given the 30,000 koku Ōtaki Domain in Kazusa Province. In 1619, following the disgrace of the Ōkubo clan, he was reassigned to Odawara Domain in Sagami Province. In 1623, he was re-assigned once again, this time to Iwatsuki Domain in Mutsu Province, where his descendants remained for the next several generations.

In 1626, he was appointed Osaka jōdai, a position which he held for the next 22 years until his death, and which raised his revuenues to 86,000 koku. In 1637, he played an active role in the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion. On April 22, 1638, he divided his holdings between his sons Abe Shigetsugu and Abe Masayoshi, while retaining the remaining 30,000 koku for himself. Msatsugu died in Osaka in 1647; his grave is at the tenple of Zōjō-ji at Shiba in Tokyo.