Kimura Shigenari

In this Japanese name, the family name is Kimura.

Kimura Shigenari (木村重成, 1593 - June 2, 1615) was a Japanese samurai of the early Edo period. A retainer of the Toyotomi clan, Shigenari fought at the Siege of Osaka (leading Toyotomi forces at the Battle of Imafuku) and died in battle.

Kimura Shigenari was a son of Kimura Hitachinosuke, one of the chief counselors of Toyotomi Hidetsugu, but much of his origin remains uncertain. His mother was Toyotomi Hideyori’s wetnurse: that was why Shigenari was able to become Hideyori’s page at an early age and his vassal later.

At the Winter Siege of Osaka (1614), his first campaign, Shigenari commanded an army as a general and fought well. In recognition of his distinguished deed in that battle Hideyori bestowed on him a testimonial that acclaimed him as the “peerless hero of the nation”, together with a short sword made by Masamune, the famous swordsmith. However, he returned those rewards immediately, because of his loyalty and absolute trust in the Toyotomi family.

A year later, during the Summer Siege of Osaka, he left the castle walls, leading the main force of the Toyotomi army and fought against Ii Tadataka’s troops. In that battle, Shigenari wore a suit of armor called kozane made of gold and silver scales, with a white horo (a mantle meant to disrupt the flight of oncoming arrows), and rode a black horse. He fought an all-out battle, charging with a 6-yard-spear himself, and was caught in the action. He was beheaded, and the head was taken to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who saw it neatly trimmed on the forehead and the hair tidily cut and perfumed with incense. Everything indicated that he had gone into the battle well prepared to die in the field.

References

Naramoto Tatsuya (1994). Nihon no Kassen: Monoshiri Jiten. Tokyo: Shufu to Seikatsusha.

Prominent people of the Sengoku period

Three major daimyōs	Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu

Shogun	Ashikaga Yoshiharu Ashikaga Yoshiteru Ashikaga Yoshihide Ashikaga Yoshiaki Tokugawa Hidetada

Emperors	Go-Kashiwabara Go-Nara Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei

Other daimyōs	List of daimyo from the Sengoku period

Swordsmen	Hikita Bungorō Kamiizumi Nobutsuna Miyamoto Musashi Sasaki Kojirō Tadashima Akiyama Tsukahara Bokuden Tsutsumi Hōzan Yagyū Munenori Yagyū Munetoshi

Ninja, rogues and mercenaries	Fūma Kotarō Hattori Hanzō Ishikawa Goemon Katō Danzō Kirigakure Shikaemon Kōzuki Sasuke Mochizuki Chiyome Nakamura Chōbei Ohama Kagetaka Saika Magoichi Suzuki Sadayu Suzuki Shigehide Suzuki Shigetomo Suzuki Magoroku Igasaki Dōshun

Monks and other religious figures	Ankokuji Ekei Honganji Kennyo Hon'inbō Sansa Ishin Sūden Jion Nankōbō Tenkai Rennyo Sessai Choro Shimozuma Chuko Shimozuma Rairen Shimozuma Rairyū Takuan Sōhō

Onna-bugeisha	Ii Naotora Ikeda Sen Kaihime Komatsuhime Maeda Matsu Ōhōri Tsuruhime Tachibana Ginchiyo

Other women	Asahihime Chacha Dota Gozen Gotokuhime Hosokawa Gracia Izumo no Okuni Kitsuno Kyōgoku Maria Kyōgoku Tatsuko Nene Nōhime Oeyo Oichi Ohatsu Okaji no Kata Lady Kasuga Lady Saigō Lady Tsukiyama Senhime Sentōin Tokuhime

See also	List of samurai from the Sengoku period

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 251531672 NDL: 00796153

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