Background
Masanobu was born in 1538 in Mikawa Province, Japan.
Masanobu was born in 1538 in Mikawa Province, Japan.
As a young man he served under Tokugawa Ieyasu, but in 1563 joined the Sakai family and others in a popular revolt in Mikawa that defied the authority of Ieyasu and the following year was forced to retire to the province of Kaga in the north. Later he was pardoned and allowed to resume service under Ieyasu. When Ieyasu assisted Oda Nobunaga in defeating the Asakura forces at Anegawa in Omi, he took part in the battle and achieved distinction. Subsequently he played an active role in the campaign to defeat Uesugi Kenshin and in the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Honda was assigned to the domain of Amanawa in Sagami with an annual stipend of 10,000 koku of rice. He assisted Ieyasu in the building of Edo Castle. In the time of the second shogun Hidetada he served as a roju.
Though Honda Masanobu’s domain at its largest provided a stipend of only 30,000 koku, he was the most eminent of Ieyasu’s ministers, and it is said that Ieyasu’s actions followed the policies laid down for him by Honda.
Son: Masazumi