In year 17, he gifted a hawk and a horse to Hideyoshi in goodwill. And during the Siege of Odawara in year 18, he supported Hideyoshi's army and provided relief to Tsugaru, Ainoura, and Sotogahama. During the Kunohe Rebellion in year 19, he dispatched soldiers. In April of Bunroku year 2 (1593), he had an audience with Hideyoshi and an audience with the Konoe clan, and in January of year 3 given the lower rank of Jushii Ugyou no Daifu. In the fifth year of Keicho (1600) in Sekigahara, he dispatched soldiers and accompanied the army of Tokugawa Ieyasu and went west to fight in Ogaki, and was given a stipend increase of 2,000 koku and Odate in the Kozuke Province. On December 5 of year 12, Tsugaru Tamenobu died in Kyoto at the age of fifty-eight.
Tsugaru Plain This plain is located in the Mutsu Province extending over the southern, central, and northern Tsugaru districts and forms the river valley of the Iwaki River. The east is fenced in by the mountains forming the backbone of the Tsugaru Peninsula running north and west of Lake Towada. The south demarcates the watershed from Yatatetoge and Tateishigoe in Ugosakai. The west is protected by the mountain cluster of Mount Iwaki and a belt of sand dunes (called Mount Byobusan) on the coastline. Iwaki River flowing from its foundation in the west, Hira River flowing from the south, and Asaseishi River flowing from the east meet north of Hirosaki City and flow due north and into the sea after pouring into Lake Jusan. The expanse of the plain runs thirty-six miles north to south and twelve miles east to west and narrows in the northward direction. The seven miles along the line from Kizukuri to Goshogawara and just two miles when the shore of Jusan is reached. The low-lying land in this plain threaded by a network of tributary canals produce most of the rice in Aomori Prefecture.
(from The Great Encyclopedia of Japan)
Few people know the history of Tsugaru. Some believe Mutsu and Aomori Prefecture are the same as Tsugaru. Understandably, we glimpse the noun Tsugaru in only one place, in the textbooks on the history of Japan we learned from in school. A description of the conquest of Ezo by Abe no Hirafu reads, "Upon the death of Emperor Kotoku, Empress Kogyoku ascended the throne. The Imperial Prince Nakano no Oe succeeded her. As crown prince, he assisted in governing and appointed Abe no Hirafu to subjugate the lands of what is now Akita and Tsugaru."
The name Tsugaru appears no more. In grammar school textbooks, middle school textbooks, and high school textbooks, the name Tsugaru never appeared other than with references to Hirafu. The dispatch of governor-generals in the 573 years of the imperial era reached north to the area of today's Fukushima Prefecture. For the next two hundred years, the pacification of the Ezo by Yamato-takeru of Japan reached north to the Hitakami Province, which is now the northern region of Miyagi Prefecture. After five hundred fifty years passed, the Taiki Reform came. Through the subjugation of Ezo by Abe no Hirafu, the name Tsugaru began to float up but then sank. The name Tsugaru does not promptly emerge except in discussions of the construction of Taga Castle (now near Sendai City) and Akita Castle (now Akita City), and the subjugation of Ezo during the Nara period.
When the Heian period (794-1185) was entered, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro advanced far north and destroyed the Ezo base and built Isawa Castle (now the neighborhood of Mizusawa-cho in Iwate Prefecture) as the garrison but did not go as far as Tsugaru. Later, the expedition of Funya no Watamaro took place during the Konin years (810-824). And in year 2 of Gangyo, Dewa and Ezo revolted, and Fujiwara Gensoku went to pacify them. The Tsugaru Ezo were said to have aided in the revolts. We may not be experts, but in the subjugation of the Ezo, Tamuramaro is mentioned. The next two hundred fifty years flew by. Its roles are taught about only the Former Nine Years War and the Later Three Years War at the beginning of the Gempei period.
These wars took place in Iwate Prefecture and Akita Prefecture. Only the Abe clan and the Kiyohara clan, the so-called Nigi Ezo, were active. Little is written in our textbooks about the actions of trueborn Ezo in the backcountry called Tsugaru. Then for three generations of the Fujiwara clan, over one hundred years, was the golden age of Hiraizumi. In the year 5 of Bunji (1189), Oshu was pacified by Minamoto no Yoritomo. From that era on, our textbooks finally reach beyond the Tohoku region. During the Meiji Restoration, various clans of Oshu stood up, straightened the hems of their kimonos, and sat back down. The gumption found in clans of the provinces of Satsuma and Choshu was not seen in them.
Although it is written they took advantage of the spirit of the age with no major blunders, they had no choice. As a result, there is nothing. Our textbooks tell of ancient times from Emperor Jimmu until modern times, sadly, the name Tsugaru can only be found once, Abe no Hirafu. What happened in Tsugaru during that time? Only the straightening of kimonos and sitting down again and again. For two thousand, six hundred years, did they never take one step outside and only blinked their eyes? No, that's not so. If the parties involved were asked, they would say something like "It may look that way, but we're terribly busy."
Ou is the combination of Oshu and Dewa. Oshu is an abbreviation of Mutsu. Mutsu was the
