was a daimyō

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

in early Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Abe Masatsugu was the eldest son of Abe Masakatsu

Abe Masakatsu

was a Japanese samurai of the Abe clan of Mikawa who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. The son of Abe Masanobu, Masakatsu served Ieyasu from a young age, first accompanying him to Sunpu as a hostage. In 1590, Ieyasu gave him Ichihara in Izu Province, and Hatogaya, in Musashi Province, which brought...

, one of the hereditary retainers of Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

. He was born in Mikawa Province

Mikawa Province

is an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....

. In 1600, on his father's death, he became head of the Abe clan

Abe clan

The was one of the oldest of the major Japanese clans ; and the clan retained its prominence during the Sengoku period and the Edo period. The clan's origin is said to be one of the original clans of the Yamato people; they truly gained prominence during the Heian period , and experienced a...

, and inherited his father's 5,000 koku

Koku

The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...

holding in Hatogaya

Hatogaya, Saitama

was a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.As of April 1, 2011, the city had an estimated population of 61,781, with 26,902 households, and a population density of 9,932.64 per km². The total area was 6.22 km², the second smallest among all cities in Japan....

, Musashi Province

Musashi Province

was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...

. In 1610, he was transferred to Kanuma

Kanuma, Tochigi

is a city located in Tochigi, Japan.As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 102,825 and the density of 210 persons per km². The total area is 490.62 km²...

, Shimotsuke Province

Shimotsuke Province

is an old province of Japan in the area of Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto region. It was sometimes called or .The ancient capital of the province was near the city of Tochigi, but in feudal times the main center of the province was near the modern capital, Utsunomiya.-History:Different parts of...

. He distinguished himself as a general during the 1614 Siege of Osaka

Siege of Osaka

The was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages , and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate's establishment...

, taking the most enemy heads of any of Ieyasu's

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

 generals. He was awarded with the rank of daimyō in 1617, and was given the 30,000 koku Ōtaki Domain

Otaki Domain

was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Kazusa Province , Japan. It was centered on Ōtaki Castle in what is now the town of Ōtaki, Chiba.-History:...

 in Kazusa Province

Kazusa Province

was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. It lies on in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula , whose name takes its first kanji from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was or .Kazusa is classified as one of the...

. In 1619, following the disgrace of the Ōkubo clan

Okubo clan

The were a samurai kin group which rose to prominence in the Sengoku period and the Edo periods. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, the Ōkubo, as hereditary vassels of the Tokugawa clan, were classified as one of the fudai daimyō clans....

, he was reassigned to Odawara Domain

Odawara Domain

was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in western Sagami Province. It was centered on Odawara Castle in what is now the city of Odawara.-History:...

 (50,000 koku) in Sagami Province

Sagami Province

was an old province in the area that is today the central and western Kanagawa prefecture. It was sometimes called . Sagami bordered on Izu, Musashi, Suruga provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Sagami Bay...

. In 1623, he was re-assigned once again, this time to Iwatsuki Domain

Iwatsuki Domain

The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. Located in Musashi Province , it was headquartered in Iwatsuki Castle.-List of daimyo:*Kōriki clan #Kiyonaga#Masanaga#Tadafusa...

 (55,000 koku) in Mutsu Province

Mutsu Province

was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori prefecture and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture...

, where his descendants remained for the next several generations.

In 1626, he was appointed Osaka jōdai

Osaka jodai

were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were exclusively fudai daimyō. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor."...

, 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

Shimabara Rebellion

The was an uprising largely involving Japanese peasants, most of them Catholic Christians, in 1637–1638 during the Edo period.It was one of only a handful of instances of serious unrest during the relatively peaceful period of the Tokugawa shogunate's rule...

. On April 22, 1638, he divided his holdings between his sons Abe Shigetsugu (46,000 koku) and Abe Masayoshi (10,000 koku), while retaining the remaining 30,000 koku for himself. Msatsugu died in Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

 in 1647; his grave is at the tenple of Zōjō-ji

Zojo-ji

San'en-zan is a Buddhist temple in the Shiba neighborhood of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is the Great Main Temple of the Chinzai sect of the Shingon school. The main image is of Amida Buddha...

 at Shiba

Shiba

Shiba could refer to:* Shiba Inu, a breed of dog* Shiba, Tokyo, a former ward of Tokyo, Japan* Shiba Park in Tokyo* Ryotaro Shiba—author* Kūkaku Shiba, Ganju Shiba and Kaien Shiba—fictional characters in Bleach...

in Tokyo.