was a 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...

ese daimyo

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...

 of the Sengoku period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

, who was the last lord of the Jinbō clan

Jinbo clan

The ' was a Japanese clan that was active in Echigo Province during the Sengoku period, as retainers of the Uesugi clan. During the Edo period, one branch of the Jinbo would enter the service of the Matsudaira clan of Aizu; another would become hatamoto in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate....

. He is most remembered for almost constant warfare with Shiina Yasutane

Shiina Yasutane

Shiina Yasutane was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku period, who was lord of the Shiina clan of Etchu Province. Throughout the 1550's and 60's he led numerous attacks on the Jinbo clan, and in one of the few documented cases of two generals engaging personally in combat on the field, Yasutane...

, and their rivalry has been compared to that of Takeda Shingen

Takeda Shingen

, of Kai Province, was a preeminent daimyo in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period.-Name:Shingen was called "Tarō" or "Katsuchiyo" during his childhood...

 and Uesugi Kenshin

Uesugi Kenshin

was a daimyo who ruled Echigo province in the Sengoku period of Japan.He was one of the most powerful lords of the Sengoku period. While chiefly remembered for his prowess on the battlefield, Kenshin is also regarded as an extremely skillful administrator who fostered the growth of local industries...

. Much like Shingen and Kenshin, they met once in personal armed combat in 1554 during the battle of Imizu

Battle of Imizu

The ' was fought during Japan's Sengoku Period between two rival daimyo, Jinbo Nagamoto and Shiina Yasutane, in Etchū province during the third month of 1554. Nagamoto and Yasutane had been at odds for years, skirmishing numerous times with no clear winner...

. During the combat, Nagamoto struck Yasutane across the jaw with his sword, permanently disfiguring him. When the Shiina generals ordered Nagamoto chased down and captured, he was assisted in his escape from the battlefield by his page, Chiba Kazusa. A Chiba family legend states that Kazusa donned Nagamoto's distinctive helmet and rode into the ranks of the pursuing Shiina, calling out that he was Jinbo Nagamoto and daring the pursuers to try to take his head. Kazusa is said to have killed over twenty of the enemy before being shot from his horse by an arrow.