Chōsokabe Nobuchika

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Chōsokabe Nobuchika (長宗我部信親, Chōsokabe Nobuchika^? 1565 - January 1, 1587) was the eldest son of samurai lord Chosokabe Motochika, and lived during the late Sengoku Period of Japanese history. Being a man reputedly of warm and genial nature^{[citation needed]}, the retainers of the Chōsokabe clan respected and valued Nobuchika as a fitting heir to the clan's throne, respectively being cherished by his father, in like manner^{[citation needed]}. Upon the date of Nobuchika's coming-of-age ceremony, Motochika's new comrade Oda Nobunaga provided to Nobuchika the 'Nobu' in his name along with a distinguished sword with ceremonial headgear^{[citation needed]}.

By means of this token of generosity, the Chōsokabe under the newly established rulership of Nobuchika willingly supported Nobunaga, up until the time of Nobunaga's death in 1582 by the hands of Akechi Mitsuhide. At that point in time, both Nobuchika and Motochika extended their services to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, serving under this new lord in the Kyushu Campaign. However, Nobuchika was cut down during a desperate retreat at Hetsugigawa in 1587, after which his body was sent to Motochika, who was allowed to retreat to Shikoku without any form of retaliation or harm on the part of the Shimazu. The passing of Nobuchika dramatically affected Motochika, who was forced to make preparations on the succession of his clan.