DISCOVER FUKUI

Nobuhide Niwa, a trusted vassal whom Oda Nobunaga called "a friend and brother," was known alongside Shibata Katsuie as one of the twin pillars of the Oda clan. Nobuhide's grave lies at Sōkōji Temple (founded by Nobuhide as his family temple) in Tsukumo, Fukui City. After Katsuie's suicide, Nobuhide became lord of Hokushō Castle and rose to become a daimyō ruling over the two provinces of Echizen and Wakasa, as well as Kaga. Incidentally, the Imperial Court granted the surname Korezu to Akechi Mitsuhide and the surname Korezumi to Niwa Nagahide. It is said that the surname Hashiba used by Hashiba Hideyoshi was formed by taking one character each from Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuie. Saikōji Temple, the burial site of Katsuie, is also nearby, about 800 meters away, making it possible to visit the graves of both pillars on foot.