Nobuhira had an elder son (Tsugaru Nobuyoshi) by his first wife, the daughter of Ishida Mitsunari, who had been reduced to concubine status when Nobuhira married the niece of Tokugawa Ieyasu to secure his position vis-à-vis the new Tokugawa bakufu following the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

However, his position as the son of a concubine resulted in a split in the ranks of the senior retainers of Tsugaru Domain, with a large faction supporting the younger Tsugaru Nobufusa due to his blood connection to the Tokugawa clan, and due to the fact that he was born as son of Nobuhira's official wife.

The situation was partly resolved by the creation of a semi-autonomous subsidiary holding for Nobufusa based at Kuroishi.

However, in 1809, the Tokugawa shogunate raised the revenues of Kuroishi by 6000 koku during the rule of Tsugaru Chikatari as part of an agreement with Hirosaki daimyō Tsugaru Yasuchika over making Hirosaki Domain partially responsible for guarding the northern frontier lands of Ezo (including Karafuto and the Chishima Islands).

Under the new Meiji government, Tsugaru Tsugumichi was given the kazoku peerage title of shishaku (viscount), and later served as a member of the House of Peers.