Tokugawa Ieyasu

“ He assigned to Nobukatsu a comparatively insignificant fief at Akita, in the remote province of Dewa, and gave the estates in Owari and Ise to Hidetsugu, the nephew and adopted successor of Hideyoshi, while the five provinces hitherto under the sway of Ieyasu were divided among Hideyoshi's generals and retainers. In September, 1590, Ieyasu entered Yedo, and subdivided his extensive domain among his followers in order of merit, thus establishing the Tokugawa system of hereditary daimyo and founding a new Bakufu. ”

“ On the other hand there was a corresponding drain on the provinces, all the greater since the standard of living at Yedo was higher than in rural districts and country nobles thus learned extravagance. To prevent other families from growing too rich and powerful seems to have been a part of Ieyasu's definite plan for holding in check possible rivals of the Tokugawa, so that it is not impossible that he foresaw this very result. ”

“ Affection should characterize the relations of husband and wife and trust those of friend with friend."
A moment's consideration of this ethical system shows that it cannot be reconciled with such a form of administration as that existing under the Bakufu. Genuine loyalty to the sovereign found no place in the practical code of Tokugawa. Whether Ieyasu appreciated that fact or whether he ignored it in consideration of the civilizing and tranquillizing influences of Confucianism, there is nothing to show. ”

“ Blame yourself and acquit others.
To fall short is better than to exceed.
ENGRAVING: SIGNATURE OF ASHIKAGA TAKAUJI ENGRAVING: THEATRICAL PLAY OF OLD JAPAN CHAPTER XXXIX FIRST PERIOD OF THE TOKUGAWA BAKUFU; FROM THE FIRST TOKUGAWA SHOGUN, IEYASU, TO THE FOURTH, IETSUNA (1603-1680) LEGISLATION THE Tokugawa family having brought the whole empire under its sway, Ieyasu applied himself to legislative work with a degree of thoroughness and earnestness that far exceeded anything in the history of his predecessors. ”

“ During the lifetime of Ieyasu, one of the most noted scholars was Fujiwara Seigwa. By the invitation of the Tokugawa chief he lectured on the classics in Kyoto, and it is recorded that Ieyasu, who had just (1600) arrived in that city, attended one of these lectures, wearing his ordinary garments. Seigwa is related to have fixed his eyes on Ieyasu and addressed him as follows: "The greatest work of Confucius teaches that to order oneself is the most essential of achievements. How shall a man who does not order himself be able to order his country? ”

“ Recognizing the strength and convenience of the high grounds on the border of Yedo bay, he built a castle which, through many transformations and enlargements, finally developed into the great feudal capital of the Tokugawa shōguns. It was here that Ieyasu, after the fall of Odawara, by the advice of Hideyoshi,201 established himself for the government of the provinces of the Kwantō which had been given to him. ”

“ TOKUGAWA YOSHIMUNE THE EIGHTH SHOGUN, YOSHIMUNE By the death of Ietsugu, in 1716, the Hidetada line of the Tokugawa family became extinct, and a successor to the shogunate had to be sought from the Tokugawa of Kii province in the person of Yoshimune, grandson of Yorinobu and great-grandson of Ieyasu. Born in 1677, Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa shogun, succeeded to office in 1716, at the age of thirty-nine. The son of a concubine, he had been obliged to subsist on the proceeds of a very small estate, and he therefore well understood the uses of economy and the condition of the people. ”

“ The war thenceforth may be said to have consisted of a series of menaces and evasions. Each general sought to entice his opponent out of an entrenched position, and each general showed an equal determination not to be so enticed. At last, Hideyoshi pushed a force into Mino and captured several castles in that province. But even this failed to change Ieyasu's attitude. The Tokugawa leader entered the fortress of Kiyosu, and Nobukatsu repaired to that of Nagashima, in Ise. ”

“ Ieyasu after that interview is said to have felt like "a man who, having still a long distance to travel, finds himself enveloped in darkness." He saw that the time for considering justice and humanity had passed, and he summoned Honda Masanobu to whom he said: "I see that Hideyori is grown up to be a son worthy of his father. By and by it will be difficult for such a man to remain subservient to another." Masanobu, whom history describes as the "Tokugawa's storehouse of wisdom," is recorded to have replied: "So I, too, think, but there is no cause for anxiety. ”

“ At the end of the avenue the perspective is wonderful, for one looks through a series of great stone toriis, gray with age, and sees along the way objects that are of interest, a five-story pagoda being the most striking. This approach is to the great Temple of Ieyasu, the illustrious Shogun and founder of the Tokugawa dynasty and, like the other great temple and mausoleum of his grandson, Iemitzu (farther on) , was erected in the seventeenth century, at a time when the art of building shrines was at its perfection, as was the work in lacquer and bronze, wood carving and decorative painting. ”

“ It also became fashionable to pay constant visits at the mansions of the chief officials and these visits were always accompanied with costly gifts. It is recorded that the mansion of Tadakiyo was invariably so crowded by persons waiting to pay their respects that a man repairing thither at daybreak could scarcely count on obtaining access by evening-fall. The depraved state of affairs brought the administration of the Tokugawa into wide disrepute, and loyal vassals of the family sadly contrasted the evil time with the days of Ieyasu, seventy years previously. ”

“ In each case rumours of an armed outbreak were suddenly circulated in Fushimi for the purpose of creating confusion such as might furnish an opportunity to strike suddenly at Ieyasu. These essays failed in both instances, and the Tokugawa chief, instead of retaliating by direct impeachment of Ishida, applied himself to cementing close relations with certain great daimyo by matrimonial alliances. Such unions had been implicitly interdicted by the Taiko, and the procedure of Ieyasu elicited a written protest from the boards of the Five Senior Ministers and the Five Administrators. ”

“ Notwithstanding the good work done by fire-engines, the old-style fireman’s duties are still very important in a city of wooden structures like Tokyo. He is also interesting because, in spite of his deterioration, he still partially retains that spirit of old Yedo which found its fullest expression in the otokodate, a class of men who arose to protect their fellow-citizens from the oppression of the samurai. Tokugawa Iyeyasu, upon his accession to the Shogunate, felt uneasy as he knew many daimyo were ready at the first opportunity to revolt ”

“ Iyeyasu, had he respected his pledges, should have applied himself to secure to the Taikō's son, Hideyori, the supreme place won by Hideyoshi's genius. But the ethics of the age did not require any such sacrifice of personal ambition. The Tokugawa chief not only crushed the man he had promised to support, but deliberately contrived an opportunity for crushing him, and posterity does not count the act a crime. ”

“ We can not confide our plans to other clans. They would think at once that Choshiu [Pg 123] wishes to succeed Tokugawa. Perhaps it does. All we do know is that Iyeyasu, who humbled the proudest clan, humbly begged Tenshi Sama to appoint him as Shogun. If he had not possessed the imperial authority, not even he could have prevented constant revolts. But he did possess it, and that is why my ancestor advised his lord not to join the insurgents. It may be, however, that the time has come to wipe out the clan’s disgrace, and my ancestor’s death. If so, let Tokugawa look to it! ”

“ This Tokyo was at the first the town of samurai of two swords, of mind more bent on learning how to die than how to live, proper to say, founded by Iyeyasu Tokugawa, the mighty prince of the Tokugawa feudalism, four hundred year ago, whose want of artistic education made it quite natural for him not to see the poetical side of city-building; he allowed every whim and imagination of the people to take their own free course. ”

“ He is regarded by many as “the greatest soldier, if not the greatest man, whom Japan has produced.” If this statement can be successfully challenged, the palm will certainly be awarded to Iyeyasu, who, by the victory of Sekigahara in 1600, became the virtual ruler of the empire.
5. Tokugawa Feudalism [1603-1868 A. D.] .
Iyeyasu founded a dynasty (Tokugawa) of Shōguns, who, for more than 260 years, ruled at Yedo, surrounded by faithful vassals, and who at least gave the empire a long period of peace. He brought Japanese feudalism to its perfection of organization. ”

“ A century later, Tokugawa Iyeyasu, one of the most powerful daimyo, or territorial lords, at the time, became master of the Eight Provinces east of the Hakone Mountains and was on the point of establishing his government at Kamakura, the capital of the first line of Shogun, when he was persuaded by his suzerain, the Taiko Hideyoshi, who is best known to history for his invasion of Korea, to set up his headquarters at Dokan’s castle-town which possessed great strategic advantages over Kamakura. ”

“ When, at the beginning of the 17th century, administrative supremacy fell into the hands of the Tokugawa, the illustrious founder of that dynasty of shōguns, Iyeyasu, showed himself an earnest promoter of erudition. Education in the pre-Meiji Era. He employed a number of priests to make copies of Chinese and Japanese books; he patronized men of learning and he endowed schools. ”

“ The plea of established custom is not without validity. But what can extenuate the conduct of Iyeyasu when he caused his wife to be executed for plotting against him, and compelled his son to commit suicide in expiation of a crime which the unfortunate youth had not been proved to have committed, and, in fact, had not committed; or of Iyemitsu, the third Tokugawa Shōgun, who condemned his brother to a similar fate? It is evident that the habit of despising wounds and death when they fell to his own lot, taught the bushi to deal them out to others with indifference. ”

“ Farther away from the town is the almost equally celebrated shrine of Ikigami, dedicated to Iyeyas, the great self-raised priest who founded the Tokugawa line of emperors, beautifully situated on a solitary deeply wooded hill. This is one of the sweetest spots near Yokohama. The most complete calm reigns over everything, only broken occasionally by the tinkle of the old temple bell and the monotonous drone of the officiating priests, or by the wind murmuring through the great trees. ”

“ Hearing the Englishman’s testimony, he is said to have exclaimed, “If the sovereigns of Europe do not tolerate these priests, I do them no wrong if I refuse to tolerate them.” Japanese historians add that Iyeyasu discovered a conspiracy on the part of some Japanese Christians to overthrow his government by the aid of foreign troops. It was not a widely ramified plot, but it lent additional importance to the fact that the sympathy of the fathers and their converts was plainly with the only magnate in the empire who continued to dispute the Tokugawa supremacy, Hideyori, the son of Hideyoshi. ”

“ Quasi-divine honours are paid to Iyeyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa dynasty of Shōguns, and to many other distinguished men. Strange to say, a kind of religious cult is rendered to remarkable criminals, such as the famous robber Kumazaka Chōhan, and to Nishi no Buntaro, who in our own day assassinated the Minister of Education, Mori Arinori, because he raised with his walking-stick a curtain which screened off part of the shrine of Ise from vulgar gaze. ”

“ After his death and the subsequent defeat of the partisans of his family in the decisive battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Iyeyasu Tokugawa, who gave himself out as the descendant of Minamoto-no-Yoshiiye, succeeded to the power as Shogun in 1603. With this political change the Emperor had really very little to do, except to give recognition to the fait accompli. The selection of Yedo by Iyeyasu as the site of the new Shogunate created a political situation like that of Kamakura by Yoritomo. ”

“ The principal factor in this change was Tokugawa Ieyas, who had been one of the chief generals of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. Placed by this last at the head of the council of the regency, which had to exercise power during the minority of his son Hideyori, Ieyas was not long before he quarrelled with his co-regents. Assuming the command of an army, recruited in the north and the east of the Empire, he in 1600 defeated at Sekigahara the united forces of the clans of the south and the west, and thus made himself master of Japan. ”

“ Their spies have told the barbarians in their inhospitable regions of the one country where the gods love to dwell. From tens of rude, insolent men, they have increased to hundreds; they are now thousands and will soon be myriads. Tokugawa is no longer a vassal of Tenshi Sama, he is a servant to men scarce better than brutes. Hyogo and Osaka, are in their possession. ”

“ Such a man is unworthy of being a samurai. Ii Naosuke must have known this, and submitted out of loyalty to the descendant of Iyeyasu. He, too, labors under great difficulties. The Tokugawa family is divided. Mito, [66] notwithstanding his ancestor’s will, hopes to see one of his sons succeed as Shogun. If, then, the barbarians must be expelled, it is not the Tokugawa who are able to do it, and therefore that family must be deprived of their power. ”