Ōoka Tadasuke

Coat of arms of the Ōoka
( Ōoka shippō )

Ōoka residence in Edo

Ōoka Tadasuke ( Japanese 大 岡 忠 相 ; * 1677 ; February 3, 1751 ) was a high official of the Bakufu and daimyo in the middle Edo period . He is known for his wise administration.

Live and act

Ōoka Tadasuke's childhood name was Motome ( 救 馬 ), later he was called Ichijūrō ( 市 十郎 ) and Chūsaemon ( 忠 右衛門 ). He was the fourth son of the higher samurai Ōoka Tadadaka ( 大 岡 忠 高 ) of the Kishū-han , who had an income of 2,700 koku . Tadasuke was raised by a relative, Tadazane ( 忠 真 ), with an income of 1,920 koku. It is reported that he is said to have had early recognition of the incumbent prince of the Kii-Tokugawa and later Shoguns Tokugawa Yoshimunes , as he had found justice in a court case against a family suing the daimyat . Otherwise hardly anything is known about his activities up to the age of 35.

1702 Tadasuke was entrusted with duties in the residence ( 書院 番 士 , Shoin banshi ) in Edo , and then rose further. In 1712 he was appointed commissioner for Yamada ( 山田 奉行 , Yamada Bugyō ), received the "next 5th lower court rank " ( 従 五位 下 , jūgoishita ) and the title Noto no kami ( 能 登 守 ). In 1716 he went back to Edo and was commissioner for renewals ( 普 請 奉行 , fushin bugyō ), then city commissioner ( 町 奉行 , machi bugyō ). In addition, he received the title Echizen no kami . In 1736 he was, even more unusual for an official from the Hatamoto estate, commissioner for temples and shrines ( 寺 社 奉行 , jisha bugyō ) and also commissioner for ceremonies ( 奏 者 番 , sōjaban ). Eventually he was appointed daimyo with an income of 10,000 koku and received a permanent house ( jinya ) in Nishiōhira ( Mikawa Province ) in 1748 .

Tadasuke went down in history as an exceptional commissioner. There are many stories about him and many plays that surround him. Actions that have been handed down from Chinese and Indian sources are usually ascribed to him. The fact is that his talent was recognized early and that he was promoted early on. In the Kyōhō period (1716-1736) he led a reformation of the judiciary and strengthened the impartiality of the city organs. He also took care of the administration of the city of Edo with over one million inhabitants by improving fire protection, poor relief, support of folk customs, measures against price increases, etc. Between 1722 and 1745 he also took over the office of contact person for the population in the Edo area ( 地方御用 掛 , jikata goyō-kake ), promoted the economic development of the Kantō area and organized measures against the frequent floods.

Tadasuke was broadly interested and promoted the researcher to the national teacher Katō Enao , the natural scientist Aoki Konyō , the mathematician Noda Bunzō , Tanaka Kyūgu , who was involved in agricultural development, and others.

Tadasuke is buried in the cemetery of Jōken-ji ( Kanagawa Prefecture ).

estate

• Records, essentially from the time as Jisha-bugyō, appeared in print in the 1970s as Ōoka Echizen no kami Daisuke nikki .

Remarks

1. ↑ Shippō means email .
2. ↑ This commissioner supervised the Ise shrine . He was also responsible for repairs.
3. ↑ Today a district of Okazaki . Tadasu, who was not subject to the Sankin kōtai rule, never lived there.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Furusawa, Tsunetoshi: Kamon daichō . Kin'ensha, n.d., ISBN 4-321-31720-7 , p. 77.
2. ↑ Excerpt from the map of the district "Daimyo koji" from approx. 1850.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , pp. 318-349.
• Tsuji, Tatsuya: Ooka Tadasuke . In: Nihon daihyakka zensho (Denshibukku-han) , Shogakukan, 1996.
• Owada, Yasutsune: Nishiohira-jinya in: Miura, Masayuki (ed.): Shiro to jinya. Tokoku-hen. Gakken, 2006. ISBN 978-4-05-604378-5 . P. 110.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Ōoka is the family name, Tadasuke the first name.