Imagawa Ujizane

Portrait of Imagawa Ujizane

Imagawa Ujizane ( Japanese 今 川 氏 真 ; * 1538 ; † January 27, 1615 ) was a general of the Sengoku period and Azuchi-Momoyama period . His childhood name was Ryūōmaru ( 龍王 丸 ). He was also Sengoku daimyo of the then Suruga Province , now Shizuoka Prefecture . After the defeat of his father Imagawa Yoshimoto in the Battle of Okehazama , he still controlled the provinces of Suruga , Mikawa and Tōtōmi , which made him one of the most powerful princes in the country at the time. He was the 10th head of the family (1588-1611) of the Imagawa of Suruga. In addition, he was also the first imperial military commissioner of the Imagawa clan in Suruga. As such, he was a fourth-tier advisor under the Tennō . His grave is on the grounds of the Banshōin Kōun-ji ( 萬昌 院 功 運 寺 ) in Kami-Takada, Nakano District , Tokyo Prefecture . Also in Tokyo's Suginami district is the Imagawa family temple, the Kansen-ji ( 観 泉 寺 ). Ujizane is also one of the intellectuals of the early Edo period .

Family tree and family

The coat of arms ( Mon ) of the Imagawa

Ujizane Imagawa was born in 1538 as the eldest son of Yoshimoto Imagawa and Jōkeiin (1519-1550), the eldest daughter of Takeda Nobutora , in Sunpu -Han ( 駿 府 藩 ), later Shizuoka Prefecture. Uchizane's mother brought her daughter Reishōin ( 嶺 松 院 ) into the household of the Ujizane family, making Reishōin the stepsister of Ujizane. While Reishōin later married Takeda Yoshinobu , in 1554 Ujizane took Princess Hayakawa ( 早川 殿 , ≈ dono ), the eldest daughter of Hōjō Ujiyasu , to wife. Through this marriage policy, a three-power agreement between the provinces of Kai , Sagami and Suruga ( 甲 相 駿三国同盟 , Kōsōsun sangoku dōmei ) was concluded and strengthened ( i.e. the clans of the Takeda , the later Hōjō and the Imagawa ). In addition, Ujizane was in a relationship with a concubine, a daughter of Ihara Tadayasu ( 庵 原 忠 康 ).

Ujizane had three other siblings. The monk Ichigetsu Chōtoku ( 一月 長得 ), who was born as the third son of Yoshimoto Imagawa and Jōkeiin, as well as 隆福 院 and 牟 礼 勝 重 (phonetic translation unclear due to old characters, author's note).

Ujizane himself had five biological children and, Hōjō Ujinao, an adopted son. While his first-born son, Imagawa Norimochi, continued the Imagawa line, his second-born son, Shinagawa Takahisa, became the progenitor of the Shinagawa line. Historical sources suggest that he also had a daughter who lived in Kira Yoshisada's household. Almost nothing else is known about this daughter. The third son was Nishio Yasunobu ( 西 尾 安 信 ,? –1613) and the fourth was Kiyoshi Son ( 澄 存 , 1579–1652).

His grave is on the grounds of the Banshōin Kōun-ji Temple in the Nakano District , Tokyo Prefecture . He died as a monk in a Buddhist temple in 1614 after his abdication .

Family tree (excerpt):

→ Main article : Imagawa (clan)

Jūkeini

Imagawa Ujichika

Imagawa Ujiteru

Imagawa Hikogorō

Genko Etan

Jōkeiin

Imagawa Yoshimoto

Imagawa Ujitoyo

Princess Hayakawa

Imagawa Ujizane

Reishōin

Daughter of Kira Yoshiyasu

Imagawa Norimochi

Shinagawa Takahisa ancestor of the Shinagawa

Ujizane's daughter in the household of Kira Yoshisada

Imagawa Naofusa

Kira Yoshimitsu

Imagawa Ujinari

Daughter of Hōjō Ujihira

Imagawa Ujimichi

Imagawa Noritaka

Imagawa Norinushi

As a nickname, Ujizane also used the name Imagawa Hikogorō ( 彦 五郎 ), or Gorō ( 五郎 ) for short .

Ujizane as a Sengoku daimyo

His time as daimyo marked the fall of the Imagawa . In the course of the fighting he was diplomatically isolated, unpopular with the people and betrayed by vassals. He is said to have many negative character traits. He was feminine, indecisive and overeducated. At least he did not manage to collect and bind his vassals enough.

In 1558 he inherited his father Imagawa Yoshimoto as clan leader, as he wanted to concentrate on the influence in the provinces of Totomi and Mikasa in the west. Through the marriage alliance between the three great daimyo of the East (see above: family) his father Imagawa Yoshimoto believed himself safe and decided to march to Kyoto to Shogun to be, and found a little later on 19 June 1560 the battle of okehazama by Oda Nobunaga death, which gave that Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi a boost and decisively weakened the Imagawa.

Armed conflicts

Map of the Japanese provinces, Suruga highlighted in red

Map of the Japanese provinces, Tōtōmi highlighted in red

Map of the Japanese provinces, Mikawa highlighted in red

• 1560 defeat of the father against Nobunaga :

His father Imagawa Yoshimoto died in 1560 in the battle of okehazama ( 桶狭間の戦い , Okehazama No Tatakai ) against Oda Nobunaga , with many vassals of the house Imagawa ( Yui Masanobu ( 由比正信 ), Ichinomiya Munekore ( 一宮宗是 ) Matsui Manenobu ( 松井 宗 信 ) and Ii Naomori ( 井 伊 直 盛 )).

• after 1560 separatism in Mikawa:

Due to the discontent of the people and the death of the daimyo in the Battle of Okehazama, the residents of Tōtōmi Province and Mikawa Province began revolts . The residents of Mikawa had suffered great sacrifices in the battle between Imagawa Yoshimoto and Oda Nobunaga . Ujizane tried to stabilize the public mood through tax breaks for temples and shrines as well as traders in Mikawa. But Tokugawa Ieyasu moved into the neighboring fief of Okazaki Castle and brought West Mikawa under his influence. For the New Year 1561 Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru Ujizane and Tokugawa Ieyasu urged a reconciliation , but despite the mediation by Hōjō Ujiyasu , Ieyasu soon broke again with the Imagawa and joined Oda Nobunaga. East Mikawa was also fermenting. Particularly indicative of the extent of these attempts at separation is that even one of the three unificationists, Toyotomi Hideyoshi , as a vassal and ordinary foot soldier, gave up his allegiance and defected with some warlords of the Mōri to Oda Nobunaga, where he finally rallied to his successor in a short time . This suggests the massive loss of power as a result of the defeat in the Battle of Okehazama.

• 1561 invasion of Uesugi Kenshin :

In March 1561, Uesugi Kenshin (then still known as Nagao Kagetora) invaded the Kantō plain . He attacked the Hōjō, allied with Ujizane . Ujizane countered, gathered reinforcements from the Imagawa and sent them to Kawagoe Castle in what is now Saitama Prefecture . He was also established in the Muromachi-Bakufu, so the military administrative apparatus of the Shogun , which is why it is assumed that he took military countermeasures in his field in 1561 against the unrest that were expressly desired by the Shogunate.

• 1562 hostility from Tokugawa Ieyasu :

Ieyasu went in the New Year 1562 with Oda Nobunaga the " Kiyosu alliance" ( 清 洲 同盟 , Kiyosu dōmei ) and thus declared the lifting of his loyalty to the Imagawa . In February, Ujizane dispatched troops from Ushikubo Castle ( 牛 久保 城 ), attacked Ichinomiya Castle and was thrown back in a fierce battle by the rearguard Ieyasu. Ujizane and his troops turned around because his ally Takeda Nobutora , maternal grandfather, was concerned and asked for assistance in Sunpu . In June 1564, Yoshida Castle ( 吉田 城 ), the Imagawa base in East Mikawa, surrendered , and the Imagawa influence on Mikawa Province disappeared.

• 1562 Separatism in Tōtōmi : Also in the province Tōtōmi there were riots among the vassals and residents and separatism intensified; the separatists were also joined by Ii Naochika from Iinoya, Iio Tsuratatsu , Lord of Hamamatsu Castle , and the outer castle guard under Horikoshi Uchinobu ( 堀 越 氏 延 ) and Amano Kageyasu ( 天野 景泰 ) from Inui. In 1562 the feudal lord Asahina Yasutomo Ii Naochika had to be killed. Thereupon the remaining Iio Tsuratatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu formed a secret alliance in 1564 and instigated a rebellion .

• 1565 Suppression of the uprising :

Ujizane sent one of his most important vassals, Miura Masatoshi, to retake Hamamatsu Castle from the rebels, but he was defeated. During the feigned signing of a peace agreement , Ujizane had the renegade Iio Tsuratatsu murdered in December 1565. House Iio was besieged again and forced to surrender in April the following year , which enabled Ujizane to end the rebellion. In politics, Ujizane is said to have taken very strong advice from his grandmother Jukeini ( 寿 桂 尼 ). From the second half of 1560 to 1562 he developed a lively correspondence and was actively involved in the construction of temples and shrines. At the diplomatic level, he strengthened cohesion with the allied Hōjō .

• 1568 Invasion of the Takeda:

When the allied Takeda from the northern neighboring region of Kai Province reached an agreement with the Uesugi for the northern territories after the fifth undecided battle of Kawanakajima , the Imagawa welcomed this diplomatic change. Imagawa Yoshimoto had sought an alliance with the neighboring daimyo in order to march to Kyoto and become a shogun .

After the Battle of Okehazama (in Owari Province , May 1560), Ujizane did not renew his alliance with the neighboring Anayama Shintomo ( 穴 山 信 友 ), who was then in the province of Suruga in the city of Kawachi Ryōshu ( 河内 領主 ) ( liege lord ). In doing so, he risked tensions on the border with the Takeda, who were expanding and, with their reputation for being the strongest local power, quickly won indecisive liege lords for themselves. However, the situation calmed down again in 1565 when Ujizane's younger sister Reishōin ( 嶺 松 院 ) was given as mistress to the heir of the Takeda, Takeda Yoshinobu , which renewed the alliance . However, this Yoshinobu was soon disinherited by Takeda Shingen , his younger brother, who himself became the leader of the coup , and so it came about that in November Reishōin ( 嶺 松 院 ) returned to the Imagawa's house, including the diplomatic connection of the Imagawa to the Takeda broke off.

At the same time, the heir of the Takeda clan, Takeda Katsuyori , moved to Suwa to pick up Nobunaga's adopted daughter as the wife and to form an alliance with Tokugawa Ieyasu . Nobunaga had been the Imagawa's archenemy since the Battle of Okehazama , so relations between the Imagawa and the Takeda grew strained. Ujizane traveled to Echigo Province and made peace and reconciled with the Takeda archenemy, Uesugi Kenshin . At the same time, Hōjō Ujiyasu had canceled deliveries of salt to the entire province of Kai from Sagami Province . At this point the Hōjō were already in open conflict with the Takeda. The Imagawa were still on the side of the Hōjō. The lust for power of Takeda Shingen brought Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi to form an alliance with Takeda to protect themselves.

At the end of 1568 the alliance between Takeda and Tokugawa and Nobunaga was at its height. On December 6th, Takeda Shingen broke from Kofu to Suruga Province and began his invasion of Imagawa land. To intercept the Takeda troops at the Satta mountain pass ( 薩 埵 峠 ), Ujizane also set out on December 12 from the Kiyomidera temple ( 清 見 寺 ) in Okutsu. However, 21 of his most important troop leaders, including Sena Nobuteru ( 瀬 名 信 輝 ), Katsurayama Ujimoto ( 葛山氏 元 ), Asahina Masasada ( 朝 比 奈 政 貞 ) and Miyura Gikyou ( 三浦 義 鏡 ) sided with Shingen, and so the next day ended , December 13th, in a wild flight of the Imagawa troops, the nearby garrison town of Sunpu ( 駿 府 ) of the Imagawa fell immediately, including the castle.

Ujizane had to retire quickly, to the residence of the allied noble house Asahina Yasutomo ( 朝 比奈泰 朝 ), to Kakegawa Castle ( 掛 川 城 ), located on Tōkaidō . Ujizane was unable to get Prince Hayakawa's valuable horse-drawn carts ready to drive, nor to regain the paintings that had been passed on for generations and that are said to have been lost during the hectic escape. At the same time, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was cooperating with Shingen, and his troops had invaded the south, in the province of Tōtōmi . Shingen and Ieyasu had divided the land of the Imagawa and after a short time conquered more than half of the territory.

Imagawa surrender and loss of power

On December 27th the residence, Kakegawa Castle , was surrounded by Ieyasu's troops. The siege lasted about half a year due to the fierce resistance of the remaining feudal men in the area.

The father of Princess Hayakawa, Uchiyasu Hayakawa ( 早川 殿 氏 康 ), sent a relief army to rescue the besieged, but it was intercepted at the mountain pass. Although there these supporting Hōjō had a higher clout, they were ultimately unable to completely destroy the Takeda, so the course of the war no longer changed and the balance of power stabilized. As with the siege of Kakegawa Castle, where Tokugawa could not play to its strengths, the dispute turned into a lengthy cauldron battle in the mountains. Ieyasu sought a reconciliation with the Imagawa in order to prevent Takeda Shingen from making extensive land gains by means of a treaty and to take the tension out of the besieged areas in the east . On May 17, 1569, Ujizane finally surrendered in his Kakegawa castle in exchange for sparing the lives of his followers.

At this point, Imagawa Ujizane, Ujiyasu and Tokugawa Ieyasu agreed to expel the Takeda from Suruga Province and reinstate Ujizane as rulers of the province. However, this vow was never implemented, and the old followers and vassals of Ujizane have not returned to their positions in his service. In general, this equates the loss of Kakegawa Castle with the destruction of the sovereignty of the Imagawa and their demise as a Sengoku daimyo . Some Japanese historians even doubt that Tokugawa Ieyasu really took his offer to help the Imagawa in Suruga province back to the post of daimyo seriously.

After the surrender in Kakegawa Castle, he confided in his parents' house, Prince Hayakawa and the later Hōjō . He finally came to the Kanbara family in Tokura Castle ( 戸 倉 城 ), Ise Province . The Ōdaira castle ( 大 平城 ) is also mentioned as a place of residence. It was also written that he was in Odawara , Kanagawa Prefecture , on Hayakawa donated land.

On May 23, 1569, Ujizane adopted a son who later became Hōjō . At this point the Imagawa heir, Imagawa Norimochi ( 今 川範 以 ), was not yet born. He undertook to entrust the province of Suruga to him one day and now to ensure stability. He also sent a messenger to Uesugi Kenshin in the north to discuss action against the Takeda. Shortly afterwards he founded the " Echigo - Sagami Alliance" ( 越 相 同盟 , Etsusō dōmei ) between Imagawa , later Hōjō and Uesugi , which was primarily directed against the massive territorial gains of the Takeda from the last years of the war. Shortly afterwards, Okabe Masatsuna ( 岡 werden 正 綱 ) recaptured the city of Sunpu in Suruga province . Ohara Shizuzane ( 小 原 鎮 実 ), lord of the castle of Hanazawa ( 花 沢 城 ), soon opposed the Takeda and sided with Ujizane. It is said that he also supported Ujizane's request to the later Hōjō that they send troops to him to help drive the Takeda out of Suruga province.

Although the war was still raging in Suruga, Ujizane wrote numerous letters stating that he was relieved, grateful and that security was restored. The actual effect of these letters has long been doubted by historians, but the fact is that as a feudal lord he then regained direct control over several areas within his province. However, the army of the later Hōjō had been defeated in the battle for Kanbara Castle ( 蒲 原 城 の 戦 , Kanbara-jo no tatakai ), and the Imagawa followers had to surrender to the Takeda in rows, so that in 1571 many liege lords were undecided, whom to join and Ujizane could not have any real control over the province.

Reconciliation with the Takeda

Imagawa Ujimasa died in October 1571 , whereupon the Imagawa changed their foreign policy and reconciled with the Takeda in the northwest after their great losses. In December, Ujizane ceded Sagami Province and placed it under the protection of Tokugawa Ieyasu . Ujizane Ieyasu's ceding this province is believed to be a peace condition for Ieyasu when Kakegawa Castle surrendered; in return he was able to get the province of Suruga back from Ieyasu.

Gifts for the archenemy

In 1572 he was at the temple Okitsuseiken-ji ( 興 津 清 見 寺 ) out some writings, from which his motives and feelings should emerge. In the first year of Tenshō, 1573, Oda Nobunaga bought Ujizane's tea utensils for the tea ceremony , which he had previously entrusted to a trader in the great port of Ise . The correspondence between the traders in the port and the entourage of Oda Nobunaga shows that Ujizane was in the port city of Hamamatsu at that time . It is amazing that he kept giving costly gifts to his father's conqueror, Nobunaga. Some claim that because he was neither strong nor wise, Nobunaga was both.

Ujizane on pilgrimage

In 1575, Ujizane collected 428 Waka poems in the Imagawa Ujizane collection of poetry manuscripts ( 今 川 氏 真 詠 草 ) from January to September . Ujizane probably set out on a trip from Hamamatsu to Okazaki in January , and after his arrival in Kyoto , he visited shrines. He also visited an old friend of the house of the Sanjōnishi Saneki at the imperial court. According to the records of Prince Nobunaga ( 信 長 公 記 ), vassals Tokugawa Ieyasu reported that Ujizane visited the Rinzai temple Shōkoku-ji in Kyoto on March 16 with his father's mortal enemy, Oda Nobunaga . At Nobunaga's request, Ujizane held a presentation of the Kemari football game on the 20th day of his presence at this temple with emissaries from the imperial court . However, the manuscripts of Imagawa Ujizane's poems are silent about this meeting. In April he heard of the Takeda Katsuyori incursion into Mikawa Province , and set out to face him at the Battle of Nagashino ( 長 篠 の 戦 い ). He returned to Mikawa, and on May 15 he began serving in the rear guard with Ushikubo. When a messenger from the Ieyasu finally called him to fight, he is said to have followed them. Masatoyo Naitō ( 内藤 昌 豊 ) says that he was practically a follower of Tokugawa Ieyasu at that time .

Vengeance campaign with Nobunaga against the Takeda

After the victory in Nagashino, Ujizane was also involved in the annihilation of the remaining Takeda soldiers. From the end of May he marched with the armed forces of Ieyasu and Nobunaga for several days in the province of Suruga, all of which were pillaged and "cleaned up". This was in line with Nobunaga's war tactics. In July they attacked Suwamoto Castle ( 諏 訪 原 城 , today: Shimada , Shizuoka Prefecture ). Suwamoto Castle fell and was surrendered in August and renamed Makino Castle ( 牧野 城 ).

Reorganization to the exclusion of Ujizanes in Suruga

On March 17, 1576, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the Matsudaira family , who was his family of origin and in which he previously fought for Imagawa Yoshimoto , to subordinate Ujizane land in his homeland. Oda Nobunaga, however, did not support Ujizane. Ujizane received Makino Castle and was supported by Matsudaira Ietada ( 松 平 家 忠 ) and Matsudaira Yasuchika ( 松 平 康 親 ). In 1577, however, it happened that on March 1, Uchizane retook Hamamatsu on his own. In less than a year he was deposed again by Nobunaga. He used the new free time to write poetry. The documents of that time are the last legacies of Ujizane. In the end he supported under the synonym Sōnim Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Sekigahara , which should secure his descendants influence for generations as master of ceremonies at the court of the Shogun in Edo .

Public work

In April 1566 he had a city festival held in Fujinomiya , with music and feasts, and he also ordered debt relief, which gave him relief from his tense situation. These folk festivals were popular measures to maintain public morality that had previously been carried out by Oda Nobunaga , but they did not stop the decline and unrest in the Imagawa territory.

In May 1567 Satomura Jōha (Renga master of the late Muromachi period from Nara; approx. 1525-1602) visited the province of Suruga. He wrote in his notes when he was on his way to the city of Fujinomiya that lively tea ceremonies ( Sadō ) and poetry contests ( Renga ) were held in the temples and houses of the nobility . At this time, Sanjōnichi Saneki ( 三条 西 実 澄 ) and Reizei Tamemasu ( 冷泉 為 益 ) were also staying in the Imagawa capital, Sunpu. Until the hour of his death he is said to have written vividly. According to the revised records of the Matsudeira ( 校訂 松 平 記 ), an epidemic broke out again in July of the year 10 Eiroku, as in the previous summer. Ujizane is said to have enjoyed taiko drumming at this point . At that time, his favorite vassal Miura, who advised him, is said to have betrayed him.

In a little later written manuals such as the Kōyō Gunkan ( 甲 陽 軍 鑑 , strategic book about feudal lords of the neighboring Takeda ; early Edo period) it was written that Ujizane should have fallen for pleasure. Furthermore, there should have been indications of the moral decline among his high officials.

The head of the Matsudaira, Matsudaira Ietada, writes in his diary ( 家 忠 日記 , Ietada Nikki ) that he suspects that Ujizane occasionally performs on stage at Hamamatsu and is therefore in the surrounding area. It is also said that he was a Buddhist monk by the name of Sōkan who used his influence on the cause of Tokugawa Ieyasu . Ujizane is said to have visited the guard house of Hamamatsu Castle on October 10, 1579 and was subsequently invited by Tokugawa Ieyasu . In addition, there was a henchman who was also called Ujizane, is further in Ietada's diary, what his circle of friends should have known as well. In July 1583 Konoe Sakihisa (court nobility in the Azuchi-Momoyama period; 1536–1612) came to Hamamatsu at the invitation of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Ujizane is said to have been present at the meeting.

Ujizane as an intellectual

Waka and Renga - poetry

Ujizane wrote many waka . Some 40 years after his death, in 1658, some of these poems were reprinted. It is assumed that Ujizane was instructed in his youth from his cultural environment by the Dainagon ( Upper State Councilor ) Tamekazu Reizei (1486–1549), who had returned from the province of Suruga , and instructed in poetry by Taigen Sessai ( 太原 雪 斎 ) (? -1557) has been. The Renga poet Jōha Satomura ( 里 村 紹巴 ) (1525-602) mentions in his work Fujimi-michi no ki ( 富士 見 道 記 ) that Ujizane was instructed in manners and manners by Tamekazu Reizei.

The historian Muneo Inoue, of the medieval Waka - seal researched, evaluated in his book "The Imagawa clan and the Kansen-ji" the Waka Ujizanes as the only ones who stringently the traditional technique of medieval waka poetry elegant clarity followed. “Even if the work as a whole is not outstanding and overall it does not exceed the level of its time, it must be taken into account that there are a small number of individual and novel poems that sometimes reach the level (of the time). Plus, the many average poems don't seem completely useless either. Precisely because he always focuses on an emotion (literally 精神 , which can also denote attitude, morality and his own will) in the poems, he brings about individual poems in a time that was characterized by tension in a formal attitude his time beyond is unique in Japanese literature ”.

Ujizane's name can also be found, as well as that of Takeda Shingen , Hōjō Ujiyasu and Hōjō Ujimasa , in the anthology of poems Shūgai Sanjūrokkasen ( 集 外 三 十六 歌仙 ) commissioned by Tennō Go-Mizunoo .

Ujizane and the football game Kemari

A traditional anecdote revealed that kemari , a form of Japanese football, was common before Oda Nobunaga .

In Shinchō kōki ( 信 長 公 記 , for example: "Notes of Lord Nobunaga") it is mentioned that Ujizane, with his reputation as a Kemari enthusiast, first aroused Oda Nobunaga's interest in this sport . Contemporary sources have confirmed that Ujizane had a great influence on the Kemari . The portrayals handed down in these notes of Prince Nobunaga ( 信 公 記 ) agree with those that the young Yamashina Tokitsugu later described in his work 『Chronicles of Yamashina ( 言 継 卿 記 )』.

It is said that the priest Masatsuna Asukai ( 飛鳥 井 雅 Hause) from the house of Asukai was very popular. In his collections of comical (humorous) stories ( 醒 睡 笑 ), which he completed during the beginning of the following Edo period , it is also said that Ujizane instructed priests in the game at a Shinto shrine , the Kamo shrine ( 賀 茂 神社 神官 ) . A certain monk named 松下 述 久 , Matsushita Jutsuhita, is said to have been particularly enthusiastic.

Ujizane and Kendo

Tsukahara Bokuden ( 塚 原 卜 伝 , 1489–1571), a fencing master in the Sengoku period from Hitachi province and founder of Bokuden-ryū , taught Ujizane to fight with the katana and perfected the new sword fighting style Shintō-ryū ( 新 当 流) in Kagoshima ) the Imagawa in Kendō.

Over the following Edo period , two elements of Shintō-ryū in particular spread in Japan: the Iaidō (the way of drawing the sword) and the Bōjutsu (fencing). In Suruga a fencing master named Imagawa Gizane ( 今 川 川 真 ) became known, who founded other schools in Echizen and Sendai (Tohoku prefecture) and made this style known nationwide.

End of life in the beginning of the Edo period

Politically, he continued to support the Tokugawa and his son and grandson were subsequently important masters of ceremonies at the court of the Tokugawa shoguns in Edo . Whether they continued the tradition of poetry that the Imagawa had is unknown. The court nobleman (also Kuge (nobility) ) Yamashina Tokitsugu (1507–1579), who stayed at the Imagawa court in Shizuoka Province from 1556 until the following year , reported in his diary "Tokitsugu kyōki" ( 言 継 卿 記 ), that the young Ujizane did stage play, ball play and calligraphy. During his time in Kyoto , historians assume that Ujizane was allowed to earn his living directly from the coffers of the estate of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu . In the following year, 1612, from Tokugawa Ieyasu, a district administrator of the wild Ōmi province , with the name Shimamura ( 島村 ) (today Shiga prefecture ) in the city of Yasu and later in the city of Nagashima, is said to have received a relief of the rice tax liability of 500 koku. Possibly this district administrator was Ujizane (who is still unpopular among the people and lives under a false name).

In 1598 Ujizanes second son, went Shinagawa Takaku ( 品川高久 ) at the service of Tokugawa Hidetada ( 徳川秀忠 ) (second shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate , 1578 / 79-1638; third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu , consolidated the shogunate). 1607 died Ujizane's firstborn son Imagawa Norimochi ( 今 川範 以 , 1570-1608) in Kyoto . In 1611 the son Imagawa Naofusa ( 今 川 直 房 ) left behind by Ujizane began his service under Tokugawa Hidetada.

1612 for the New Year is said to have appeared at the end of a Renga competition in honor of Ujizane Ujizane himself next to Reizei Tamemitsu ( 冷泉 為 満 邸 ). In April, Ujizane is said to have had a meeting with his master Tokugawa Ieyasu in his hometown of Sunpu . According to the Kanseichōshūshokabu ( 寛 政 重修 諸 家譜 ), Ieyasu is said to have exempted Ujizane from the property tax for his retirement home and also given him a plot of land in Shinagawa near his seat of government Edo . Ujizane then immediately moved to Edo with her child and grandson (Shinagawa is in the south of Edo, today Tokyo), in the following year 1613, when his long-time wife and loyal companion, Princess Hayakawa, also died .

In 1614 on December 28th (according to the Sino-Japanese lunar calendar; 18th year of the era Nengō Keichō (secondary reading: Kyōchō; from October 27, 1596-13 July 1615) ( 慶 長 19 年 12 月 28 日 ), i.e. in the year 1615, on January 27th according to western calendar) he died in Edo at the age of 77. His younger brother Ichigetsu Chōtoku ( 一月 長得 ) came to Edō in the Ichigaya district (district in Tokyo's Shinjuku district) to the temple Bansho-in ( 萬昌 院 ) for the death ceremony . In 1662 the temple moved to its final resting place in Ushigome , Shinjuku . Together with the grave of Princess Hayakawa, he found a final resting place on the fiefdom of the Imagawa , Musashi province , in the city of Tama , in the village of Igusa , today the municipality of Tokyo, Suginami-ku , (Imagawa ni-chome) ( 2nd crossing, Imagawa avenue) on the Hōshusan, in Kansen-ji .

Evaluation in posterity

Contemporary assessment of his life's work

In the first half of the 19th century, the historical work Tokugawa Jikki ( 徳 川 実 紀 ), which deals with the decay of the Imagawa house, "should not hold Ujizane a grudge against his father's enemy, Oda Nobunaga, after defeating the Battle of Okehazama had ", whereupon it is described that because of this attitude of the young Ujizane, interpreted as a weakness of not wanting to recapture the country, the houses of the samurai in the province of Mikawa Tokugawa Ieyasu have sworn loyalty. This perception as an unwise, soft and over-cultivated, feminine ruler is often portrayed in historical novels and television dramas.

The book Kōyō Gunkan was written in the early Edo period . (Strategic book about feudal lords around the Takeda clan; written by Obata Kagenori ; Early Edo period) ( 甲 陽 軍 鑑 ). It says that although he was not a passionate general, he was not a coward and could fight. The core of the criticism, however, was that he did not rally his followers around him, and that the subjects he entrusted with important tasks led them into mismanagement or even turned against him.

Matsudaira Sadanobu ( Daimyō from Mutsu; 1758–1829; Senior Councilor of State under the 11th Shogun Tokugawa Ienari) has in his Zuihitsu (literary genre that focuses on experiences and impressions and less the external form) "Too much free time to to be ( 閑 な る あ ま り ) "noted that although the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa ( 足 利 義 政 ) (1436–1490; 8th Ashikaga – Shōgun of Muromachi Bakufu; reign 1449–1473; son of Ashikaga Yoshinori , 足 利 義 教 ) liked to do well himself , when he was preparing the hot water for tea (tea ceremony) in his palace with Ōuchi Yoshitaka ( 大 内 義隆 ) he often spoke of the works of art by Imagawa Ujizane, especially his waka . Since the middle of the early Edo period, it has been written in historical literature that the great master of light entertainment by Kemari and Waka was dead. It is assumed that these passages also refer to Imagawa Ujizane.

Funeral poetry and obituaries about Ujizane

• Yamashina Tokitsune ( 山 科 言 経 ) wrote in his diary ( 言 経 卿 ​​記 , Tokitsune-gyō ki ) in September 1591 that he had seen Ujizane's figure. He suspected that Ujizane lived in Kyoto until recently and traveled a lot.
• Sengansai ( 仙 巌 斎 / 仙岩 斎 ) began in his mourning for Ujizane, like many friends and acquaintances, especially at the imperial court, to write poems on his cultivated character.
• The poet Reizei Tamemitsu (1559-1619) wrote Waka about the friend.

These people were all distantly related, nobles or business people who had known him from before. Reizei held monthly waka and renga meetings and loaned out classical songs and poems by Ujizane for viewing and copying to other nobles and scholars.

reception

Influence on contemporaries

• Yamashina Tokitsugu (court nobleman; 1507–1579; main work: diary "Tokitsugukyōki")

Tokitsugu's mother-in-law (and his wife) Kuroki ( 黒 木 ) was Jukeini's younger sister, and lived with her in the province of Suruga in Koji, 1556. From the time of the two in the province of Suruga until the following year, numerous valuable historical documents have been preserved . He incorporated many of his family's conversations with the Imagawa, especially Ujizane, into his work; they are said to have been very good friends.

• Satomura Jōha ( 里 村 紹巴 ) (Renga master in the late Muromachi period from Nara; approx. 1525–1602).

In 1567 when he visited the province of Suruga, he wrote in his notes of the contemplations of Mount Fuji on the road ( 富士 見 道 記 ) that Imagawa Ujizane was a renga (Japanese chain poem in which stanzas with 17 syllables and verses in syllable rhythm 5–7 –5 alternate with those with 14 syllables and the rhythm 7–7; usually 36, 50, 100 or 1000 stanzas) event carried out.

• Jōa ( 乗 阿 ) ( 一 華堂 乗 阿 ) (1540-1619), Japanese poet and priest

Was high priest of Chozen-ji ( 長 善 寺 住持 ). Said to have adopted an illegitimate child from Takeda Nobutora (Shingen's father) as a follower of Takeda .

• Matsudaira Ietada ( 松 平 家 忠 )

Head of the House of Matsudaira and vassal of Ujizane. In his diary of the Ietada ( 家 忠 日記 ) he writes only in the most polite form about Ujizane as lords.

• Takuan Sōhō ( 沢 庵 宗 彭 ) monk scholar of the Zen Buddhist Rinzai sect at the beginning of the Edo period ; 1573-1645.

he wrote a lament on the occasion of the death of Ujizane, the two of them had a close friendship, as can be seen in his work Notes on the Couple Light and Dark (or: luck and unhappiness , 明暗 双 々 記 ).

literature

• Akagi Shunsuke : The world is yours! - Heroes of Diplomacy of the Warring States ( 天下 を 汝 に - 戦 国外 交 の 雄 ・ 今 川 氏 真 ), Shinchosha Publishing House, 1991, ISBN 4-10-381901-4 .
• Tobe Shinjūrō ( 戸 部 新 十郎 「睡 猫」 ), Tokuma Library ( 徳 間 文庫 ) Secret Sword Dragon Fangs ? ( 秘 剣 龍牙 ) Collection of stories
• Itō Jun : The man who struck the land ( 国 を 蹴 っ た 男 ), Kodansha, 2012.10.

watch TV

• 1965 Taikōki ( 太 閤 記 ), NHK Taiga Drama (series of dramas broadcast over a long period of time), leading role: ( 高 野 恭 明 )
• 1969 Heaven and Earth ( 天 と 地 と ), NHK Taiga Drama (series of dramas broadcast over a long period of time), leading role: Achiha Shinsuke
• 1983 Tokugawa Ieyasu ( 徳 川 家 康 ), NHK Taiga Drama (series of long-term drama series), leading role: Hayashi Yoichi
• 1988 Takeda Shingen ( 武 田信玄 ), NHK Taiga Drama (series of dramas broadcast over a long period of time), leading role: ( 神 田 雄 次 )
• 2007 Fūrinkazan ( 風 林 火山 ), NHK Taiga Drama (series of drama broadcast over a long period of time), leading role: Kazama Yūjirō

art

There is a portrait of Ujizane and his wife, Princess Hayakawa , which is now owned by a private person in America . In February 1618 it was given on loan to the Myōshin-ji (a temple dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai in Nakagyō, Kyōto); it had been made four years earlier for the family's memorial service for the recently deceased Ujizane.

Remarks

1. ↑ There are various accounts of this battle, which took place in 1564 (such as the Mikawa Monogatari , 三河 物語 ), the details of which differ from one another.
2. ↑ See Tetsuo Owada: 今 川 家臣 団 崩 壊 過程 の 一 齣 , in: 静岡 大学 教育 学部 研究 報告 , p. 39.
3. ↑ (Place in the south of Nagano ; Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin ; 1553–1564)
4. ↑ Salt was essential to preserve food for winter and the campaigns. Uesugi Kenshin is said to have sent the Takeda salt soon after, with the words "I defeat my opponents with the sword, not with salt"; The Kai Takeda were the only clan without free access to the sea.
5. ↑ Notes on Matsudaira Heiki ( 校訂 松 平 記 ) and others, it is also said that Takeda Shingen sent assassins ( ninja ) to the city of Odawara to kill Ujizane. In the records of five generations of the Hōjō ( 北 条 五代 記 ) this is also shown.
6. ↑ On the 16th day he is said to have given Nobunaga a valuable censer by Sōgi (poet and scholar of the late Muromachi period; 1421–1502). Nobunaga then paid him back the expenses.
7. ↑ Takayuki Wakabayashi Atsushi ( 若 林 淳 之 ): The Sorrows of the Imagawa Clan - The End of the Imagawa Government ( 今 川 氏 真 の 苦悶 - 今 川 政 権 の 終 焉 ), Ed. Shizuoka University , Faculty of Education, Report 6, 1955. Wakabayashi writes there Ujizane have realized that the traditional system is a dead end with direct taxes on local families, but had not been due to constant invasions by neighboring princes able to implement its system of independent farmers, what the basis of the later Edo period was .
8. ↑ For this very reason, it is also assumed that he taught himself to write poetry from books, which makes his personal opinion particularly prominent. Public party attacks, especially in poetry, were (and are in part according to Genré) still very unusual today.
9. ↑ This anthology of poems, which originated from the Muromachi to the Edo period, includes poems that were not included in the important anthology of the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry . A peculiarity of the anthology is that it mainly includes works by the warrior nobility ( Buke ) and Renga.
10. ↑ Name of a sword fighting style of that time.
11. ↑ see for example Imagawa Sadayo
12. ↑ In the book "Patriotic Nice Spiritual Conversations" ( 志士 steht ) it is written that he had 400 koku rice from Toyotomi Hideyoshi (a koku as a measure of wealth was the amount of rice a man would eat in one year. 400 koku is already equivalent to the tax revenue of a middle province) received as maintenance and lived in Kyoto as a hermit.
13. ↑ Literal translation: "True Tokugawa Records". 516 volumes edited by a 20-person editorial collective led by Narushima Motonoa.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the pedigree of the Omo Osamu the Kansai time ( 寛政重修諸家譜 ) as indicated. In contrast, Kuwata Tadachika ( 桑田 忠 親 ) noted 1539 as the date of birth.
2. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com there the alliances Ujizane with the Takeda are also described.
3. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com of November 26, 2014.
4. ↑ reichsarchiv.jp , accessed on February 6, 2015.
5. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com of November 26, 2014.
6. ↑ so Yasushi Oishi ( 大石 泰 史 ) in his contribution Childhood Names and Adopted Names of Imagawa Ujizane ( 今 川 氏 真 の 幼 名 と 仮 名 ), in: Research on the History of the Sengoku Period ( 戦 国史 研究 ), Volume 23, February 1992
7. ↑ Stephen Turnbull: Samurai: The World of the Warrior. Osprey Publishing, London 2003, p. 224.
8. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com of November 26, 2014.
9. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com
10. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com from November 25, 2014.
11. ^ John Whitney Hall: Japan - From Prehistory To Modern Times. ISBN 0-939512-54-8 , p. 143 and referring to it again on page 162
12. ^ Richard Bowing, Peter Kornicki: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan. Cambridge Univ. Press, ISBN 0-521-40352-9 , p. 65 right column from the second paragraph, where the importance of the battle is again emphasized
13. ↑ The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga. P. 218.
14. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com from November 25, 2014, where he fears for the allegiance of the vassals after the defeat of his father and is accused of treason; several times he carried out disciplinary measures against his own entourage, including 1562 against Ii Naomasa, the lord of Iidani Castle.
15. ↑ on the betrayal of a henchman see also wiki.samurai-archives.com from November 25, 2014.
16. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com
17. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com of November 26, 2014 explicitly mentions Ujizane's dependence on the Asahinaklan to maintain order and security in his province, which he himself was no longer able to do.
18. ↑ Kuroda Motoki ( 黒 田 基 樹 ): The defense and fortresses of the Hōjō in Suruga ( 北 条 氏 の 駿 河 防衛 と 諸城 ), also research on the Takeda ( 武田 氏 研究 ), p. 17.
19. ↑ Akira Kubota Nozomi: Imagawa Ujizane and the later Hōjō after the surrender of Kakegawa Castle ( 懸 川 開 城 後 の 今 川 氏 真 と 後 北 条 氏 ), Komazawa History Science Publishing House ( 駒 沢 史学 ), pp. 39-40 joint edition (September 1988) , Sakeshio Youshi ( 酒 入 陽 子 ): About Ujizane after the surrender of Kakegawa Castle ( 懸 川 開 城 後 の 今 川 氏 真 に つ い て ), in: Research on the History of the Warring States ( 戦 国史 研究 ), p. 39 (February 2000).
20. ^ AL Sadler: The Japanese Tea Ceremony. P. 208.
21. ↑ Ohta Gyuuichi: The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga. Translated by JSA Elisonas and JP Lamers, Brill Verlag, ISBN 978-90-04-20162-0 , p. 218.
22. ^ AL Sadler: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu. In: The Maker of modern Japan. P. 57.
23. ↑ The poem manuscripts by Imagawa Ujizane . It is believed that these were all trivial to Ieyasu. Explanations about the conversations of the warrior class ( 続 武 家 閑談 ), in the book Kii - Monogatari ( 紀伊国 物語 ) it also states that Ujizane was accompanied by Ieyasu.
24. ^ Revised Matsudaira Records ( 校訂 松 平 記 ).
25. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com
26. ↑ wiki.samurai-archives.com of November 26, 2014.
27. ↑ Fujinomiya City Chronicle ( 大 宮 司 富士 家 文書 )
28. ↑ Kubota Masaki ( 久保 田昌希 ): On the debt cancellation policy of the Sengoku daimyo clan of the Imagawa ( 戦 国 大名 今 川 氏 の 徳 政 に つ い て ) In: The social foundations of Japanese culture ( 日本 文化 の 社会 的 基 盤 ), 1976.
29. ↑ Louis Frederic: Japan Encyclopedia. engl. Trans. D. Käthe Roth. ISBN 0-674-00770-0 , p. 382.
30. ↑ Kagenori family traditions ( 景 憲 家 伝 ) Katō Yoshiaki ( 明 良 洪範 )
31. ↑ The Imagawa Clan and the Kansen-ji. ( 今 川 氏 と 観 泉 寺 ), there is a list of the works
32. ↑ Inoue Muneo ( 井上 宗 雄 ): Imagwa uji to sono gakugei ( 今 川 氏 と そ の 学 芸 )
33. ↑ Imagawa-shi to Kansen-ji ( 今 川 氏 と 観 泉 寺 )
34. ↑ Yonehara Masayoshi ( 米 原 正義 ): Sengoku bushi to gakugei no kenkyū ( 戦 国 武士 と 文 芸 の 研究 ), In: Imagwa-shi to sono gakugei. ( 今 川 氏 と そ の 学 芸 ), 1976.
35. ↑ Prince Imagawa had ball played in his free time after lunch on the 20th day of the 3rd month at the Shokoku-ji temple .
36. ↑ Gyuichi Ota: The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga. Volume VIII, p. 218 and other Japanese chronicles
37. ↑ According to "The Great Rites of the Martial Arts Schools", this fencing master is said to have been Ujizane (= Gizane).
38. ↑ See "The Great Rites of the Martial Arts Schools " ( 武 芸 流派 大事 典 ), Wataya Yuki 綿 谷 雪 , ed. Yamada Tadashi ( 山田 忠 史 ), Publisher: Shinjinbutsuōreisha ( 新人物 往来 社 , 1969)
39. ↑ In the "Illustrated Japanese Martial Arts Reference Book " ( 図 説 日本 武 道 辞典 ) by Sasama Yoshihiko ( 笹 間 良 彦 ), published by Kashiwashobo 柏 書房 , 2003, and also in the "Gekken History Collection" ( 撃 剣 叢 談 ), however, it is assumed that it is not Ujizane, but a man named Imagawa Moriyoshi from Echizen Province .
40. ↑ Notes on the teaching of the language ( 言 経 卿 ​​記 )
41. ↑ Chronicles of Sunpu ( 駿 府 記 ) April 14th
42. ↑ 徳 川 実 紀 . In: デ ジ タ ル 版 日本人 名 大 辞典 + Plus at kotobank.jp. Retrieved May 1, 2014 (Japanese). 
43. ↑ Kobayashi Akira ( 小 林明 ): Ujizane Imagawa on paper and in color-About the bust of his wife ( 紙 本 著色 今 川 氏 真 ・ 同 夫人 像 に つ い て ), In: Research on the history of Shizuoka Prefecture. ( 静岡 県 史 研究 ), No. 9, 1993.

literature

Japanese literature

• The story of the Kansen-ji ( 観 泉 寺 史 編纂 ) The Imagawa and the Kansen-ji. ( 今 川 氏 と 観 泉 寺 ), Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1974.
• Yonehara Seigi ( 米 原 正義 ): Research on the Sengoku Samurai and the Arts ( 戦 国 武士 と 文 芸 の 研究 ), Ofū Verlag, 1976.
• History of Shizuoka Prefecture - Volume 2 Middle Ages ( 静岡 県 史 通史 編 2 中 世 ), Ed. Shizuoka Prefecture, 1997.
• Arimitsu Yūgaku ( 有光 友 學 ): Imagawa Gengi ( 今 川 義 元 ), Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 2008.

English-language and German-language literature

• H. Mack Horton: Song in an Age of Discord. The Journal of Sōchō and Poetic Life in Late medieval Japan. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 2002, ISBN 0-8047-3284-1 , p. 60, (Ujizane's contribution to contemporary poetry).
• Arthur L. Sadler : The Maker of modern Japan. The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Allen & Unwin, London 1937, p. 73 (passage where Ujizane rejects Shingen's offer of an alliance).
• Arthur L. Sadler: Cha-no-yu. The Japanese Tea Ceremony. K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., London 1934, p. 208 (place where it is described how much funds Ujizane spent on the tea ceremony).
• Yasushi Inoue : The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan. Translated by Yoko Riley. Tuttle, Tokyo et al. 2006, ISBN 0-8048-3701-5 (novel in which it is described).
• Book VIII. In: Ōta Gyūichi: The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (= Brill's Japanese Studies Library. Vol. 36). Translated and edited by Jurgis SA Elisonas and Jeroen P. Lamers. Brill, Leiden et al. 2011, ISBN 978-90-04-20162-0 .
• Stephen Turnbull : The Samurai Sourcebook. Arms and Armor Press, London 1998, ISBN 1-85409-371-1 (Also: Cassell, London 2000, ISBN 1-85409-523-4 ).
• Stephen Turnbull: Samurai. The World of the Warrior. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003, ISBN 1-84176-740-9 , p. 224.
• Stephen Turnbull: History of the Samurai. Japan's warrior caste in historical retrospect. Translated from English. Stocker-Schmid et al., Dietikon-Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-7276-7151-3 .

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Imagawa is the family name, Ujizane the first name.

.