Inoue Masashige
Encyclopedia
was an important figure during the early Edo period
in Japan
. He played a role in the persecution and eradication of Christians in Japan and he was commissioner for the Dutch East India Company
in Nagasaki
.
Masashige died in 1661 (not 1662).
He is thought to have risen to prominence as lover of the shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, and certainly, he is one of the most prominent gay, or homosexual, figures in early-modern Japanese history. He and the shogun remained close throughout their lives, though on Iemitsu's death Masashige did not take his own life, as many of Iemitsu closest associates did.
In his post of Grand Councillor (ômetsuke), Masashige had many encounters with the Dutch East India Company, who recorded much about him. One of the Company's employees, Olof Eriksson Willman, a Swede, recorded that Masashige tried to sleep with him, though Willman asserts he rebuffed him.
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He played a role in the persecution and eradication of Christians in Japan and he was commissioner for the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
in Nagasaki
Nagasaki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.- History :Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki...
.
Masashige died in 1661 (not 1662).
He is thought to have risen to prominence as lover of the shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, and certainly, he is one of the most prominent gay, or homosexual, figures in early-modern Japanese history. He and the shogun remained close throughout their lives, though on Iemitsu's death Masashige did not take his own life, as many of Iemitsu closest associates did.
In his post of Grand Councillor (ômetsuke), Masashige had many encounters with the Dutch East India Company, who recorded much about him. One of the Company's employees, Olof Eriksson Willman, a Swede, recorded that Masashige tried to sleep with him, though Willman asserts he rebuffed him.