Ota Dokan
Encyclopedia
, also known as Ōta Sukenaga (太田 資長) or Ōta Dōkan Sukenaga, was a Japanese samurai
warrior-poet, military tactician and Buddhist monk. Ōta Sukenaga took the tonsure
(bald scalp) as a Buddhist priest in 1478, and he also adopted the Buddhist name, Dōkan, by which is known today. Dōkan is best known as the architect and builder of Edo Castle
(now the Imperial Palace
) in what is today modern Tokyo; and he is considered the founder of the castle town which grew up around that Ōnin era fortress.
Dōkan's 15th century poetic description of what was once just a fortified hill on the Sumida River near Edo Bay would become the basis for metropolitan Tokyo Governor Ryokichi Minobe
's 1971 re-election slogan: "Give Tokyo back its blue sky!"
The sky is not often blue and Mount Fuji
may only be glimpsed on rare days, but the green pine trees still adjoin the continuously occupied site which Dōkan first chose. Instead of stone walls, the defense works around the 15th century castle were only grassy embankments, and the structures inside them were not grand. The initial enclosure which served as the castle's core area, the space which would have been Dōkan's hon-maru, was modestly sized; but the moats were extensive for that time period. These moats and their locations would figure prominently in the serial phases of construction and development which followed.
Dōkan is also credited with diverting the Hira River east at Kandabashi to create the Nihonbashi River.
Celebrations attending the 500th Anniversary of Greater Tokyo illuminated parts of the story of Dōkan's life and achievements; and since that time, he has remained a well-known figure in modern popular culture.
originated in 15th century Musashi province
. They claimed descent from Minamoto Yorimasa, and through that branch of the Minamoto they claimed kinship with the Seiwa-Genji.
The feudal progenator of the clan name, Ōta Sukekuni, established himelf at Ōta in Tamba province
, and he adopted this location name as his own. He traced his lineage as a 5th generation descendant of Yorimasa.
In a special context created by the Tokugawa shogunate
, the Ōta clan were identified as tozama
or outsiders, in contrast with the fudai
or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassels or allies of the Tokugawas.
In, 1638, Ōta Sukemune
, the grandson of Ōta Yasusuke, was granted Nishio Domain
in Mikawa province
; and then, in 1645, he and his family was transferred to Hamamatsu Domain
(35,000 koku) in Tōtōmi province
. Yasusuke's descendants were moved several times by shogunate decree, residing successively in 1687 at Tanaka Domain
in Suruga province
, in 1703 at Tanakura Domain in Mutsu province
, and in 1728 at Tatebayashi Domain
in Kōzuke province
. Then, in the period spanning the years 1746 through 1868, this branch of the Ōta clan established itself at Kakegawa Domain
(53,000 koku) in Tōtōmi.
The head of this clan line was ennobled as a "Viscount" in the Meiji period.
-- and claimed by the Ōta as a clan celebrity—Dōkan served as a vassal of the Ōgigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan
which occupied land in the Kantō region of Honshū
.
Dōkan is credited with designing and building Edo Castle for Uesugi Sadamasa (1443–1494) over the fortifications Edo Shigenaga
had earlier built. Work on the defensive walls and moats began in 1457; and he took the name Dōkan the following year.
Ōgigayatsu Uesugi Mochitomo ordered ordered Ōta Michizane and Dōkan to construct fortifications at Kawagoe
in 1457.
As a military strategist, he is reputed to have been an effective tactician; but political intrigues can be as deadly as any battle. Despite years of distinguished service, the Uesugi clan leader proved fickle. Dōkan met an untimely end at Uesugi Sadamasa's home in Sagami (modern-day Kanagawa) after he was falsely accused of disloyalty during a period when the Uesugi family struggled through an internal clan conflict. His death poem
is as follows:
Following his death, the castle was then abandoned until it was taken over by Ieyasu in 1590.
Dōkan was also well-read in classical (Heian period
) literature; and like other samurai of his time, Dōkan was said to have been a skilled poet, but only fragments attributed to him have survived.
Dōkan is also credited with having selected the site of the Hikawa Shrine
, which is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane
, the kami
of poetry and scholarship. The Hikawa shrine is located very near Edo Castle.
(1603–61), the founder of the Mito
branch of the Tokugawa family. After Ieyasu's death, Okatsu became a nun, taking the name Eishoin. The third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu
(1604–51), granted her the property her ancestors had once owned. In 1636, Eishoin had a temple built and she invited a daughter of Yorifusa to join her. Eisho-ji's prosperity helped preserve the memory of the 15th century ancestor who once lived in the same place.
In the late 16th century, Dōkan's Edo Castle was chosen as the new home of Tokugawa Ieyasu
, who had been persuaded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
to transfer the seat of his clan holdings into the Kantō. With the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in the early 17th century, Edo Castle became the center of the shogunate government. When the shogunate was displaced in the Meiji Restoration
in the late 19th century, the newly named Tokyo became an Imperial capital with an Imperial Palace rising from the former shogun's stronghold. Every October 1, modern Tokyo
celebrates the anniversary of its founding, which becomes a festival in honor of the memory of the samurai who would become honored as the founder of a great city.
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
warrior-poet, military tactician and Buddhist monk. Ōta Sukenaga took the tonsure
Tonsure
Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...
(bald scalp) as a Buddhist priest in 1478, and he also adopted the Buddhist name, Dōkan, by which is known today. Dōkan is best known as the architect and builder of Edo Castle
Edo Castle
, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...
(now the Imperial Palace
Kokyo
is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains several buildings including the main palace , the emperor left Kyoto Imperial Palace for Tokyo...
) in what is today modern Tokyo; and he is considered the founder of the castle town which grew up around that Ōnin era fortress.
Ryokichi Minobe
was a Japanese politician who served as Governor of Tokyo from 1967 to 1979. He is one of the best known socialist figures in modern Japanese history.-Early life:Minobe was born in Tokyo...
's 1971 re-election slogan: "Give Tokyo back its blue sky!"
The abode of mine Adjoins a pine grove Sitting on the blue sea And from its humble eaves Commands a view of soaring Fuji. |
The sky is not often blue and Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji
is the highest mountain in Japan at . An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and...
may only be glimpsed on rare days, but the green pine trees still adjoin the continuously occupied site which Dōkan first chose. Instead of stone walls, the defense works around the 15th century castle were only grassy embankments, and the structures inside them were not grand. The initial enclosure which served as the castle's core area, the space which would have been Dōkan's hon-maru, was modestly sized; but the moats were extensive for that time period. These moats and their locations would figure prominently in the serial phases of construction and development which followed.
Dōkan is also credited with diverting the Hira River east at Kandabashi to create the Nihonbashi River.
Celebrations attending the 500th Anniversary of Greater Tokyo illuminated parts of the story of Dōkan's life and achievements; and since that time, he has remained a well-known figure in modern popular culture.
Ōta clan genealogy
The Ōta clanOta clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Seiwa Genji. The Ota are best known as daimyō of territories on Kyūshū during the Edo period ....
originated in 15th century Musashi province
Musashi Province
was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...
. They claimed descent from Minamoto Yorimasa, and through that branch of the Minamoto they claimed kinship with the Seiwa-Genji.
The feudal progenator of the clan name, Ōta Sukekuni, established himelf at Ōta in Tamba province
Tamba Province
was an old province of Japan. The ambit of its borders encompassed both the central part of modern Kyoto Prefecture and the east-central part of Hyōgo Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Tango Province...
, and he adopted this location name as his own. He traced his lineage as a 5th generation descendant of Yorimasa.
In a special context created by the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
, the Ōta clan were identified as tozama
Tozama
A ' was a daimyo who was considered an outsider by the rulers of Japan. The term came into use in the Kamakura period and continued until the end of the Edo period.-Edo period:...
or outsiders, in contrast with the fudai
Fudai
was a class of daimyo who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa in Edo period Japan. It was primarily the fudai who filled the ranks of the Tokugawa administration.-Origins:...
or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassels or allies of the Tokugawas.
In, 1638, Ōta Sukemune
Ōta Sukemune
was a daimyō during early-Edo period Japan. His courtesy title was Bitchu no Kami.-Biography:Ōta Sukemune was the second son of Ōta Shigemasa, a Sengoku period samurai descendent from Ōta Dōkan, who entered into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu after the fall of the Go-Hōjō clan in 1590...
, the grandson of Ōta Yasusuke, was granted Nishio Domain
Nishio Domain
was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in former Mikawa Province, in what is now the modern-day city of Nishio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was centered on Nishio Castle.-History:...
in Mikawa province
Mikawa Province
is an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....
; and then, in 1645, he and his family was transferred to Hamamatsu Domain
Hamamatsu Domain
was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Tōtōmi Province. It was centered on what is now Hamamatsu Castle in what is now the city of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture....
(35,000 koku) in Tōtōmi province
Totomi Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .-History:...
. Yasusuke's descendants were moved several times by shogunate decree, residing successively in 1687 at Tanaka Domain
Tanaka Domain
' was a tozama Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, located in Suruga Province, centered on what is now Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture...
in Suruga province
Suruga Province
was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka prefecture. It was sometimes called . Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay.-History:...
, in 1703 at Tanakura Domain in Mutsu province
Mutsu Province
was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori prefecture and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture...
, and in 1728 at Tatebayashi Domain
Tatebayashi Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Kōzuke Province .-List of lords:*Sakakibara clan #Yasumasa#Yasukatsu#Tadatsugu*Matsudaira clan...
in Kōzuke province
Kozuke Province
was an old province located in the Tōsandō of Japan, which today comprises Gunma Prefecture. It is nicknamed as or .The ancient provincial capital was near modern Maebashi. During the Sengoku period, Kōzuke was controlled variously by Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, the late Hōjō clan, and...
. Then, in the period spanning the years 1746 through 1868, this branch of the Ōta clan established itself at Kakegawa Domain
Kakegawa Domain
' was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, located in Tōtōmi Province. Kakegawa was primarily a Fudai domain. It was centered at Kakegawa Castle in what is now Kakegawa, Shizuoka.-History:...
(53,000 koku) in Tōtōmi.
The head of this clan line was ennobled as a "Viscount" in the Meiji period.
Events of Dōkan's life
Although born into the Ōta clanOta clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Seiwa Genji. The Ota are best known as daimyō of territories on Kyūshū during the Edo period ....
-- and claimed by the Ōta as a clan celebrity—Dōkan served as a vassal of the Ōgigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan
Uesugi clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from the Fujiwara clan and particularly notable for their power in the Muromachi and Sengoku periods ....
which occupied land in the Kantō region of Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
.
Edo Shigenaga
Edo Shigenaga was the second head of the Edo clan. He first settled and lent his name to the fishing village Edo that eventually grew to become Tokyo. He was also known as Edo Taro....
had earlier built. Work on the defensive walls and moats began in 1457; and he took the name Dōkan the following year.
Ōgigayatsu Uesugi Mochitomo ordered ordered Ōta Michizane and Dōkan to construct fortifications at Kawagoe
Kawagoe
Kawagoe may refer to two different locations in Japan:*Kawagoe, Mie, a town in Mie Prefecture*Kawagoe, Saitama, a city in Saitama Prefecture...
in 1457.
As a military strategist, he is reputed to have been an effective tactician; but political intrigues can be as deadly as any battle. Despite years of distinguished service, the Uesugi clan leader proved fickle. Dōkan met an untimely end at Uesugi Sadamasa's home in Sagami (modern-day Kanagawa) after he was falsely accused of disloyalty during a period when the Uesugi family struggled through an internal clan conflict. His death poem
Death poem
A death poem is a poem written near the time of one's own death. It is a tradition for literate people to write one in a number of different cultures, especially in Joseon Korea and Japan.-History:...
is as follows:
Kakaru toki sakoso inochi no oshikarame kanete nakimi to omoishirazuba |
Had I not known that I was dead already I would have mourned the loss of my life. [Translation, Yoel Hoffmann] |
Following his death, the castle was then abandoned until it was taken over by Ieyasu in 1590.
Dōkan was also well-read in classical (Heian period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
) literature; and like other samurai of his time, Dōkan was said to have been a skilled poet, but only fragments attributed to him have survived.
Dōkan is also credited with having selected the site of the Hikawa Shrine
Hikawa Shrine
is a major Shinto shrine in the Omiya district of Saitama. Surrounding the shrine is a large park in which there are many cherry blossom trees, a zoo and a museum....
, which is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane
Sugawara no Michizane
, also known as Kan Shōjō , a grandson of Sugawara no Kiyotomo , was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian Period of Japan...
, the kami
Kami
is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
of poetry and scholarship. The Hikawa shrine is located very near Edo Castle.
Legacy
Dōkan's residence in Kamakura residence became Eisho-ji, a Buddhist temple. The temple complex was s founded by Okaji, a daughter of Ōta Yasusuke who would have been one of Dōkan's great-great-grandsons. Okaji was one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's attendants, and she later became a foster mother to Tokugawa YorifusaTokugawa Yorifusa
, also known as Mito Yorifusa, was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period.- Biography :Known in his childhood as Tsuruchiyomaru, he was the eleventh son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun...
(1603–61), the founder of the Mito
Mito
Mito can refer to:a person*Anji Mito, a fictional character from the video game Guilty Geara place name:*Mito, Ibaraki, a Japanese city*Mito, Aichi, a Japanese town*Mito, Shimane, a Japanese town*Mitō, Yamaguchi, a Japanese town...
branch of the Tokugawa family. After Ieyasu's death, Okatsu became a nun, taking the name Eishoin. The third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu
Tokugawa Iemitsu
Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Iemitsu ruled from 1623 to 1651.-Early life :...
(1604–51), granted her the property her ancestors had once owned. In 1636, Eishoin had a temple built and she invited a daughter of Yorifusa to join her. Eisho-ji's prosperity helped preserve the memory of the 15th century ancestor who once lived in the same place.
In the late 16th century, Dōkan's Edo Castle was chosen as the new home of Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
, who had been persuaded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
to transfer the seat of his clan holdings into the Kantō. With the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in the early 17th century, Edo Castle became the center of the shogunate government. When the shogunate was displaced in the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
in the late 19th century, the newly named Tokyo became an Imperial capital with an Imperial Palace rising from the former shogun's stronghold. Every October 1, modern Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
celebrates the anniversary of its founding, which becomes a festival in honor of the memory of the samurai who would become honored as the founder of a great city.