Sakai Tadakatsu
Encyclopedia
- For the other daimyo with this name see Sakai Tadakatsu (Shōnai)Sakai Tadakatsu (Shonai)was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period. Tadakatsu and his descendants are linked in the history of the han at Tsuruoka in Dewa province....
, also known as Sanuki-no-kami, was tairō
Tairo
Tairō was a high-ranking official position in the bakuhan taisei government of Japan. The tairō would preside over the governing Rōjū council in the event of an emergency. A tairō would be nominated from among a group of samurai families who supported Tokugawa Ieyasu...
, rōjū
Roju
The ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū...
, master of Wakasa-Obama castle (若狭国小浜城) and daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of Obama Domain
Obama Domain
The Obama Domain was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, based at Obama Castle in Wakasa Province ....
in Wakasa province
Wakasa Province
was an old province of Japan in the area that is today southern Fukui Prefecture. It is also known as or .The province's ancient capital was at Obama, which continued to be the main castle town through the Edo period.-Neighboring Provinces:...
in the mid-17th century. As tairō, he was one of the two highest ranking bakufu officials in Tokugawa Japan from his elevation on November 7, 1638 through May 26, 1656.
The Sakai were identified as one of 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 vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan
Tokugawa clan
The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan. However, the early history of this clan remains a mystery.-History:...
, in contrast with the 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 outsider clans.
Sakai clan genealogy
Tadakatsu was part of a cadet branch of the Sakai which had been created in 1590.The fudai Sakai clan
Sakai clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Nitta branch of the Minamoto clan, who were in turn descendants of Emperor Seiwa. Serata Arichika, a samurai of the 14th century, was the common ancestor of both the Sakai clan and the Matsudaira clan, which the Sakai later served...
originated in 14th century 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....
. The Sakai claim descent from Minamoto Arichika. Arichika had two sons: one of them, Yasuchika, took the name Matsudaira; and the other son, Chikauji, took the name Sakai—and this samuari ancestor is the progenitor of this clan's name.
Sakai Hirochika, who was the son of Chikauji, had two sons, and their descendants gave rise to the two main branches of the Sakai clan. Hirochika's younger son, Sakai Masachika, served several Tokugawa clan leaders -- Nobutada, Kiyoyasu and Hirotada; and in 1561, Masachika was made master of Nishio Castle
Nishio Castle
is a Japanese castle located in Nishio, eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Nishio Castle was home to the Ogyu Matsudaira, daimyō of Nishio Domain. The castle was also known as , , or .- History :...
in Mikawa.
Sakai Sigetada, who was the son of Masachika, received the fief of Kawagoe Domain
Kawagoe Domain
The was a feudal domain of Japan during the Momoyama and Edo periods of the history of Japan. It was located in Iruma District, now part of Saitama Prefecture, in Musashi Province . The domain had its headquarters at Kawagoe Castle in the present-day city of Kawagoe.The domain had its beginning in...
in 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...
in 1590; and then in 1601, Sigetada was transferred to Umayabashi Domain 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...
.
Tadakatsu, who was Sigetada's son, was transferred in 1634 to Obama Domain
Obama Domain
The Obama Domain was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, based at Obama Castle in Wakasa Province ....
in Wakasa province
Wakasa Province
was an old province of Japan in the area that is today southern Fukui Prefecture. It is also known as or .The province's ancient capital was at Obama, which continued to be the main castle town through the Edo period.-Neighboring Provinces:...
where his descendants resided until the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
. In a gesture demonstrating special favor to the Sakai, the second shogun, Hidetada
Tokugawa Hidetada
was the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.-Early life :...
, allowed the use of his personal Tada- in the name Tadakatsu.
The head of this clan line was ennobled as a "Count" in the Meiji period.
Tokugawa official
The great office of TairōTairo
Tairō was a high-ranking official position in the bakuhan taisei government of Japan. The tairō would preside over the governing Rōjū council in the event of an emergency. A tairō would be nominated from among a group of samurai families who supported Tokugawa Ieyasu...
was the highest ranking of advisor in the Edo period
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....
, and Tadakatsu was amongst the first to be appointed to this position of honor, trust and power. Tadakatsu was a rōjū during the years from 1631 through 1638.
- KaneiKaneiwas a after Genna and before Shōhō. This period spanned the years from February 1624 through December 1643. The reigning emperors and empress were , and .-Change of era:...
20 (1643: Dutch sailors and the Dutch ship "Breskens" were captured ashore in northern Honshū. The "Nambu incident" alarmed Shogun IemitsuTokugawa IemitsuTokugawa 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 :...
, but the bakufus protracted responses were mitigated by the three men who were the shogun's most senior counselors (the rōjū): Sakai Tadakatsu, Matsudaira NobutsunaMatsudaira Nobutsunawas a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period, who ruled the Kawagoe Domain. First serving Tokugawa Iemitsu as a page, Nobutsuna was renowned for his sagacity. He was named a rōjū in 1633. Nobutsuna led the shogunal forces to their final victory over the rebellion at Shimabara...
, and Inoue MasashigeInoue Masashigewas 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 ....
. In effect, this comes to define who amongst Iemitsu's top advisers were principally responsible for Japan's foreign policy during the reign of the third shogun. The fluid subtlety of the rōjō is illustrated in the thought-provoking debates of modern scholarship, e.g.,
-
- Hesselink departs from his narrative of the Nambu incident to contribute to the significant debate about the nature of Japan's "seclusion" (sakoku) during the Tokugawa period. Recent scholarship, particularly that of Ronald Toby, has held that the intent behind the seclusion edicts of the 1630s was not to isolate Japan from all foreign contact, but to proactively use foreign relations as a means of establishing the bakufu's domestic legitimacy. Hesselink contests this characterization, arguing instead that Japan was genuinely isolated, and that the bakufu's foreign policy was less systematic and far-reaching than scholars have recently claimed. In one important respect, however, Hesselink's research reaffirms the claims of this recent scholarship. By showing how the bakufu went to such great lengths to use the Nambu incident to pressure the Dutch into sending an embassy to EdoEdo, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
, he illustrates how important it was to the bakufu to use diplomatic relations as a means of securing domestic legitimacy. What was for the Dutch merely a cynical gesture aimed at preserving their trade relations with East Asia was for the bakufu a real opportunity to parade twenty-two Dutchmen in red and white striped uniforms through the streets of Edo, thus impressing upon a domestic audience the fiction that the bakufu's authority was recognized throughout the world.
- Hesselink departs from his narrative of the Nambu incident to contribute to the significant debate about the nature of Japan's "seclusion" (sakoku) during the Tokugawa period. Recent scholarship, particularly that of Ronald Toby, has held that the intent behind the seclusion edicts of the 1630s was not to isolate Japan from all foreign contact, but to proactively use foreign relations as a means of establishing the bakufu's domestic legitimacy. Hesselink contests this characterization, arguing instead that Japan was genuinely isolated, and that the bakufu's foreign policy was less systematic and far-reaching than scholars have recently claimed. In one important respect, however, Hesselink's research reaffirms the claims of this recent scholarship. By showing how the bakufu went to such great lengths to use the Nambu incident to pressure the Dutch into sending an embassy to Edo
- KeianKeianwas a after Shōhō and before Jōō. This period spanned the years from February 1648 through September 1652. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...
5, 5th month (1652): Nihon Ōdai IchiranNihon Odai Ichiranis a 17th century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings.According to the 1871 edition of the American Cyclopaedia, the translation of Nihon Ōdai Ichiran in 1834 was one of very few books about Japan; and it was...
(Nipon o dai itsi ran) is first published in KyotoKyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
under the patronage of the tairōTairoTairō was a high-ranking official position in the bakuhan taisei government of Japan. The tairō would preside over the governing Rōjū council in the event of an emergency. A tairō would be nominated from among a group of samurai families who supported Tokugawa Ieyasu...
Sakai Tadakatsu, lord of the Obama DomainObama DomainThe Obama Domain was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, based at Obama Castle in Wakasa Province ....
of Wakasa ProvinceWakasa Provincewas an old province of Japan in the area that is today southern Fukui Prefecture. It is also known as or .The province's ancient capital was at Obama, which continued to be the main castle town through the Edo period.-Neighboring Provinces:...
. Tadakatsu, also known as Minamoto-no Tadakatsu of Wakasa, was the patron of work first published in Kyoto in 1652. The first copy of this rare book was brought from Japan to Europe by Isaac TitsinghIsaac TitsinghIsaac Titsingh FRS was a Dutch surgeon, scholar, merchant-trader and ambassador.During a long career in East Asia, Titsingh was a senior official of the Dutch East India Company . He represented the European trading company in exclusive official contact with Tokugawa Japan...
in 1796. Titsingh translated the text from Japanese and Chinese; and his work was then supplemented for posthumous publication by Julius KlaprothJulius KlaprothJulius Heinrich Klaproth , German linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, Orientalist and explorer. As a scholar, he is credited along with Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, with being instrumental in turning East Asian Studies into scientific disciplines with critical methods.-Chronology:Klaproth was...
in 1834. In supporting this work, Tadakatsu's motivations appear to spread across a range anticipated consequences; and it becomes likely that his several intentions in seeing that this specific work fell into the hands of an empathetic Western translator were similarly multi-faceted.
- The Lion Dance (Shishi-mai) is a still-popular folk dance imported to Wakasa from Mushu-Kawagoe (KawagoeKawagoe, Saitamais a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, and is about a 30-minute train ride from Ikebukuro in Tokyo.As of July 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 343,926...
, Saitama PrefectureSaitama Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
) by Sakai Tadakatsu when he and his descendants were first granted the han of Obama in the early 17th century. Three lions move heroically and elegants to the accompaniment of music played on Japanese flutes. The traditional dance continues to be performed regularly during the Hoze Matsuri and the Osiro Matsuri.
External links
- Nikko pagoda -- Sakai Tadakatsu contributed to the original construction; and after it was burned in 1815, his descendants supported reconstruction in 1818
- Toshogu pagoda in Nikko -- interior view--exterior view, Nagasaki University Library Collection
- Tourist photos uploaded to internet --crisp quality images
- Wakasa-Obama castle -- details of the construction instructions given by Sakai Tadakatsu
- Kawagoe han in Musashi province -- original Sakai clan domain until Sakai Tadakatsu was moved to Obama han by Tokugawa decree
- Miyoshino Shrine -- municipal web site, Kawagoe City
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