Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
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Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (徳川 綱吉 February 23, 1646-February 19, 1709) was the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, thus making him the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Some of his laws, which prohibited the harming of dogs and ordered the establishment of dog kennels, earned him the nickname of "dog shogun".
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[edit] Early Years and Maternal Influence (1646-1680)
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was born on February 23, 1646, in Edo. He was the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu by one of his concubines. Tsunayoshi had an elder brother already five years old, who would become the next shogun after Iemitsu's death, Tokugawa Ietsuna. Tsunayoshi was born in Edo and after his birth moved in with his mother to her own private apartments in Edo Castle. Tsunayoshi is believed to have been at least moderately mentally retarded, due to heavy inbreeding in the Tokugawa family.
While his father was shogun, his mother was an adopted daughter of the Honjo family, led by Honjo Munemasa, in Kyoto. Her birth parents had been grocers in Kyoto. This remarkable woman was very close with Tsunayoshi in his young years, and while his older brother Ietsuna began to rely on regents for much of his reign, Tsunayoshi did exactly the opposite, relying on his remarkable mother for advice until her death.
In 1651, Shogun Iemitsu died when Tsunayoshi was only five years old. His elder brother, Tokugawa Ietsuna, became shogun. For the most part, Tsunayoshi's life during the reign of his brother Shogun Ietsuna is unknown, but he never advised his brother.
[edit] Tokugawa Succession Disputes (1680)
In 1680, Shogun Ietsuna died at the premature age of 39. Immediately the succession began to be decided. Sakai Tadakiyo, one of Ietsuna's most favored advisors, suggested that the succession not pass to someone of the Tokugawa line, but rather to the blood royal, favoring one of the sons of Emperor Go-Sai to become the next shogun (like during the Kamakura shogunate) but Tadakiyo was dismissed soon after.
Hotta Masatoshi, one of the most brilliant advisors of Shogun Ietsuna's rule, was the first person to suggest that Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, as the brother of the former shogun and the son of the third, become the next shogun. Finally, in 1680, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi became the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, becoming Shogun Tsunayoshi.
[edit] Early Rule of Shogun Tsunayoshi (1680-1694)
Immediately after becoming shogun, Tsunayoshi gave Hotta Masatoshi the title of Tairō, in a way thanking him for ensuring his succession. Almost immediately after he became shogun, he ordered a vassal of the Takata to commit suicide because of misgovernment, showing his strict approach to the samurai code. He then confiscated his fief of 250,000 koku. During his reign, he would confiscate a total of 1,400,000 koku.
In 1682, Shogun Tsunayoshi ordered his censors and police to raise the living standard of the people. Soon, prostitution was banned, waitresses could not be employed in tea houses, and soon rare and expensive fabrics were banned. Most probably, smuggling began as a practice in Japan soon after Tsunayoshi's authoritarian laws came into effect. In 1684, Tsunayoshi also decreased the power of the tairo after the assassination of Masatoshi by a cousin in that same year.
Nonetheless, due again to maternal advice, Tsunayoshi became very religious, promoting the Neo-Confucianism of Chu Hsi. In 1682, he read to the daimyo an exposition of the Great Learning, which would become an annual tradition at the shogun's court. He soon began to lecture even more, and in 1690 lectured about Neo-Confucian work to daimyo, Shinto and Buddhists alike, and even envoys from the court of Emperor Higashiyama in Kyoto. He also was interested in several Chinese works, namely The Great Learning by Ta Hsieh and The Classic of Filial Piety by Hsiao Ching. Tsunayoshi also loved art and the No drama.
In 1691, Engelbert Kaempfer visited Edo as part of the annual Dutch embassy from Deshima in Nagasaki.He journeyed from Nagasaki to Osaka, to Kyoto, and there to Edo. Kaempfer gives us information on Japan during the early reign of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. As the Dutch embassy entered Edo in 1692, they asked to have an audience with Shogun Tsunayoshi. While they were waiting for approval, a fire destroyed six hundred houses in Edo, and the audience was postponed. Tsunayoshi and several of the ladies of the court sat behind reed screens, while the Dutch embassy sat in front of them. Tsunayoshi took an interest in Western matters, and apparently asked them to talk and sing with one another for him to see how Westerners behaved. Tsunayoshi later put on a No drama for them.
[edit] The Decline of Shogun Tsunayoshi (1694-1709)
Perhaps owing to mental retardation, or perhaps even religious fundamentalism, Tsunayoshi had an obsession with living things in the later parts of his rule. In the 1690s and 1700s, Tsunayoshi, who was born in the Year of the Dog, thought he should take several matters against dogs. Edicts which told the populace to protect dogs were released every day, since in Edo there were many stray and diseased dogs walking around the city. Therefore, he was called 'Inu-Kubou' (Inu=Dog, Kubou=formal title of Shogun). In 1695, there were so many dogs that Edo began to smell horrible. An apprentice was even executed because he wounded a dog. Finally, the trouble was taken to a distance, as over 50,000 dogs were deported to kennels in the suburbs of the city where they would be housed. They were apparently fed rice and fish which were at the expense of the taxpaying citizens of Edo.
For the latter of Tsunayoshi's reign, he was advised by Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, a golden era of classic Japanese art, known as the Genroku era.
In 1701 daimyo Asano Naganori attempted to kill Kira Yoshinaka in Edo Castle. Asano was executed, but Kira was not. Asano's Forty-seven Ronin avenged his death by killing Kira and became a legend that influenced many plays and stories of the era. The most successful of them was a bunraku play called Kanadehon Chushingura (now simply called Chushingura, or "Treasury of Loyal Retainers"), written in 1748 by Takeda Izumo and two associates; it was later adapted into a kabuki play, which is still one of Japan's most popular.
In 1706, Edo was hit by a typhoon, and Mt. Fuji erupted the following year in 1707. Tsunayoshi already was ill, and on February 19, 1709, Shogun Tsunayoshi died at the age of 62, three days short of his 63rd birthday. He was succeeded by his nephew, Tokugawa Ienobu, who was the son of his other brother, Tokugawa Tsunashige, the former Lord of Kofu, which was a title Ienobu held before becoming shogun.
[edit] Tokugawa Tsunayoshi in popular culture
Tsunayoshi appears as a character in a series of mystery novels by American writer Laura Joh Rowland. The protagonist, Sano Ichiro, begins his career as a police officer in the capital city of Edo. The first novel, 1994's Shinju, is set in January of 1689, the first year of the Genroku period. During the course of investigating a double murder disguised as a lovers' suicide, Sano uncovers and foils a plot to assassinate Tsunayoshi and is rewarded by a promotion to be the Shogun's special investigator. Over eleven novels (as of 2006), Sano solves crimes, makes a bitter enemy of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, and eventually rises to the position of Chamberlain, replacing Yanagisawa. Tsunayoshi appears as a character in all of the books written so far. The latest was released in 2006.
| Preceded by Tokugawa Ietsuna |
Tokugawa Shogun 1680-1709 |
Succeeded by Tokugawa Ienobu |
