Ōoka Tadasuke

Ōoka Tadasuke (大岡 忠相, 1677 – February 3, 1752) was a Japanese samurai in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. During the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, as a magistrate (machi-bugyō) of Edo, his roles included chief of police, judge and jury, and Yamada Magistrate (Yamada bugyō) prior to his tenure as South Magistrate (Minami Machi-bugyō) of Edo. With the title Echizen no Kami (Governor of Echizen or Lord of the Echizen), he is often known as Ōoka Echizen (大岡越前). He was highly respected as an incorruptible judge. In addition, he established the first fire brigade made up of commoners, and the Koishikawa Yojosho (a city hospital). Later, he advanced to the position of jisha bugyō, and subsequently became daimyo of the Nishi-Ōhira Domain (10,000 koku).

Ōoka was born in 1677, but did not come into public notice until he was 35, when he was appointed an obscure judgeship. When he accepted this job, he found out that there was a long–standing boundary dispute between the farmers of the Yamada and Wakayama (Kishū) fiefs. While it was obvious that the Yamada claim was the just one, no previous judge had been fool enough to irritate Yoshimune, Lord of Kishū, as he was very close to the shogun, Tokugawa Ietsugu. However, Ōoka took up the case, and immediately settled it on its merits.^[1] Yoshimune was so impressed that when he became shogun five years later, he took the unusual action of promoting Ōoka over hundreds of other candidates, to the important post of machi–bugyō (magistrate) of Edo (old name for Tokyo). The post of machi–bugyō combined the duties of mayor, police chief, judge, and fire marshal.

Famous cases

In addition, the figure has taken on a legendary status in a number of stories about his unorthodox and wise legal decisions, frequently used in rakugo.

One of the most famous stories is called The Case of the Stolen Smell where he heard the case of a paranoid innkeeper who accused a poor student of literally stealing the fumes of his cooking by eating when the innkeeper was cooking to flavour his dull food. Although his colleagues advised Ōoka to throw the case out as ridiculous, he decided to hear the case. The judge resolved the matter by ordering the student to pass the money he had in one hand to his other and ruling that the price of the smell of food is the sound of money.^[2]

The bound statue of Jizo (Shibarare Jizo).

In The Case of the Bound Jizo or Suspect Statue, Ōoka was called upon to discover the thief of a cartload of cloth from a local kimono maker. Ōoka ordered a statue of Jizo of the Narihira-san Tōsen-ji, a temple in Tokyo, to be bound and brought forth to be called to answer for dereliction of its custodial duty. When the bound statue arrived in the courtroom, the spectators burst into laughter. Ōoka sternly ordered each spectator to be punished with a token fine for their outburst. Each was ordered to provide a small swatch of cloth as a fine. When the spectators paid their fines, the robbed kimono maker identified the piece of cloth from one spectators as identical to the cloth stolen in the crime. The spectator, who was the actual thief, was arrested, and Ōoka ordered the Jizo statue released as having discharged his duty. In 1925, the statue was removed from downtown Tokyo to a little temple called Nanjo–in on its outskirts. The statue still stands, and is wrapped in rope tied by hopeful victims of thieves. However, the statue is worn almost smooth because of over 200 years of binding.

Ōoka in fiction

Ōoka Tadasuke has been the central character in two jidaigeki television series. In one, Ōoka Echizen, actor Gō Katō played the lead. In the other, Meibugyō! Ōoka Echizen, Kinya Kitaōji played the same role.

In addition, series such as Abarenbo Shogun have portrayed Ōoka as an intimate of the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune.

Other actors who portrayed Ōoka include Ichikawa Danjūrō XII in Honō no Bugyō Ōoka Echizen no Kami (Tokyo Broadcasting System, 1996) and Sakae Takita in the 1995 Taiga drama Hachidai Shogun Yoshimune.

Judge Ooka also appears in Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler's young adult novel The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, set in samurai Japan.

Dutch author Bertus Aafjes wrote a five-book series featuring Ooka.^[3]

English presentations

Stories of Ooka began showing up in English in 1908, in "The Case of Ten-Ichi-Bo, a Cause Celebre in Japan" by WJS Shand, published by the Tokyo Methodist Publishing House. In 1956, an illustrated book was created by I.G. Edmonds, an American military officer. Published by the Pacific Stars & Stripes, it was called Solomon in Kimono: Tales of Ooka, a Wise Judge of Old Yedo.^[4] Edmonds' versions were then further presented to American schoolchildren in the 1970s, by the Scholastic publishing house, in books with titles such as Ooka the Wise and The Case of the Marble Monster.

Judge Ooka has also appeared in the Samurai Detective book series by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler,^[4] including The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn (1999), The Demon in the Teahouse (2001), In Darkness, Death (2004; Edgar award winner), The Sword That Cut the Burning Grass (2005), A Samurai Never Fears Death (2007), and Seven Paths To Death (2008)

Trivia

• The city of Chigasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture has a festival for Ōoka in late April.
• Ōoka is a major character in the Japanese tokusatsu series, Shiro Jishi Kamen (White Lion Mask).
• Bao Zheng is somewhat a Chinese equivalent of Ooka.

Notes

References

• Edmonds, I.G., Case of the Marble Monster and Other Stories, ISBN 0-590-08024-5, a collection of stories about Ōoka Tadasuke, for younger readers.
• Edmonds, I.G., Yamazaki, S. (Illust.)Ooka the Wise: Tales of Old Japan, ISBN 0-208-02379-8, A collection of seventeen folktales about the legendary Japanese judge Ōoka...
• Case of the Bound Jizo, In article on Mark Schreiber
• Kanagawa festivals