Onda Woodworks - Onda Mok

Japanese: 恩田木工 - おんだ・もく

Year of death: 1762.1.30 (1762.1.6)
Year of birth: 1717
In the mid-Edo period, he was a chief retainer of the Sanada family of Matsushiro Domain in Shinshu. His given name was Tamichika, and he was originally known by the nickname Sakichi, later Tsunetake, and later Mokko. He was the son of the chief retainer of the same domain, Onda Tamikiyo, and in 1735 he succeeded him as head of the family and was given a fief of 1,000 koku. In 1739 he became a castle lord, and in 1746, at the age of 30, he became a chief retainer. The Matsushiro domain, sandwiched between the Chikuma River and the Sai River, had suffered from continuous flooding since the 1740s, leaving the domain's finances in dire straits, but at the same time, the domain's administration was in chaos with foot soldiers refusing to come to work (strikes) and violent peasant uprisings spreading across the domain, leaving the domain powerless to do anything about it. Under these circumstances, in August 1757, the feudal lord Sanada Yukihiro ordered Onda Mokko to serve as the head of the private sector, entrusting him with the important task of rebuilding the domain's finances. Mokko considered it urgent to restore the people's trust in politics, and by engaging in dialogue with them he pushed ahead with financial reforms, gaining their consent. These reforms included the disposal of unpaid taxes, the partial abolition of small taxes and the introduction of a monthly installment payment system for the gold portion of the main tax, the development of wasteland, the establishment of an accounting system and a system for managing financial records. Mokko's government was based on the principle of not lying, and he pushed ahead with reforms, gaining the people's trust, but he passed away at the age of 46, much to the regret of his memory. His posthumous name was Genshoin Tetsuo Dokan Koji. He was buried in the graveyard of the Onda family at Chokokuji Temple in Matsushiro. "Higurashi Suzuri" is a written record of Mokko's accomplishments during this time. <References> Oishi Shinzaburo, "I Can't Lie"

(Kazuhiko Kasaya)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：宝暦12.1.6(1762.1.30)
生年：享保2(1717)
江戸中期,信州松代藩真田家の家老。名は民親,通称ははじめ佐吉,のち靭負,さらに木工と改める。同藩家老恩田民清の子で,享保20(1735)年に家督を継いで知行1000石。元文4(1739)年に城代となり,延享3(1746)年に30歳で家老職となった。千曲川と犀川に挟まれた松代藩領は1740年代以降,連年の水災に苦しめられて藩の財政は極度に窮乏していたが,他方では足軽の出勤拒否(ストライキ)や全領におよぶ激しい農民一揆が起こるなどして藩政は混乱し,ほとんどなす術を失うといった状態であった。このような状態の下で藩主真田幸弘は,宝暦7(1757)年8月に恩田木工に「勝手方御用兼帯」を命じて,藩財政再建の大役をゆだねた。木工は領民の政治に対する信頼を回復することを急務と考え,領民との対話政治を行って,彼らの同意を取りつけながら財政改革を進めていった。その内容は未進金の処理,小物成の一部廃止と本年貢の金納分の月割上納制の導入,荒廃地の開発,会計制度の整備と財政帳簿の管理制度の確立などであった。木工は嘘をつかないことを信条として政治を行い,人々の信頼を得て改革を進めていったが,46歳で惜しまれつつ世を去った。法名は玄照印鉄翁道関居士。松代長国寺の恩田家歴代の墓域に葬られた。『日暮硯』はこの間の木工の事蹟を筆録したものである。<参考文献>大石慎三郎『虚言申すまじく候』

(笠谷和比古)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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