Heizo Suetsugu

Japanese: 末次平蔵 - すえつぐ・へいぞう

Year of death: May 25, 1630 (July 5, 1630)
Year of birth: Unknown. A red seal ship trader and Nagasaki magistrate in the early modern period. His father was Suetsugu Kozen, and his elder brother was Yozaburo Hiromasa Munetoku, a wealthy merchant in Hakata. He moved to Nagasaki around 1571 and lived in Kanayama-cho (later Kozen-cho) as a otonayaku (official official). As a powerful man in the town, he engaged in Nagasaki trade and accumulated wealth. In 1616, Heizō hated the rule of Murayama Toan, a daimyo, and reported him to the shogunate. Toan was originally a subordinate of Suetsugu, but through a cunning scheme, he was trusted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and became Nagasaki magistrate, which Heizō was not happy about. Heizō then reported Toan's harsh governance in Nagasaki, his son's siding with Osaka during the Siege of Osaka, and his bringing back Christians who were about to be expelled overseas and hiding them in his home. As a result of the confrontation, Toan was executed by beheading in Edo. Thus, in 1628, Heizo was appointed as the Nagasaki magistrate, and took control of the outer Nagasaki area, becoming involved in diplomacy, trade, and city administration. During the Genna and Kan'ei periods (1615-1644), Heizo was one of the main players in the red seal ship trade, but the voyage of the Suetsugu ship to Taiwan led to a dispute with P. Nuyts, the head of the Dutch trading post in Taiwan, over customs duties. Heizo urged the shogunate to adopt a hard-line diplomatic approach, and in 1628 (Kan'ei 5), he manned two of his own ships with over 470 armed crew members and ordered the captain, Hamada Yabei, to confront them, ultimately causing the Taiwan Incident (Hamada Yabei Incident). Shortly after this incident, Heizo went insane and died of an illness. He was buried at Shuntokuji Temple, but his tombstone no longer exists. His descendants continued to hold the magistrate position for generations, but in the fourth generation, in 1676 (Enpo 4), an act of corruption led to the end of the family line. After Heizō, the shogunate's foreign policy became more passive, and the country was closed off from foreign countries in order to avoid trouble with foreign countries. <References> "Abridged Nagasaki History" Volumes 1 and 2, "History of Nagasaki City", "History of Nagasaki Prefecture", "History of Trade with Red Seal Ships" by Genjiro Kawashima, "New Edition: Study of History of Trade with Red Seal Ships" by Seiichi Iwasaki, "History of Exchange between Japan and Europe" by Shigetomo Koda, "Study of History of Foreign Relations in the Early Modern Period" by Yasunao Nakata

(Yasunao Nakata)

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

Japanese:

没年：寛永7.5.25(1630.7.5)
生年：生年不詳
近世初頭の朱印船貿易家,長崎代官。父は末次興善,兄は与三郎広正宗得といい博多の豪商。元亀2(1571)年ごろ長崎に移り,金屋町(のち興善町)に住み,乙名役であった。町方の有力者として,長崎貿易に従事し,財力を蓄積していた。元和2(1616)年代官の村山等安の支配を憎んで,幕府に告発した。等安はもともと末次の配下の者であったが,奸計によって豊臣秀吉に信任され,主人を追いこして長崎代官になり,平蔵は快く思っていなかった。そこで,等安の長崎における苛政と,大坂の陣で等安の息子が大坂方に味方したこと,海外に追放されかかったキリシタンを途中で連れ帰り,自宅にかくまっていたことなどを告発,対決の結果等安は江戸で斬罪となった。こうして元和4年平蔵が長崎代官に任命され,長崎外町を支配し,外交・貿易・市政に関与した。元和・寛永期(1615～44)には朱印船貿易の主流のひとりであったが,末次船の台湾渡航のことから,台湾のオランダ商館長P.ヌイツと関税のことで紛争となり,平蔵は幕府に強硬外交の展開をすすめ,寛永5(1628)年自分の持ち船2艘に武装船員470人余を乗り組ませ,船長浜田弥兵衛に対決を命じ,ついに台湾事件(浜田弥兵衛事件)を引き起こした。この事件直後平蔵は狂って病死。春徳寺に葬られたが墓石は現存しない。子孫は代々代官職を継承したが,4代にして延宝4(1676)年不正があってお家断絶となった。平蔵以後幕府の外交政策が消極化し,外国とトラブルを起こさぬよう寛永鎖国となっていく。<参考文献>『増補長崎略史』上下,『長崎市史』,『長崎県史』,川島元次郎『朱印船貿易史』,岩生成一『新版朱印船貿易史の研究』,幸田成友『日欧通交史』,中田易直『近世対外関係史の研究』

(中田易直)

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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