Tokugawa Tsunayoshi

The 5th Shogun of the Edo Shogunate. The fourth son of the 3rd Shogun Iemitsu. Born on January 8, 1663. His childhood name was Tokumatsu. His birth mother was Keishoin of the Honjo clan. After the death of his father Iemitsu in 1651 (Keian 4), he was granted 150,000 koku of land in Kozuke Province (Gunma Prefecture) and other areas, and in 1661 (Kanbun 1) he was granted an additional 100,000 koku and became the lord of Tatebayashi Castle. In 1664, he married Nobuko, daughter of the Minister of the Left Takatsukasa Norihira. In May 1680 (Enpo 8), after the death of his brother, the 4th Shogun Ietsuna, he became the 5th Shogun. From the latter half of the 17th century, society entered a period of change, with the loosening of all feudal rule, financial difficulties becoming apparent, and a growing trend of peasant resistance. The shogunate government, which should have responded to this, was hindered by the fact that Shogun Ietsuna was ill and lacked leadership, and the rigid political structure was an obstacle. So, as soon as Tsunayoshi became shogun, he dismissed the chief advisor Sakai Tadakiyo, who had held real power in the shogunate government as a fudai clan, and on the other hand, appointed senior councilor Hotta Masatoshi, who had supported Tsunayoshi's inauguration as shogun, as chief advisor, and further gathered his favorite retainers as his close aides, raising their status and creating a chamberlain with the same rank as a senior councilor, solidifying the center of the shogunate government with his own confidants. At the same time, he personally resolved the unresolved family dispute in the Takada Domain of Echigo (Niigata Prefecture) and destroyed the Matsudaira family, the head of the family. Starting with this, he implemented strict reward and punishment measures for the Shogun's retainers without mercy, greatly increasing the Shogun's authority and especially forcing the Fudai class, who had traditionally held power in the Shogunate, to be in awe. He also worked to reform the governance of the direct domains, establishing a senior councilor for financial affairs and appointing Masatoshi Hotta to this position, establishing the Kanjo Ginmiyaku (financial auditor), and punishing a large number of deputy governors who were not performing their duties properly.

Tsunayoshi's early administration, known as the "Tenna Reforms," ​​is considered a precursor to the "Kyoho Reforms." However, partly due to Tsunayoshi's mercurial and paranoid tendencies, the spirit of the shogun's retainers dwarfed the shogun's authority, and especially after Hotta Masatoshi was stabbed to death in the castle in 1684 (Jokyo 1), the power of close retainers such as Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu tended to increase. Tsunayoshi loved Confucianism from an early age, and in an attempt to reflect that spirit in politics, he lectured to the shogun's retainers, erected signs throughout the country encouraging loyalty and filial piety, and established a system for awarding filial piety. However, his love of learning was colored by the play of ideas, and his policies were distorted by the Shogunate officials who pandered to him. In particular, the "Edict to Show Compassion for Living Things" became a severe form of oppression, and people nicknamed him Inukubo. Furthermore, lacking a fundamental response to the new developments in the economic world at the time, the Shogunate's finances continued to deteriorate, leading to chaos in the economic world and rising prices due to the mis-coining of currency implemented at the suggestion of the Finance Magistrate Ogiwara Shigehide, and giving rise to corrupt relationships between some officials and government merchants. Thus, Tsunayoshi, who was badly regarded throughout his life, died of smallpox on January 10, 6th year of the Hoei era. His posthumous name was Jokenin, and his grave is at Ueno Kan'ei-ji Temple (Taito Ward, Tokyo).

[Tatsuya Tsuji]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸幕府第5代将軍。3代将軍家光(いえみつ)の四男。正保(しょうほう)3年1月8日生まれ。幼名徳松。生母は本庄(ほんじょう)氏桂昌院(けいしょういん)。1651年（慶安4）父家光の死後、上野国(こうずけのくに)（群馬県）その他で所領15万石を与えられ、1661年（寛文1）10万石加増、館林(たてばやし)城主となる。1664年左大臣鷹司教平女(たかつかさのりひらのむすめ)信子(のぶこ)と結婚。1680年（延宝8）5月兄4代将軍家綱(いえつな)の死後、5代将軍に就任。17世紀後半から社会は変質期に入って、全領主的支配の弛緩(しかん)、財政難が表面化し、農民の抵抗も高揚の傾向を示してきた。これに対応すべき幕政は、将軍家綱が病弱で主導力に欠け、固定化した政治機構が障害をなした。そこで綱吉は将軍になるやただちに、譜代(ふだい)の門閥として幕政の実権を握っていた大老酒井忠清(ただきよ)を罷免し、一方、綱吉の将軍就任を支持した老中堀田正俊(ほったまさとし)を大老とし、さらに寵臣(ちょうしん)を側近に集め、その地位を高めて老中同格の側用人(そばようにん)を創置し、自己の腹心で幕政の中枢を固めた。これと並行して、前代未解決であった越後(えちご)（新潟県）高田藩の御家騒動を親裁して親藩の筆頭越後松平家を取り潰(つぶ)し、これを手始めに幕臣に対し賞罰厳明の方策を仮借なく励行し、将軍の権威を絶大にし、とくに幕政上伝統的勢力をもつ譜代層を畏伏(いふく)せしめた。また直轄領統治の刷新に努め、財政専任の老中を設けて堀田正俊をこれに任じ、勘定吟味役(かんじょうぎんみやく)を創置し、勤務不良の代官を大量に処分した。

　このような綱吉の初期の施政は「天和(てんな)の治」などと称せられ、「享保(きょうほう)の改革」の前駆的意義が認められる。しかし綱吉の気まぐれで偏執狂的性癖も一因となって、幕臣の気風は将軍の権威の前に萎縮(いしゅく)し、ことに1684年（貞享1）堀田正俊が城中で刺殺されてのちは、柳沢吉保(やなぎさわよしやす)ら側近の寵臣の権勢のみ増大する傾向を生じた。綱吉は幼少から儒学を愛好し、その精神を政治に反映させるべく、幕臣に講義し、全国に忠孝奨励の高札を立て、孝子表彰の制度を設けた。しかしその好学は観念の遊戯の色濃く、その施策は迎合する幕臣によってゆがめられ、とくに「生類憐(しょうるいあわれ)みの令」は甚だしい虐政となり、世人は犬公方(いぬくぼう)とあだ名した。さらに当時の経済界の新しい展開への根本的対応策を欠き、幕府財政の悪化は進み、勘定奉行(ぶぎょう)荻原重秀(おぎわらしげひで)の建議で実施された貨幣悪鋳による経済界の混乱、物価騰貴を招き、一部役人と御用商人との腐敗した関係を生ぜしめた。こうして綱吉は在世中から悪評を受けつつ、宝永(ほうえい)6年1月10日天然痘によって死去した。法号を常憲院といい、墓は上野寛永寺（東京都台東(たいとう)区）にある。

［辻　達也］

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