Tokudaiji Sanemoto

Japanese: 徳大寺実基 - とくだいじ・さねもと

Year of death: Bun'ei 10.2.14 (1273.3.4)
Year of birth: Kennin 1 (1201)
A nobleman in the mid-Kamakura period. The second son of the Minister of the Left, Tokudaiji Kintsugu. His mother was the Shirabyoshi Gojo Yasha. In 1219, he was awarded the rank of Junior Third Rank, and in 1224 he was promoted to Gon Chunagon, in 1246 to Naidaijin, and in 1253 to Dajodaijin. This was the first time that a member of the Tokudaiji family had become Dajodaijin. In 1253, he became a member of the Inchojo Council, which was established at the request of the Kamakura Shogunate, and played an active role as a unique politician supporting the cloistered government of Gosaga. There are two anecdotes about Sanemoto in Tsurezuregusa, which talk about his fearless rational thinking and appropriate judgments among the majority of people at the time who were obsessed with superstition and customs. There is no doubt that he was a man of conviction and at the same time a person who stood out. In 1265, he became a monk. His Buddhist name was Insei. His political ideology is well reflected in the 14-article memorial he prepared in response to a request from Emperor Gosaga after he became a monk. It advocated acting with honesty and integrity, gaining people to govern, and aiming for wealth for both the government and the people. It accurately cites Chinese classics and precedents to develop its logic, and also presents realistic proposals and compromises. The spirit of pampering the people, as shown in Article 1, "The rituals should be performed without human interference," is similar to his approach to defeating the supernatural powers of the gods with rational human thinking. He was known as Tokudaiji Shokoku and Mizumoto Grand Minister of State. His wife was the daughter of Fujiwara Kaneko (ranked second rank), who wielded great influence as the wet nurse of Emperor Gotoba, and it is said that much of Kaneko's estate was passed on to this woman. There is a fragment in the Jiki-koki (Tokudaiji Shokoku-ki). <References> "Tokudaiji Jikki's Political Memo" (included in the Japanese Thought Series, Vol. 22), Taga Sojun's "Essays on the Cultural History of the World" Vol. 1

(Keiko Hongo)

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

Japanese:

没年：文永10.2.14(1273.3.4)
生年：建仁1(1201)
鎌倉中期の公卿。左大臣徳大寺公継の次男。母は白拍子五条夜叉。承久1(1219)年,従三位に叙せられ,元仁1(1224)年に権中納言,寛元4(1246)年に内大臣とすすみ,建長5(1253)年に太政大臣に至った。徳大寺家から太政大臣を出した初例である。寛元4年に鎌倉幕府の要請によって創設された院評定のメンバーとなり,後嵯峨院政を支える異色の政治家として活躍した。実基については『徒然草』にふたつの挿話があり,迷信や因習にとらわれる当時の大多数の人々のなかにあって,おそれることなく合理的に思考し,適切な判断をくだしたことが語られている。信念の人であると同時に,異彩を放つ人物であったことは間違いなかろう。文永2(1265)年に出家。法名因性。その政治思想は,出家後に後嵯峨上皇の諮問に応えて作成した14カ条の奏状によくあらわれている。事に当たるに誠信をもってし,為政に人を得て,官民富足をめざすことを主張したもので,漢籍や先例を的確に引用して論理を展開するとともに,現実的な提言・妥協策なども述べられている。第1条の「人の煩いなく,神事を興行せらるべき事」に示される撫民の精神は,人間の合理的思考によって,怪力乱神を打破する彼の姿勢と相通ずるものがあろう。徳大寺相国,水本太政大臣と称された。なお,妻は後鳥羽院の乳母として権勢をふるった藤原兼子(卿二位)の娘で,兼子の遺領の多くは,この女性に譲られたという。『実基公記』(徳大寺相国記)断簡がある。<参考文献>「徳大寺実基政道奏状」(日本思想大系22巻所収),多賀宗隼『論集中世文化史』上

(本郷恵子)

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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