Masakiyo Nakai

Japanese: 中井正清 - なかい・まさきよ

Year of death: 1619.3.7 (Genna 5.1.21)
Year of birth: 1565
A carpenter in the early Edo period. The first head of the Nakai family, who controlled carpentry and saws in the six provinces of Kinai and Omi as Kyoto's chief carpenter. His original name was Touemon. He was the son of Nakai Masakiyo, a carpenter at Horyu-ji Temple in Yamato Province (Nara Prefecture). There is also a theory that Masakiyo was a carpenter for the Toyotomi family. There are no reliable historical documents showing Masakiyo's activities in his younger years, and the first documented document is from the construction of the main citadel of Fushimi Castle in 1602 (Keicho 7), after the Battle of Sekigahara. He was just one of three carpenters for the Tokugawa family for the construction of Nijo Castle in the same year. In the 11th year of the same year, he was appointed as Yamatonokami, Junior Fifth Rank. From this point on, the position of Tokugawa family carpenter was unified under Masakiyo, and he signed the restoration plaques for the Horyuji Temple Seirei-in and other buildings completed shortly thereafter as "Ichicho Soto Tokugawa Nakai Yamatonokami Masakiyo." After that, he literally ran around the country, taking charge of construction projects related to the shogunate, such as the castle towers of Nijo Castle (1606), Edo Castle (1607), Sunpu Castle (1608), Nagoya Castle (1612), the Imperial Palace (1613), and the Great Buddha Hall of Hokoji Temple (1614). The secret to Masakiyo's success in completing these large-scale constructions one after another lies in the skills of his master carpenters, centered around the carpenters of Horyuji Temple, which he organized under his command, and the mobilization of carpenter and saw teams located throughout the six provinces. During this time, Masakiyo's fief was increased to 1,000 koku, and in the same year he was promoted to the rank of Junior Fourth Rank, equivalent to that of a daimyo. This was an exceptional promotion for a carpenter, so much so that Gien, the head priest of Daigoji Temple, was astonished, saying, "He is a man who is in the good graces of the Shogun (Ieyasu), and is unparalleled. This is unprecedented." Masakiyo was highly valued by Ieyasu not only for his achievements as a carpenter, but also for the important political role he played as a close aide. During the Great Buddha Bell Incident, which triggered the downfall of the Toyotomi clan, Masakiyo sent Ieyasu a copy of the inscription on the bell, and the year before the Siege of Osaka, he created a map of the inside of the castle. He led his clan in the attack on Osaka Castle, mobilizing his carpenters and sawmen to build a camp hut and create iron shields. In his later years, he built Kunozan Toshogu Shrine and Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Ieyasu's mausoleum. The second head of the family, Masao, was in charge of the Kan'ei construction of Nijo Castle and the rebuilding of the Osaka Castle tower. The third head of the family, Masatomo, was Masao's cousin, and during his childhood, his father Masazumi served as the head carpenter and guardian. At this time, his kokudaka was halved to 500 koku. In addition to the Kan'ei Imperial Palace, Masazumi also built famous shrines and temples such as Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine, the Honpo Hall of Enryaku-ji Temple, the five-story pagoda of Ninna-ji Temple, and the five-story pagoda of To-ji Temple. Masatomo became head carpenter in 1647, and after a series of fires at the Imperial Palace, he was responsible for three Imperial Palace constructions over the course of about 20 years: the Jo-o, Kanbun, and Enpo eras. However, once new construction was completed, the focus shifted to repair work for castles and temples and shrines, and a bidding system was introduced to reduce costs. As a result, for early official construction work, the design costs were covered by allocating the labor costs paid to carpenters under his command, but when it came to bidding, the funds disappeared and the finances of the Nakai family collapsed. In 1693, the shogunate decided on the burden of costs for design work, and the so-called Nakai Office was established. Its duties were limited to designing and estimating official construction work, and supervising construction at construction sites. However, during the construction of the Imperial Palace in the Hoei era (1709), Kansei era (1790), and Ansei era (1855, still standing), the Nakai family convened their master carpenters and carpenters from six provinces to carry out the work. Historical documents from the fifth year of the Kyoho era (1720) indicate that the Nakai family had 46 master carpenters, 7,294 carpenters from six provinces, and 5,859 saws. <References> Tani Naoki, "Research on the Control of Carpenters by the Nakai Family," Hirai Kiyoshi (ed.), "Research on Documents of the Nakai Family," 10 volumes, Takahashi Masahiko (ed.), "Documents of Carpenter Chief Nakai Family"

(Naoki Tani)

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

Japanese:

没年：元和5.1.21(1619.3.7)
生年：永禄8(1565)
江戸初期の大工。京大工頭として畿内・近江6カ国の大工・大鋸を支配した中井家の初代。初名は藤右衛門。大和国(奈良県)法隆寺大工の中井正吉の子。正吉は豊臣家の御大工であったとする説もある。正清の若い時期の活動を示す確かな史料はなく,関ケ原の戦後,慶長7(1602)年の伏見城本丸作事に関するものが初見。同年の二条城造営では,3人の徳川家御大工のひとりにすぎなかった。同11年に従五位下大和守に任官。これ以後,徳川家御大工の地位は正清に一元化され,直後に完成した法隆寺聖霊院などの修復棟札に「一朝惣棟梁橘朝臣中井大和守正清」と署名。その後,二条城(1606),江戸城(1607),駿府城(1608),名古屋城(1612)の各天守,禁裏(1613),方広寺大仏殿(1614)など,文字通り東奔西走して幕府関係の建築作事を担当。正清がこれら大規模な建築を次々に完成し得た秘密は,配下に組織した法隆寺大工を中核とする棟梁衆の技術と,6カ国内に配置した大工組や大鋸組の動員力にある。この間,正清は知行が1000石になり,同18年には大名に匹敵する従四位下に昇叙。これは醍醐寺座主の義演が「大御所(家康)に御気色よき者なり,比類なき故なり,先代未聞か」と驚くような,大工としては異例の出世であった。正清が家康に重用されたのは,大工としての業績に加えて,側近として政治的に重要な役割を果たしたことによる。正清は,豊臣家滅亡の引き金になった大仏鐘銘事件の際,家康に鐘銘の写しを送り,大坂の陣の前年には城中の絵図を作成。大坂城の攻撃には一族を率いて参陣し,配下の大工・大鋸を動員して陣小屋を建て,鉄の楯を製作した。晩年には家康の廟所である久能山東照宮や日光東照宮を造営。 2代の正侶は,二条城の寛永度造営,大坂城天守の再建などを担当した。3代の正知は,正侶の従兄弟に当たり,幼少の間は実父の正純が後見として大工頭を勤めた。このとき石高は500石に半減。正純は,寛永度内裏のほか,石清水八幡宮,延暦寺根本中堂,仁和寺五重塔,東寺五重塔など,著名な社寺を造営。正知は正保4(1647)年に大工頭に就き,禁裏の火災が相次いだことから,20年ほどの間に承応度,寛文度,延宝度と3度の御所造営を担当。しかし新築が一段落した城郭や寺社は,修理工事に中心が移り,経費節減のために入札制度も導入された。その結果,初期の公儀作事では,配下の大工に支給する人件費を割いて設計費用を捻出していたが,入札になるとその財源がなくなり,中井家の財政は破綻した。幕府は元禄6(1693)年に設計業務の工費負担を決め,いわゆる中井役所が成立。その職務は,公儀作事の設計・見積,および工事現場の施工監理に限定された。ただ,宝永度(1709),寛政度(1790),安政度(1855,現存)の御所造営では,中井家が配下の棟梁と6カ国の大工組を召集して工事を実施。なお享保5(1720)年の史料では,中井家配下は棟梁46人,6カ国の大工7294人,大鋸5859人とある。<参考文献>谷直樹『中井家大工支配の研究』,平井聖編『中井家文書の研究』全10巻,高橋正彦編『大工頭中井家文書』

(谷直樹)

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

<<: Nagaimo (Chinese yam) - Nagaimo (English spelling) Chinese yam

>>: Masakazu Nakai (English name)