Imai Sokyu

A wealthy merchant and tea master during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. His name was Hikoemon Kanekazu, and Sokyu used the Buddhist name Sakumusai. He was a leading figure in the Nayashu of Sakai, and his family name was also Naya. He became the son-in-law of Takeno Jōō, and inherited many of Jōō's specialties. In September 1568 (Eiroku 11), Oda Nobunaga came to Kyoto and imposed a 20,000 kan arrow tax on the town of Sakai, and when the townspeople began to resist, he acted as the central figure in the peace faction together with Tsuda Sokyu. During that time, he actively approached Nobunaga, presented him with famous tea utensils handed down by Jōō, and in July of the following year, he went to Gifu, where he was welcomed. After this, he played an active role as a political merchant, procuring weapons and gunpowder, developing the Ikuno silver mine, and also became Nobunaga's tea master along with Soeki and Sen no Rikyu. It was Sokyu who recommended Rikyu. However, as tea master, he only attended Nobunaga when he went to Kyoto, and occasionally after the construction of Azuchi Castle, and did not serve him as a full-time attendant. After the Honnoji Incident, he continued to serve as tea master for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. However, because of his close relationship with Hongan-ji Temple and because he was said to have "no emotional attachment to the tea ceremony," Hideyoshi gradually grew tired of him, and his activities were hardly seen from around the time of the Kitano Grand Tea Ceremony in 1587 (Tensho 15). A part of the tea ceremony records is handed down as "Excerpts from Imai Sokyu's Tea Ceremony Diary."

[Murai Yasuhiko]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

安土(あづち)桃山時代の豪商、茶人。名は彦右衛門兼員(ひこえもんかねかず)、宗久は法号、昨夢斎と称した。堺(さかい)の納屋衆(なやしゅう)の随一で、家号も納屋を称する。武野紹鴎(たけのじょうおう)の女婿となり、紹鴎名物の多くを伝領した。1568年（永禄11）9月、上洛(じょうらく)した織田信長が堺の町に矢銭(やせん)2万貫を課したのに対し、町衆による抗戦の働きが高まった際、津田宗及(そうきゅう)とともに講和派の中心として行動した。その間積極的に信長に接近し、紹鴎伝来の名物茶器を献上、翌年7月には岐阜に下り、歓待されている。これ以後、武器、火薬の調達、生野(いくの)銀山の開発など、政商として活躍する一方、宗及や千利休(せんのりきゅう)らとともに信長の茶頭(さどう)となる。利休を推薦したのは宗久であった。ただし茶頭としては、信長の上洛時とか、安土築城後はときおりそこに参上する程度で、常時近侍奉仕したわけではない。本能寺の変後はそのまま豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉の茶頭となった。しかし、本願寺と密接な関係をもっていたことや、「茶の湯に思い入れがない」とされたため、しだいに秀吉にうとんぜられ、1587年（天正15）の北野大茶会あたりから、その活躍はほとんどみられなくなる。茶会記の一部が『今井宗久茶湯日記書抜(かきぬき)』として伝えられている。

［村井康彦］

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