Kai Harada

Japanese: 原田甲斐 - はらだ・かい

Year of death: 27 March 1671 (6 May 1671)
Year of birth: Genna 5 (1619)
A magistrate (chief retainer) in the Kanbun period (1661-1673) of the Sendai domain. His given name was Munesuke. The Harada clan was a family of retainers of the Date clan, the feudal lord of the domain. During the time of his father, Munesuke, the family was transferred to Funaoka (Shibata-cho) in Shibata County. His mother was Keigetsu-in, the daughter of Moniwa Tsunamoto, a member of the family. Munesuke's childhood name was Bennosuke, and he later called himself Gagaku. He succeeded the family at the age of five, and in 1648 he was appointed as a councillor, and in 1650 he was appointed as magistrate. This was during the time of the young lord Kamechiyo (Tsunamura), and Date Hyobu Shoyu Munekatsu and Tamura Ukyo no Daifu Muneyoshi were in charge of guardianship. After he was appointed as magistrate of Kai, there were a series of punishments against vassals, including the punishment of Kono Doen and his son, the dispute over seating in the castle involving the eldest son of Kai carrying a sword during a reception for the provincial inspector, and the punishment of the Ito clan. All of these were said to have been carried out primarily by Kai, with Munekatsu's backing. However, on the other hand, they implemented financial policies such as actively promoting the development of new fields. In the 10th year of Kanbun, over the arbitration of a land boundary dispute between the Wakuya Date clan and the Tome Date clan, Date Muneshige, the lord of Wakuya village, appealed directly to the shogunate, due in part to his long-standing opposition to the politics of the military. After an interrogation at the residence of the senior councilor Sakai Tadakiyo on March 27th the following year, in the 11th year of Kanbun, Kai killed Muneshige with his sword, and Kai was also killed. Kai's four sons and two sons of his eldest son, Tatewaki Munemasa (whose wife was Moniwa Sadamoto's daughter Tatsu), committed seppuku, his mother, wife, and daughter were placed under guardianship, and the Harada clan was extinguished (the Kanbun Incident, also known as the Date Disturbances). The Harada clan's stipend is variously reported as 8,000 koku, 5,000 koku, etc., but according to the "Chigyoshojo" in the "Shibatachoshi," it is 4,183 koku. Kai's character is evaluated as either a traitor or a loyal retainer depending on the era, and there are two extreme views regarding his political leadership: one that he was a skilled right-hand man to the military bureau, and the other that he had neither political insight nor ability and simply acted at the will of the military bureau. In addition, in recent years, the view that the Kanbun Incident was a conflict between the military bureau and Kai side, which sought to strengthen the concentration of domain power, and those who opposed this, is becoming established. <References> Hayashi Ryokatsu, "Harada Kai," Otsuki Fumihiko, "The Date Disturbances: A Chronicle," Kobayashi Seiji, "The Date Disturbances and Harada Kai," Taira Shigemichi, "The Date Disturbances"

(Saito Eiyu)

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

Japanese:

没年：寛文11.3.27(1671.5.6)
生年：元和5(1619)
仙台藩の寛文期(1661～73)の奉行職(家老)。諱宗輔。原田氏は藩主伊達家家格宿老の家柄。父宗資のとき柴田郡舟岡(柴田町)に知行地替となった。母は家格一族茂庭綱元の娘(慶月院)。宗輔は,幼名弁之助のち雅楽を称した。5歳で家を継ぎ,慶安1(1648)年評定役,寛文3年奉行職に就任した。この時期は幼君亀千代(綱村)の時代で伊達兵部少輔宗勝,田村右京大夫宗良が後見政治を行っていた。甲斐の奉行職就任後,河野道円父子らの処罰事件,国目付供応のときの甲斐嫡子帯刀のからんだ城中席次争いと伊東氏の処罰をはじめ,家臣に対する処罰が相次いだ。これらはすべて宗勝を背景に甲斐が中心になって行ったとされている。しかし,一方では新田開発を積極的に推進するなどの財政政策を実施した。寛文10年,一門の涌谷伊達氏と一門の登米伊達氏の知行地境争いの裁定をめぐって,涌谷邑主伊達宗重は,かねてからの兵部の政治に対する反発もあって,これを直接幕府に訴えた。翌寛文11年3月27日の大老酒井忠清邸での審問後,甲斐は宗重を斬殺,甲斐も討たれた。甲斐の4人の男子および嫡子帯刀宗誠(妻は茂庭定元の娘辰)の男子2人は切腹,母妻娘はお預けとなり原田氏は断絶した(寛文事件,いわゆる伊達騒動)。原田氏の知行高は,8000石,5000石などさまざま伝えられているが,『柴田町史』所載の「知行書上」によると4183石である。甲斐の人物評は,時代によって逆臣,忠臣二様に分かれ,政治指導力についても,兵部の片腕として辣腕を振るったとする見方と,政治的識見,能力ともになく単に兵部の意のままに動いただけであるとする両極端の論がある。また,寛文事件の性格については,近年藩権力の集中強化をはかる兵部・甲斐側とこれに反対する考えとの対立とみる見解が定着しつつある。<参考文献>林亮勝『原田甲斐』,大槻文彦『伊達騒動実録』,小林清治『伊達騒動と原田甲斐』,平重道『伊達騒動』

(齋藤鋭雄)

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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