Fujiwara no Otsugu - Fujiwara no Otsugu

Japanese: 藤原緒嗣 - ふじわらのおつぐ

Year of death: 23 July 10 (22 August 843)
Year of birth: Hōki 5 (774)
A nobleman in the early Heian period. Son of Shikiya Momokawa and the daughter of Ise Otsu. Also known as Yamamoto Daijin. Favored by Emperor Kanmu, whom his father had supported, he was promoted to higher ranks than any other emperor. The emperor himself crowned him at the time of his coming-of-age ceremony in 788, and in the 21st year of the Enryaku era, he was selected as a councilor at the young age of 29. The appointment took place at a banquet in Shinsen-en, and the emperor shed tears as he said, "Without my father (Momokawa), I would not have been able to ascend to the throne." In December of the 24th year of the Enryaku era, at the request of the emperor, he debated in front of the emperor with Sugano Michizane about "what is good government?", and strongly advocated the halting of both the construction of Heian-kyo and the strategy of the Emishi, claiming that these two projects were the roots of the suffering of the people. Emperor Kanmu approved this, and the palace construction office was abolished. This was perhaps the most meaningful moment for Otsugu, who was well versed in political arts and was a straightforward man who would always report any important matters that affected the interests of the country, but his rigid and paranoid personality made him unpopular and isolated him from his peers. In 808, he was appointed as the Mutsu Dewa Ansatsushi (Inspector General) to oversee the strategy for conquering the Emishi, which he claimed was one of the hardships of the people, and although he refused, he was accepted in the end. After the death of Emperor Kanmu, he gradually became unpopular, and due to his poor health, he was replaced in rank by the younger Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, but after Fuyutsugu's death he became the head of the political world, and in 832 he was appointed Minister of the Left. However, he was not as successful as he was in the first half of his life. He was involved in the compilation of the Shinsen Shojiroku and Nihon Koki. He was said to be "the richest man at the time," and it is said that he built Horin-ji Temple (Sennyuji Temple in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City) and Imakumano Kannon-ji Temple to the north.

(Takinami Sadako)

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

Japanese:

没年：承和10.7.23(843.8.22)
生年：宝亀5(774)
平安前期の公卿。式家百川と伊勢大津の娘の子。山本大臣とも。父が擁立した桓武天皇の恩寵を受け,異例の昇進を重ねた。延暦7(788)年の元服に際して天皇自ら加冠し,同21年,29歳の若さで参議に抜擢された。参議任命は神泉苑での宴席で行われ,その際天皇は「緒嗣の父(百川)なかりせば,予,あに帝位を践むを得んや」といって涙を流している。同24年12月,天皇の求めにより,その面前で菅野道真と「よい政治とは何か」について論争(徳政相論)し,平安京の造営と蝦夷の経略とが民を苦しめる根源であるとして,この両事業の停止を強く主張,これが桓武天皇の認めるところとなって造宮職は廃止された。これは政術に暁達し,国の利害にかかわる重大事を知れば必ず奏上したというほどの直言居士だった緒嗣が,もっとも真価を発揮した場面といってよいが,その強直で偏執的な性格が嫌われ,仲間から孤立する原因ともなった。大同3(808)年には皮肉にも民苦のひとつと主張した蝦夷経略にかかわる陸奥出羽按察使に任命され,これを固辞したが,結局赴任している。桓武天皇没後はしだいにうとまれ,病弱なこともあって年下の藤原冬嗣に越階されるが,冬嗣没後は政界の首班となり,天長9(832)年左大臣に任じられている。しかし前半生に比べて目立った活躍はない。『新撰姓氏録』『日本後紀』の編纂に関与。「当時第一の富人」といわれ,法輪寺(京都市東山区の泉涌寺)やその北の今熊野観音寺は緒嗣の造営と伝えられる。<参考文献>阿部猛『平安前期政治史の研究』

(瀧浪貞子)

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