Masatoshi Hotta

Japanese: 堀田正俊 - ほった・まさとし

Year of death: 28th August 1684 (7th October 1684)
Year of birth: Kan'ei 11 (1634)
A daimyo in the early Edo period. He supported the initial government of the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, as a councilor and chief advisor. He was the third son of Masamori, who was highly trusted by the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, and his mother was the daughter of Sakai Tadakatsu. In 1635 (Kan'ei 12), he was adopted by Kasuga no Tsubone by order of Iemitsu, and was raised in the Ooku. In 1648 (Kan'ei 18), he became a page to Tokugawa Ietsuna, and in 1649 (Kan'ei 20), he was granted 3,000 koku of Kasuga no Tsubone's estate (within Koza County, Sagami Province (Kanagawa Prefecture)). In 1651 (Keian 4), he was granted a share of 10,000 koku of his father's estate, and became a daimyo. In 1660 (Manji 3), he was appointed as a soshaban, and in 1667 (Kanbun 7), he was given an additional 7,000 koku, and was granted the Annaka Domain in Kozuke Province (Gunma Prefecture) with 20,000 koku. In the tenth year he became a Wakadoshiyori, and in 1679 he became a Roju, and with the additional stipends he had received up to that point he was awarded 40,000 koku. In August 1680, when Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the lord of Tatebayashi Domain in Kozuke Province, became Shogun, he was highly valued and appointed as Senkan Roju (senior councilor) for agricultural administration. It is said that this was due to his contribution to supporting Tsunayoshi's election as Shogun. In February 1681, he was transferred from Annaka to Koga in Shimousa Province (Ibaraki Prefecture) with a fief of 90,000 koku, and in December he became Tairo, and in January 1682 he was given an additional 40,000 koku, giving him a total of 130,000 koku. The shogunate implemented a series of agricultural policies from Enpo 8 to Tenwa. On August 3rd of the leap year, in Masatoshi's name, he issued seven "Articles" to prominent daikan (bailiffs), and in the first year of Tenwa, he ordered four accountants to investigate whether the general daikan (bailiffs) had not paid their annual taxes, and the following year he established a new position of Kanjo Ginmiyaku (accountant censor) to build a system for supervising the accountant-in-chief officials. These policies led to the punishment of corrupt magistrates, and the tax-contracting magistrates that had existed since the beginning of the shogunate period were replaced with magistrates who were tax-collection bureaucrats. In other words, the purpose of this was to eliminate the exploitation of middlemen by magistrates and to increase the shogunate's tax income. It is said that Masatoshi was the man who supported the development of this series of agricultural policies. The relationship between Shogun Tsunayoshi and Masatoshi subsequently cooled, and on August 28, 1684 (Jokyo 1), Masatoshi was stabbed to death in Edo Castle by Wakadoshiyori Inaba Masayasu. The reason for his death is said to be either personal or public indignation, but it is not clear. His sometimes fearless nature, which even involved the shogun, may have been his downfall. <References> Tsuji Tatsuya, "Research on the Kyoho Reforms," Kimura So, "Hotta Masatoshi" (The Edo Shogunate (Volume 1) - Its Powerful Men)

(Masato Izumi)

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

Japanese:

没年：貞享1.8.28(1684.10.7)
生年：寛永11(1634)
江戸前期の大名。老中,大老として5代将軍徳川綱吉の初政を支えた。3代将軍徳川家光の信が厚かった正盛の3男,母は酒井忠勝の娘。寛永12(1635)年家光の命により春日局の養子となり,大奥で育てられた。18年徳川家綱の小姓となり,20年春日局の死去によりその遺領(相模国〈神奈川県〉高座郡内)3000石を給された。慶安4(1651)年父の遺領のうち1万石を分知されて大名に列した。万治3(1660)年奏者番,寛文7(1667)年には7000石加増され,上野国(群馬県)安中藩2万石を賜った。10年若年寄,延宝7(1679)年老中となり,それまでの加増分を合わせ4万石を領した。8年8月上野国館林藩主徳川綱吉が将軍になると重用され,農政専管老中に任ぜられた。綱吉の将軍擁立に功があったからといわれる。天和1(1681)年2月安中より下総国古河(茨城県)9万石に転封,12月には大老となり,2年1月には4万石加増され計13万石を領した。幕府は,延宝8年から天和にかけて一連の農業政策を展開している。閏8月3日正俊の名をもって著名な代官への「条々」7カ条を出し,天和1年には勘定役4名に総代官の年貢未進調査を命じ,翌年には勘定吟味役を新設して勘定所役人の監察体制を築いた。これらの政策により不正代官の処罰が行われ,幕初以来の年貢請負人的な代官は払拭されて徴租官僚的な代官が置かれることになった。それはとりもなおさず,代官の中間搾取を排除し,幕府の年貢収入を増大させることを目的とするものであった。この一連の農政の展開を支えたのが正俊といわれる。将軍綱吉と正俊との間柄は,その後冷えていったが,貞享1(1684)年8月28日若年寄稲葉正休により江戸城中で刺殺された。その理由は,私憤とも公憤ともいわれるが明らかではない。時として将軍をも憚らない性格が災いしたのかもしれない。<参考文献>辻達也『享保改革の研究』,木村礎「堀田正俊」(『江戸幕府〈上〉―その実力者たち―』)

(泉正人)

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