Chapter 28: Survey of Daimyo in the Eras of Nobutada and Nobunori
Yoshioki’s control over national policy and patronage in Azuchi was felt by Japan’s various daimyo and their domains in different ways, although many were relatively unaffected in their capacity to govern their territories without intrusive intervention. Regardless, a trajectory towards greater prosperity and development generally continued well after the death of Oda Nobunaga in 1601.
Despite the 1587 Oda crackdown on Jesuit influence and wealth in response to the uncovering of the slave trade of native Japanese, Catholicism remained a significant force with northern Kyushu as its stronghold, patronized extensively by the the trio of the Otomo, Arima, and Omura clans. The same year, Otomo Yoshimune succeeded his father Sourin as the premier Kirishitan daimyo in Japan, although he lacked his father’s piety and dedication to the faith. As a result, while Yoshimune continued to patronize the Catholic Church and maintain firm relations with Portuguese and later also Spanish merchants, the axis of Catholic hegemony in Japan shifted to the Arima and Omura domains, where by 1600 the majority of the populace were Kirishitans. Arima Harunobu and his cousin Omura Yoshiaki not only enthusiastically supported the Catholic faith but also incorporated Jesuits, notably the former emissaries of the Tensho embassy, into their bureaucracies. The two clans also reaped a lot of the outflow of Nagasaki imports as Yoshiaki controlled the countryside immediately surrounding, and as a result nurtured active relationships with the Iberian merchants in the bustling port. Thus, the infamous Martyrdom of the 13 in 1617 was felt negatively economically and politically by the two clans, and they even fell under the deep suspicion of the notoriously anti-Catholic Saito Yoshiaki, although nothing would come from them.
On the flipside were Sakuma Morimasa and his younger brothers, who had been adopted by Shibata Katsuie and Sassa Narimasa as the two had no sons. Morimasa had been a lieutenant of the former in the Hokuriku army that had brought the Hokuriku region, including the former lands of the Uesugi clan, under Oda hegemony. He had been awarded lands in Kaga province (加賀国) before being awarded the domain of Daihouji Yoshioki (大宝寺義興) in 1587 after the latter died without a male heir through Katsuie’s influence. After the death of Maeda Toshiie in 1599, he inherited leadership of the Hokuriku group and was also close to Nagao Kagehiro (長尾景広) and Shibata Harutoki (新発田治時) in Echigo province.
Portrait of Sakuma Morimasa
Using his political influence upon his appointment to the Sangi-shu, Morimasa successfully pushed for the construction of the Hokurikudo, which would in the long run economically integrate the Hokuriku region with central and western Japan, and would especially benefit his and his brothers’ lands. Through his eventual affinity with the yoriai-shu and Saito Yoshioki, he was able to steer policies and patronage in his clan’s favor whenever he could, making the Sakuma clan among the most powerful vassals of Azuchi. Internally, the coastal town of Sakata (酒田) was developed to become a major port on trade routes going from Ezo to Shimonoseki. In the 1610s, Sakata even became host to a small newfound trade, mainly for furs, with the coast of Enkaishu (沿海州) [1]. Morimasa’s achievements, despite his forced political retirement with the fall of Yoshioki’s regime in 1619, remained unaffected and would be protected and expanded upon by his son Moriyuki (佐久間盛行).
In the middle, politically and physically, was western Kii province, controlled by Nagaoka Tadaoki. As a natural heir to the old Ashikaga legacy upon lands previously governed by the Hatakeyama clan, Tadaoki and his father Fujitaka welcomed former shogunal vassals and surviving members of cadet families of the Ashikaga clan into their service and established a robust administration. The city of Wakayama (和歌山) became a booming center under Tadaoki with a Kyoto-style high culture developing under the influence of ex-Ashikaga retainers, and thus a remnant of the Ashikaga shogunal legacy would establish a new homeland.
Portrait of Nagaoka Tadaoki
Finally, the Kanto region saw immense economic growth as well as increased autonomy from Azuchi. Benefiting greatly from the development of the Tokaido, Nakasendo, and even the Hokuriku roads, several towns emerged as important urban centers, including Maebashi (前橋) in Kozuke province, Musashino (武蔵野) in Musashi province, and Utsunomiya (宇都宮) in Shimotsuke province. The latter also acted as economic links to the Oshu region, with Utsunomiya’s growth also aided by Kamakura tandai Oda Toshimasa’s Oshu-kaido project (奥州街道) linking Kamakura to the far north with Utsunomiya in between. Odawara also continued to grow as the region’s second biggest port and the center of Hojo power. Economic integration together with the end of warfare in the Kanto region also led to an increase in agricultural output in the vast Kanto plain (関東平野).
These developments came amidst the times of Saito Yoshioki and Azuchi’s tendency to impact political and commercial affairs in western and central Japan disproportionately due to a focus on increasing trade relations with the outside world, leading to the greater independence of Kamakura from Azuchi and a repeat of previous relationships between the Kinki and Kanto regions from the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunate. Under Toshimasa, the Kamakura-fu’s administration grew more complex much like the Daijo-fu’s did, and it even developed its own navy. The dissipation of factionalism after 1615 helped increase Kanto autonomy as well, shaping national affairs for years to come.
[1]: Enkaishu is the modern day Primorsky Krai.
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