Hotta Masatoshi
Hotta Masatoshi (Japanese堀 田 正 俊; born March 12, 1634 Edo; † October 7, 1684 in Edo ) was daimyo and a member or manager from 1681 to the Governing Council of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan.
Journey
Hotta Masatoshi was born as the third son of Masamori who earned as a counselor Shoguns two great merits. His mother was a daughter of the powerful Council member Sakai Tadakatsu. A year after his birth he became shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu at the direction of the adopted by the nurse Kasuga no Tsubone and assigned in 1641 as the later Shogun Tokugawa Page Ietsuna ( 1641-1680 ). As Iemitsu died 1651 Masatoshis Masamori father followed him in death ( Junshi )
Thanks to the benevolence of Ietsuna Masatoshi made a brilliant career. First, the fief Moriya ( province Shimousa ) have been assigned with a rice yield of 13,000 koku from her father's estate. 1667, he received the appointment to the ceremony conductor ( Sōjaban ) the fief Annaka (20,000 koku ). The feud Koga brought him 115,000 koku, and as a council member, he brought it finally to 200, 000 Koku. Among his followers may be mentioned especially the Confucian scholar Arai Hakuseki, who was temporarily in his service.
After his appointment as Wakadoshiyori (若 年 寄, such as " Junior Board " ) in 1670, he showed great political skills. 1679 appointed him to Ietsuna councilor ( roju ). As the childless shogun died the following year, he campaigned against the powerful Council Sakai Tadakiyo for the half- brother of the Shogun, Tsunayoshi, as his successor.
Under Tsunayoshi rose Masatoshi in 1681 at the head of the Council for Taïro (大老) on, thus the title Chikuzen no Kami were ( Keeper of Chikuzen ) and the fief Koga connected. Together with Makino Narisada he pursued in the four years up to his death one marked by the Neo-Confucianism policy which followed the care of the Shogun for the Tenno, the promotion of Confucianism, the arts, and a stricter management of the finances. Therefore, because of its rigor, it soon came to a certain alienation of the other Council members.
Masatoshi fell on October 7, 1684 in the palace of the Shogun an assassination of his cousin Inaba Masayasu ( 1640-84 ) to the victim, whose background is not clear. Some sources indicate Masayasu as deranged, others lead a dispute over a river straightening project as the reason. The post of Taïro was extended period of time no longer busy. The security measures introduced after the assassination, the shogun took no longer even in the discussions in part, but was represented by his chamberlain Yanagizawa Yoshiyazu, reinforced the absolutist character of the Tokugawa regime.
Literature and sources
- Ramming Martin (ed.): Japan Guide. Berlin 1941
- Berend Wispelwey (ed.): Japanese Biographical Archive. K.G. Saur, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-598-34014-1, Fiche 88
- John Whitney Hall ( ed.): The Cambridge History of Japan: Early modern Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1991. Chapter 9