3 Tokugawa Shoguns and Patronage for the Throne

y 1611, the year in which the sixteen- the tokugawa assertion year-old Go-Mizunoo was named emperor, of political dominance BTokugawa Ieyasu (now retired) and his son Hidetada, the second Tokugawa shogun, had pre- When Tokugawa Ieyasu fi rst designated Edo as the sented themselves as supporters of the throne time site for his government, he began to shift his focus and again. The young Go-Mizunoo grew into a tal- away from Kyoto, thereby accomplishing several ented leader, who presided over a newly restored main objectives. These included diminishing the court for nearly seventy years, surmounting numer- access to power of certain military factions in the ous obstacles to establish his own imperial pres- old capital and avoiding the infi ghting that was ence. One obstacle was former Emperor Go-Yōzei’s rampant in civilian political circles of Kyoto. De- intention to continue ruling in retirement, despite spite this, Ieyasu spent much of his time as shogun his son being on the throne. But it was Go-Mizu- in the Kyoto area, working from two residences, noo’s relations with the Tokugawa that proved most Fushimi Castle and Nijō Castle. challenging. This chapter examines how the Toku- Ieyasu was undeniably an autocrat, and yet he gawa secured their dominance over the court with never enforced a system of universal taxation or largesse in one hand and civil authority backed by kept a national standing army. In other words, the military power in the other. These approaches were founder of the Tokugawa regime did not strive to demonstrated publicly by the funding of an impres- build a totalitarian nation-state; certainly he was sive new palace for Go-Mizunoo and by the re- aware how diffi cult it would be to fully regulate far- quirement that the emperor deify Ieyasu. The chap- fl ung provinces.1 Then, after holding the shogunal ter elucidates Tokugawa motivations for protecting offi ce for only two years, Ieyasu announced plans to and promoting the imperial household, along with retire to Sunpu (present-day Shizuoka City), locat- Tokugawa methods of employing cultural patron- ed near Edo. In the fourth month of 1605 he relin- age to ensure a position for themselves of preemi- quished leadership of the bakufu to become the re- nent power as they cemented a foundation for the tired shogun (ōgosho), a position free from imperial bakufu. court affi liation. Following Ieyasu’s recommenda- tion, Go-Yōzei named Ieyasu’s son Hidetada as the second shogunal head of the Edo regime. Ieyasu thus transferred nominal decision making to Hide- tada, while continuing to exercise power and keep- ing a careful watch over his successor’s actions. Kano Takanobu, Tai Gongwang, detail of fi g. 31. Under Ieyasu’s guidance Hidetada worked to

87

JVC2-pp1-296-Final_HT.indd 87 12-07-11 14:19 art and palace politics

minimize the power of potential adversaries among From the outset, therefore, these Regulations de- the military clans, and he naturally focused on the clared that the emperor should concentrate his ef- Toyotomi, who still exercised considerable infl u- forts on the arts, specifi cally scholarly and poetic ence. In 1614 the Tokugawa fi nally declared full- traditions. The court codes—which also prescribed scale war on the Toyotomi, launching the Winter rules for rank, promotion, and costume—were not Campaign against Osaka Castle. This campaign new; instead, they were centuries-old dictates re- proved indecisive, but in the following year Toku- lated to aristocratic protocol and pursuits. gawa forces returned to Osaka, and annihilated the Although historians have repeatedly asserted Toyotomi. Hoping to convey the message that a pe- that the Regulations for the Palace and the Nobility riod of harmony and order would henceforth pre- restricted the emperor and nobles to ceremonial vail, the Tokugawa called on the emperor to desig- and artistic pursuits and were meant to minimize nate a new era name (gengō).2 About two months the political infl uence of the court, it is also possible after the Tokugawa victory over the Toyotomi, in- that Ieyasu was affi rming here the authority of the deed, Go-Mizunoo announced the beginning of emperor and his nobles. Lee Butler presents a per- Genna, meaning “the origin of peace.” In this and suasive argument that Ieyasu intended the Regula- many other ways, the Tokugawa revealed their tions as a bulwark for court leaders, as a means of awareness that the emperor could help in establish- protecting their institution after years of impover- ing a pacifi ed order. Soon after their victory, the ishment and scandal.5 The scarcity of comments Tokugawa also issued regulatory codes for three about the Regulations in imperial and courtly dia- elite groups: warriors, aristocrats, and priests. First ries and annals suggests that the aristocrats found came the Regulations for the Military Houses (Buke the codes unobjectionable. shohatto), which were meant to limit the ability of By their decisive military victory over the Toyo- still-powerful daimyo who were not Tokugawa vas- tomi in 1615, the Tokugawa had realized a new level sals before Sekigahara (tozama daimyō) to oppose of political and cultural authority. Yet, even those Tokugawa rule. Later, the Tokugawa presented the participating in Tokugawa cultural activities might Regulations for the Palace and the Nobility (Kinchū face violence, as when the former shogun com- narabi ni kuge shohatto) and the Regulations for Re- manded Furuta Oribe (1544–1615), who served as ligious Establishments (Jiin hatto). Hidetada’s advisor on tea, to commit ritual suicide To convey the Regulations for the Palace and the (seppuku).6 Of course, Oribe was more than a culti- Nobility, Hidetada called on the imperial chancel- vated tea master; he was also a warrior lord. Some- lor Nijō Akizane (1556–1619) and other artistocrats one had accused Oribe of plotting against the to attend a formal banquet in Kyoto, and after the Tokugawa during the tense days of their fi nal as- meal he handed intermediaries the codes, which sault on the Toyotomi, and despite Oribe’s high were to be delivered to the emperor. Article One of standing, Ieyasu ordered his suicide in the sixth the regulations for aristocrats reads, month of 1615. Once in power, however, the Tokugawa treated The emperor is to be engaged in the arts [geinō], the fi rst many cultural fi gures generously, or at least they of which is scholarship [gakumon]. If he is negligent in encouraged cultural activity in so far as it promoted learning he will be unable to illuminate the ancient way; their own goals, as in their support of the Kano there has yet to be [an unlearned emperor] who has workshop of artists, a number of whom worked for ruled well in peace.3 the bakufu. Although Kano Takanobu, who over- saw the paintings created for the new palace of Go- Next, the Regulations for the Palace and the Nobil- Mizunoo, was apparently in service to the imperial ity turns to poetry composition, stipulating specifi - court and not the bakufu, it was the Tokugawa lords cally that emperors should not abandon waka.4 who funded construction and painting at the palace

88

JVC2-pp1-296-Final_HT.indd 88 12-07-11 14:19