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Truth, Rumours, and the Decision-Making of the Shimazu Warrior Family in 16 Th Century Japan

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Truth, Rumours, and the Decision-Making of the Shimazu Warrior Family in 16 Th Century Japan Running the Domain: Truth, Rumours, and the Decision-Making of the Shimazu Warrior Family in 16 th Century Japan by Vincent Chan A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in the University of Michigan 2020 Doctoral Committee: Professor Hitomi Tonomura, Chair Assistant Professor Erin L. Brightwell Associate Professor Christian de Pee Associate Professor Hussein Anwar Fancy Vincent Chan [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9001-1667 © Vincent Chan 2020 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my advisor Dr. Hitomi Tonomura for her support and guidance as I pursued this project. I would not have been able to complete this dissertation without her help and patience throughout the past several years. I owe a large part of my intellectual and academic development to Dr. Tonomura’s tutelage, and I cannot overstate how thankful I am for her support. I also want to thank Dr. Christian de Pee for expanding my knowledge and understanding beyond the bounds of my immediate interests of Japanese history. My gratitude extends to Dr. Erin Brightwell and Dr. Hussein Fancy, members of my dissertation committee, for providing me with invaluable advice on improving and refining my dissertation. I owe Dr. Pär Cassel, Dr. Vic Lieberman, and Dr. Brian Porter-Sz űcs a huge thank you for teaching me a lot about pedagogy and helping me truly understand what it means to be a professor. Beyond all the support I was lucky enough to receive from the professors at the University of Michigan, I am indebted to Dr. Kurushima Noriko who provided me with invaluable advice during the two years I spent researching at the Historiographical Institute at the University of Tokyo. Dr. Kurushima’s support was crucial to the success of the archival work I conducted in Tokyo during my time there. I am also grateful for the years of training I received from Dr. Joshua Mostow, Dr. Christina Laffin, Dr. Stefania Burk, and Dr. Peter Nosco at the University of British Columbia. I would not be where I am today without their inspiring mentorship during the completion of my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. I especially would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Caroline Hirasawa for introducing me to the world of Japanese Studies. ii She opened my eyes to the wonderful world of Japanese culture and history, and it was her enthusiastic instruction that compelled me to pursue an academic career in this field. I want to express my gratitude to the Japan Foundation for their support of my work, which was critical to my research in Tokyo. Without the Japan Foundation’s incredible generosity in funding my work through the Japanese Studies Fellowship, I could not have completed this dissertaton. Besides the support of the Japan Foundation, I also wish to thank both the History department at the University of Michigan, and the Rackham Graduate School, for providing me with much needed financial support over the course of the Ph.D. program. I could not have completed this project without the support of friends and family who had been incredibly patient with me over the years as well. I want to thank Daniela Sheinin, Essie Ladkau, Farida Begum, Stephanie Fajardo, Nicholas Jablonski, and Casey Jackson who all kept me sane by listening to my frustrations and providing me with much needed encouragement over the years. I also own a huge debt of gratitude to my parents and my brother for their unending support as I spent the past several years working on this project. Lastly but most importantly, I want to thank my partner, Asami Kawabata, for her limitless encouragement and understanding throughout my time in the Ph.D. program. Her support kept me going even in the toughest of situations, driving me forward even when everything seemed to be going wrong. Words cannot express how much I appreciate the love and patience she has consistently shown me as I continued to selfishly pursue my dreams of working in academia. Her love and support is what fuels me in my work, without which I cannot imagine making it this far. iii TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................. ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 I: The Historical Backdrop ............................................................................................... 4 I.a.: The Historical Moment of Sengoku Japan ........................................................... 4 I.b.: The Shimazu Family Lineage ............................................................................... 8 I.c.: The Shimazu and the Konoe ............................................................................... 14 I.d.: The Geography and Climate of Southern Kyushu .............................................. 16 II: Diaries in Japanese History and the Uwai Kakuken nikki .......................................... 25 II.a.: Diaries in Japanese History ............................................................................... 25 II.b.: Uwai Kakuken and the Uwai Kakuken nikki ..................................................... 28 III: Chapter Overview ..................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 2: On Communication ..................................................................................................... 36 I: The Communication System of the Shimazu .............................................................. 40 II: The Courtiers and Poets as Mediators ....................................................................... 52 III: Circumvention and Exploitation of the Communication System ............................. 64 IV: Conclusion: the Pipelines and Gatekeepers of Information ..................................... 79 iv Chapter 3: On Rumours ................................................................................................................ 82 I: The Importance of Rumours ....................................................................................... 85 II. Rumours of Iriki-in Shigetoyo’s Ambitions .............................................................. 88 III. Rumours of Hirata Kunai-no-sh ō: A Tale of Poison? ............................................ 106 IV: Conclusion: Weaponized Words ............................................................................ 109 Chapter 4: On Familial Forces .................................................................................................... 112 I: The Youngest of the Shimazu and False Information ............................................... 113 II: The Treacherous Hishikari ....................................................................................... 121 III: Yoshitora’s Ambition and Ohira’s Message .......................................................... 130 IV: Conclusion: the Shimazu Family and Yoshihisa .................................................... 142 Chapter 5: On Spirituality ........................................................................................................... 146 I: Divination as an Excuse? .......................................................................................... 149 II: Faith and Spirituality in the Shimazu Administration ............................................. 155 III: The Kuji Divination in the Uwai Kakuken nikki ..................................................... 164 IV: Conclusion: the Truth of the Kami or Political Manipulations .............................. 175 Chapter 6: Being a Daimyo in the Sengoku Period .................................................................... 181 APPENDIX: The Shimazu Family Tree ..................................................................................... 187 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 188 v LIST OF ABBREIVATIONS DNK Iewake Dai Nihon komonjo: Iewake monjo DNS Dai Nihon shiry ō HJAS Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies JJS the Journal of Japanese Studies SNKT Shin Nihon koten bungaku taikei vi ABSTRACT Using the Uwai Kakuken nikki , a diary kept by the middle-ranking warrior Uwai Kakuken from 1574 to 1586, this dissertation examines some fundamental factors that contributed to the political decision-making process of the Shimazu family in late sixteenth century Japan. In order to achieve this, this dissertation focuses on the Shimazu family’s communication system responsible for the gathering and delivery of information and military intelligence, and the management of rumours circulating within the entire Shimazu administration. Through the close reading and analysis of several key events in the Uwai Kakuken nikki , this dissertation argues that some of the primary factors affecting the decision- making process of the Shimazu family included the personal interests of the individual warriors involved in each instance and the perceived will of the deities as divined through lottery. Rather than acting in adherence to abstract notions of morality, loyalty, or truth, warriors often exploited the shortcomings of the
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