Haibun
“佐竹義宣 Satake
Yoshinobu” (1)
by
Hidenori Hiruta
佐竹義宣
Satake Yoshinobu
Before and after
the Battle of Sekigahara
The
Battle of Sekigahara took place on September 15th, 1600. Satake Yoshinobu took
a passive stance in the battle and did not participate. Why did he take a
bystander stance? What kind of situation developed after the battle as a
result?
1600
This
year marked the 11th year since Toyotomi Hideyoshi granted Yoshinobu the right
to rule Hitachi Province, which had a fief of 540,000 koku, in 1590. During
these 11 years, Yoshinobu unified Hitachi Province and made Mito Castle his
residence.
Yoshinobu
had returned to Mito in September of the previous year, and by the New Year of
1600, the castle's repairs and the expansion of samurai residences and
townscape had progressed greatly, and the samurai and commoners of Mito were
living peaceful lives in the newly renovated castle town.
However, in July of that year, two years after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's
death, war clouds began to gather between Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army, which
was plotting to seize power, and Ishida Mitsunari's Western Army, which was
plotting to overthrow Ieyasu in order to protect the Toyotomi government.
Yoshinobu
immediately gathered his family's veteran generals to discuss his future, but
there were conflicting opinions between those who supported Ishida and those
who supported Tokugawa, and it was difficult to make a decision. Yoshinobu said
that he would decide on his course of action after determining for a while
whether Ishida or Tokugawa were the rightful soldiers for the Toyotomi family,
and decided to observe the situation.
Yoshinobu
kept in contact with Ishida Mitsunari, with whom he had a close relationship,
and promised his cooperation, but his senior vassals understood that this
cooperation was not for his own ambition, but was entirely for the continuation
of the Toyotomi clan, and that he would not stray from moral principles, and
that his attitude toward Ieyasu was up to Hideyori. He kept this determination
to himself and outwardly adopted an attitude of waiting to see how things would
turn out.
On
September 15th, the Battle of Sekigahara ended with a victory for the Eastern
Army. Yoshinobu immediately dispatched a congratulatory message to Tokugawa
Ieyasu and Hidetada, who were stationed in the Kamigata region.
The Uesugi army
suffered the most casualties in the Aizu battle, which constituted the eastern
front of the Battle of Sekigahara. The Mogami and Date armies followed, with
the Satake army the only ones to suffer no bloodshed. In other words, the
Hitachi samurai avoided even a single casualty in the battle. The peasants who
had been conscripted as military laborers were also able to return safely to
their hometowns.
Around October, the tension of the past few months had eased
and people's minds were calm within Mito Castle and its surrounding areas.
However, within the Satake clan, a heavy mood hung over the Tokugawa's future
course of action.
1601
On April 15th, 1601, Yoshinobu's father,
Satake Yoshishige, concerned about the position of the Satake clan, went to
Kyoto to meet Ieyasu, who was staying in Fushimi. By the end of the year, the
post-war political situation had stabilized, and the Tokugawa clan's hegemony
was assured. Most of the daimyo on the Western side were stripped of their
titles, while those on the Eastern side who had distinguished themselves in the
war received increased stipends.
1602
On
January 2nd, 1602, Yoshinobu announced to his vassals that he would begin
construction on Mito from the 20th. This was not to fortify the castle's
fortifications and prepare for a crisis, but because the clouds of war from the
Battle of Sekigahara had finally cleared, he began work on expanding and
improving his residence and the castle town.
On
March 7th of that year, Yoshinobu arrived in Fushimi and met with Ieyasu, who
was already in Kyoto, and Toyotomi Hideyori at Osaka Castle. Ieyasu was also in
a good mood at the time, and the meeting went well. Yoshinobu was very pleased,
and in April he received the funds for the construction of his Fushimi
residence from his home province, and he was not worried at all about his own
situation.
However,
on May 8th, two emissaries from Tokugawa Ieyasu came to the Satake residence in
Fushimi and announced that Yoshinobu's territory had been confiscated and that
Yoshinobu would be given land in Dewa Province instead. Yoshinobu replied,
"I have no grudges or complaints, and it is all a matter of wisdom."
On
November 26th, Mito Castle was given to Tokugawa Ieyasu's fifth son, Takeda
Nobuyoshi, who succeeded Yoshinobu. Since Masayoshi, the grandson of Seiwa
Genji's Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu, settled in Satake, Kuji County, and took the
Satake surname, the history of the Hitachi Satake clan, which had lasted for 19
generations up to Yoshinobu, and spanned nearly 500 years, came to an end.
Satake Yoshinobu would open a new chapter in history in Akita.
薬医門
Yakuimon
This is
one of the few remains of Mito Castle that has been relocated and restored on
the site of the castle's main keep.
The
building is believed to have been built by Satake Yoshinobu before the Battle
of Sekigahara.
1602
Satake
Yoshinobu and his vassals had to start over from scratch in an uncharted
territory with a completely different climate and natural features. Dewa Akita
was both a place of hope and a place of trials. The first important decision
was to select a base. Yoshinobu entered Minato Castle in Akita on September
17th and finally decided to build a new castle on Shinmeiyama in Kubota, near
the mouth of the Omono River and the important port of Tsuchizaki Port, and
almost in the center of his domain.
With
the Battle of Sekigahara marking the end of the era of military conflict,
Yoshinobu believed that in the coming age of peace, the domain's power would
depend not only on military strength but also on economic power, especially on
controlling commerce and distribution. He believed that Kubota, which could
become the center of governance and information for the entire domain, was a
suitable base for the new era.
1603
Two
construction magistrates were appointed and construction began. Shinmeiyama,
the site chosen for the castle, was a hilly area, and this topography was
utilized in the overall design of the castle, known as "nawabari." It
is said that Yoshinobu personally designed the nawabari around Matsushitamon
Gate, a vital entrance to the castle. This demonstrated his extraordinary
passion for the project and his profound knowledge of castle construction.
The moat
left in silence
thin ice
Up the hill
staggering up and
down
the snowy slope
Kuboto Castle
formed into
a snowy castle
The main gate
above the snowy
slope
a pleasant break
This
was a grand design choice that placed the Satake clan on the future of the
domain, one in which they would no longer rely on the military might of the
past, but would instead place commerce and distribution at the core of their
domain's governance as rulers of a new era.
Under
Yoshinobu's determination, construction of a new castle and capital in Kubota
proceeded with astonishing speed. This was a sign of the Satake clan's strong
determination to establish a governing base in their new territory as quickly
as possible.
In May,
full-scale construction work began on Shinmeiyama, where the local lord's
Yadome Castle once stood. In parallel with this construction, the castle town
was rezoned and the Ushu Kaido, part of the major trunk road network that the
Tokugawa shogunate was developing nationwide, was also underway. This was an
extremely modern and planned urban development that integrated not only the
castle but also urban infrastructure and a wide-area transportation network.
1604
The
main enclosure, the heart of the castle, was completed in the astonishing speed
of just over a year and three months from the start of construction on August
28th. This was the result of the advanced civil engineering skills the Satake
clan had cultivated since their time in Hitachi and the powerful execution
skills of all their vassals. Upon the completion of the main enclosure,
Yoshinobu moved his residence to the new castle, named it Kubota Castle, and
designated it as the official main castle of the Satake clan.
Heavenly!
Snowy main
enclosure
around pine trees
Snowy road
leading to a
storehouse
along the trees
1605
Even
after the main castle was completed, construction of the new capital continued.
In particular, the formation of the castle town was a long-term project that
took several decades to complete, and was carried out in stages. As a result,
Kubota Castle and the castle town, which were built by skillfully combining
military defense functions with economic development functions, flourished as
the base for the Satake clan's rule of Akita for approximately 270 years until
the Meiji Restoration.
The
construction of Kubota Castle and the surrounding castle town, which began in
1602 and continued over the following decades, is not simply a record of civil
engineering work. It is a grandiose record of the creation of the prestigious
Satake clan, who, after the Battle of Sekigahara, devised a national strategy
to survive in a new era.
The
construction of Kubota Castle is a valuable historical testimony that shows how
one feudal lord and his vassals overcame a crisis and built a foundation for
the future at a major turning point in history. It is the story of the
indomitable Satake Yoshinobu, who created new value after the Battle of
Sekigahara and built the foundation for 270 years of peaceful rule.
千年の計
A Thousand-Year
Plan
On May
8th, 1602, two emissaries from Tokugawa Ieyasu came to the Satake residence in
Fushimi and announced that Yoshinobu's territory had been confiscated and that
he would be given land in Dewa Province instead. Yoshinobu replied, "I
have no grudges or complaints, and it is all a matter of wisdom."
At the
time, Yoshinobu was the 19th head of the Hitachi Satake clan, a clan that had
been in existence since Masayoshi, the grandson of Seiwa Genji's Shinra Saburo
Yoshimitsu, settled in Satake, Kuji County, and took the Satake surname.
The
family served as the guardian of Hitachi Province during the Muromachi period,
and Yoshinobu himself assisted Toyotomi Hideyoshi in his efforts to unify the
country, and was the lord of Mito Castle in Hitachi, with a fief of 540,000
koku, but left Hitachi Province and was transferred to Dewa.
However, Yoshinobu vowed to
demonstrate the high aspirations that had been the pride of the Hitachi Satake
clan for approximately 500 years in the new land of Dewa, and to make them
bloom into magnificent flowers.
It is
said that when Yoshinobu left Hitachi, a large group of hatahata, or
Japanese sandfish, swarmed into Dewa Akita, following him. Hatahata
could no longer be caught in the Hitachi Sea, and instead they began to be
caught in Akita's Hachimori Port, Kitaura Port and so on. Over 420 years have
passed since Yoshinob’s coming to Akita, and due to changes in the natural
environment and global warming, hatahata are no longer flocking in as
often, but we hope to see their return.
神明山
Shinmeiyama
Shinmeiyama
is an undulating plateau about 40m above sea level, consisting of three
highlands. The Miura clan, subordinate of the Ando clan (Akita clan), was based
on Shinmeiyama, and worshipped Shinmei Shrine, the mountain's name derived, as
their clan deity.
The
Miura clan's castle was called "Yadome no Shiro," which is the origin
of Kubota Castle's other name, Yadome Castle. "Yadome" means to stop
shooting arrows and to temporarily cease hostilities, so Kubota Castle was
truly a castle during a truce.
Pine trees
spreading roots in
snow
Yadome Castle
太平山
Mount Taihei
Mount
Taihei has been an object of worship since ancient times. It is said that En no
Gyoja of Mount Yoshino was the first to reach the summit in 673.
From
the main enclosure, we can get a panoramic view of Mount Taihei in the eastern
sky, and in spring it appears as if it is smiling in the sunlight, and in
winter it appears as if it is asleep; it shows different faces throughout the
seasons.
New snow
Mount Taihei seen
from Yoshinobu
a new outlook
Green all over
Yoshinobu’s Dewa
shining
in glory
Senshu Park
with a vibrant
view
mountains in
laughter
Cherry blossoms
gone
their lingering
emotion
left behind
Mount Taihei
dreaming of no
wars
under the sun
Hidenori Hiruta
Akita
International Haiku Network
蛭田 秀法
秋田国際俳句ネットワーク
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