Page 130 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

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\ it has already bunaga (1534-1582) as the daimyo of Sansai was not the author of this
scattered them Miyazu Castle in Tango Province. When poem, which appears in one of the pref-
perhaps it regrets today; Akechi Mitsuhide (d. 1582) assassinated aces to the tenth-century Kokinshù (An-
sending flowers' fragrance Nobunaga, he tried to persuade Sansai, thology of ancient and modern Japanese
spring -wind blows. who was his son-in-law, to join his cause. poems). Sansai copied out the text of this
In spite of the marriage alliance, Sansai well-known poem partly as a prayer, partly
Yûsai is a very model of the cultivated threw his support to Toyotomi Hideyoshi
daimyo: competent in warfare and admin- (1537-1598), Nobunaga's trusted vassal, as an exercise in calligraphy.
istration-, a famous poet of the arts and lit- who defeated and killed Mitsuhide. Later The note attached to the left edge ad-
erature of antiquity. He left many works Sansai served Tokugawa leyasu (1543-1616) dresses this copy of the poem to Nentoku
on classical literature, including Hyakunin and became the daimyo of Kokura Castle Daimyój in (Great God of the Year), be-
isshushd (Annotations on A Poem Each by in Buzen, northern Kyushu. Sansai was a cause it was written on the New Year's
One Hundred Poets) and he monogatari cultured man well versed in Japanese po- Day as a prayer to the guardian god of the
ketsugisho (Annotations on Tales etry and painting. He is remembered as an coming year. It is signed Sansai Soryu,
oflse) as well as an anthology of poems, important disciple of the tea master Sen Soryu being Sansai's Buddhist name. YK
Shùmyôshù. YK
no Rikyü (1522-1591).
Sansai wrote this wakagaishi (paper of 66 Concerning Kokinshù
65 Wakagaishi poems; cat. 58) in the semicursive (gydsho) Hosokawa Yüsai (1534-1610)
Hosokawa Sansai (1563-1646) mode, arranging the characters on the pa- hanging scroll; ink on paper
hanging scroll; ink on paper per in the style called chirashigaki (scat- 29.0 x 38.0(113/8 x 15)
1
1
3i.ox47.o(i2 / 4 xi8 / 2 ) tered writing): Momoyama period, 1600
Edo period, early iyth century Flowers on the trees Eisei Bunko, Tokyo
Eisei Bunko, Tokyo in bloom at Naniwazu Much knowledge of all kinds, including
say, 'Now the winter that in the realm of bun (arts) and bu
Hosokawa Sansai (Tadaoki), son of Hoso- yields its place to the springtime!' (arms), was in Japan considered secret, or
kawa Yüsai (1534-1610), served Oda No- Flowers blooming on the trees. privileged, and was transmitted orally from
(Translated in McCullough 1985^ 319.) a master to a worthy pupil—a process

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