Page 93 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

and written by the monk Ken'ei Sotan can be seen in the column at the far right which belongs to the Sotó school of Zen
(1511-1672) of Kótóin, summarizes the of the inscription. It is dated to 1587, when Buddhism. The inscription, whose author
events of Sansai's life. In the inscription, Genpô was abbot of Nanzenji; the portrait remains unknown, gives Naoshige's biog-
Sansai is called Daikoji (Great Buddhist is from Chôshôin, a subtemple of Nan- raphy, highlighting his military and civil
Layman). It makes special mention of the zenji. Genpô was the spiritual mentor of accomplishments. Chief among them are
suicide of Sansai's Christian wife Gracia, Baiin Genchü, Yüsai's younger brother. his valor as a leader of Hideyoshi's expedi-
daughter of Nobunaga's assassin, Akechi According to the inscription, Hasumaru tion forces in Korea, his establishment of a
Mitsuhide. Before the Battle of Sekigahara died at age twelve. He is described as a school and the Buddhist temple Enkôji
(1600), in which her husband supported conscientious student of classical learning, upon his return from Korea, and his
Tokugawa leyasu, Gracia had been taken poetry, and music, as well as of the sword loyalty, and his son's, to the Tokugawa
hostage by the leader of the opposing and the crossbow. shogunate.
forces. To preserve her husband from In the portrait, Hasumaru still wears The last five columns of the inscrip-
wavering in loyalty to leyasu out of con- bangs, indicating that he had yet to per- tion tell of the circumstances in which the
cern for her safety, Gracia committed form the coming-of-age ceremony. Never- portrait came to be painted:
suicide. theless, he is depicted wearing the formal
leyasu rewarded Sansai's loyalty and dress of the Momoyama-and Edo-period ... in the first year ofjdkyd [1684], when
military support by giving him in fief Bu- samurai; the sleeveless jacket with ex- Abe, Bungo no kami, and Hotta, Shimousa
zen Province (parts of the_present-day Pre- tended shoulders (kataginu) and full trou- no kami, were ordered [by the fifth shogun
fectures of Fukuoka and Oita), which he sers (hakamd) over a kosode. The samurai's Tsunayoshi] to check letters of thanks [from
ruled from the refurbished Kokura Castle, standard long (Katana) and short (waki- the past shoguns] kept in various daimyo
leyasu also presented him with a coveted zashi) swords are thrust through his sash. families, I was in Edo, and took to the castle
Chinese chaire (tea container) named His pose is also that of the adult samurai: those given to our family. I explained [to the
Rikyù shiribukura (Rikyü's fat bottom; cat. right hand holding a folding fan, left hand shogun] orally the honor of the manifold fa-
277), as well as swords and Chinese Zen clenched (see cats. 14,15,16). The pale blue vors [our family had received in the past]
calligraphies. and gold brocade of the kataginu and ha- referring in particular to [Ryüzóji] Ta-
In 1621, Sansai retired to Nakatsu Cas- kama, and the chrysanthemum-and-lattice kanobu and Naoshige. I recalled things
tle in Buzen Province, leaving the position design on the kosode reflect the sumptu- about the latter, our forebear, that are not to
of head of the family to his son Tadatoshi. ous fashions favored in the Momoyama be forgotten. Indeed, bringing peace to the
Tadatoshi became daimyo of Higo period. MS nation through military feats, he became
(present-day Kumamoto Prefecture) in the founder of the Nabeshima clan, which
1632, and Sansai moved to Yatsushiro, also 30 Nabeshima Naoshige is now being revived. Thus, here is a portrait
in Higo. With the nation at peace, Sansai hanging scroll; ink and color on silk [of Naoshige] clad in armor and I bow
spent the remainder of his life between 84.5 x 41.0 (33 /4 x i6Vs) deeply to it.
J
Yatsushiro, Kyoto, and Edo (present-day Edo period, no later than 1685 The third day of the sixth month, the sec-
Tokyo), devoting much of his time to the ond year ofjdkyd [1685].
pursuit of tea and the supervision of kilns Kôdenji, Saga Prefecture
that he had established for the production Warriors in full battle dress are seldom por- At the bottom of the painting is writ-
of tea wares. He died in 1645 and was bur- trayed in Japanese art. A portrait such as ten Hizen jijù (Chamberlain from Hizen),
ied at Kôtôin, where his grave was marked this is especially rare in that the sitter is an honorific court title. MS
by a stone lantern that he had received captured at the moment just before leav-
from his tea master, Sen no Rikyü ing for battle, with his ceremonial robes 31 Honda Tadakatsu
(1522-1591). YS and cap removed and laid behind him. His hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
helmet is placed beside him on the tatami 124.0 X 64.0 (48 3/4 X 25 */4)
29 Hosokawa Hasumaru mat. He firmly grasps a fan in his right Momoyama period, early 17th century
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk hand and a tachi sword in his left. He Honda Takayuki, Tokyo
1
66.4 X 34.0 (20 /8 X 133/8) bends slightly forward, with a determined Important Cultural Property
Momoyama period, 1587 gaze. On the front of the cuirass the char-
acter miyako (capital) is written in archaic Honda Heihachirô Tadakatsu (1548-1610)
Chôshôin, Kyoto script; its significance remains unknown. was a famous military leader who served
Important Cultural Property Tokugawa leyasu (1543-1616). Along with
The sitter is Nabeshima Naoshige
Almost all of the portraits of children from (1538-1618). At one time, he was a retainer Sakakibara Yasumasa (1548-1606) and two
Shitennd
so-called
others, he is one of the
the Momoyama period were of deceased of Ryuzôji Takanobu of Hizen Province (Four Deva Kings) of leyasu. He followed
sons or daughters, painted at the request (parts of the present-day Prefectures of leyasu into more than fifty battles and, in
of the grieving parents. Behind every Nagasaki and Saga), a local warlord who 1601, as a reward for his long service, be-
child's face is the profound sorrow experi- died in action during the 1584 Battle of came daimyo of a domain in Ise Province
enced by those left behind. The sitter de- Shimabara and fought against the power- (most of Mie Prefecture).
picted here, Hosokawa Hasumaru, was the ful Shimazu forces. Naoshige then sup- Tadakatsu sits on a folding chair,
ninth child of Hosokawa Yüsai (1534-1610). ported Takanobu's son Masaie. In 1590 wearing black armor; the actual armor
On the eighth day of the seventh month Masaie retired and Naoshige succeeded to worn by the sitter is included in this exhi-
of 1587, the gravely ill Hasumaru arrived in the leadership of the Ryüzóji clan. After bition, (cat. 160.) A set of prayer beads
Kyoto from Tango for medical treatment the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 (cat. 104), hangs from Tadakatsu's right shoulder
and curative prayer, to no avail. Yüsai on the order of Tokugawa leyasu (1543- across his chest. He wears a long tachi
learned the sad news of his son's death 1616), he subdued the forces of the Tachi- sword and a shorter wakizashi and holds a
upon his return from a military venture in bana clan in Chikugo Province (part of saihai (commander's baton). The forms in
Kyushu for Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537- present-day Fukuoka Prefecture), and the
1598). Saga domain was officially recognized as this portrait—the sitter's face, the hakama
The inscription above the figure was his. (trousers), even the sandal cords and most
remarkably the armor—are angular and
written by Baikoku Genpô; two of his seals This painting is kept at Kôdenji, the
Nabeshima family's mortuary temple,

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