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The most famous son of Tokugawa Hidetada, the second Shogun of the Edo Shogunate, was his second son, the third Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu (his eldest son died young). Hidetada also had other sons, one of whom Hoshina Masayuki. It is said that he was born a result of his father, Hidetada's, having an affair
When he was born, Hoshina Masayuki's existence was even kept secret, but he later grew into a man who not only provided strong political support to the fourth shogun, Ietsuna, but was also praised .
The birth of Masayuki Hoshina
was born in 1611 (Keicho 16) the fourth son of Tokugawa Hidetada His childhood name was Komatsumaru. mother was not Oe (Go, Oda Nobunaga's niece), who is famous as the mother of Hidetada's wife and Iemitsu. Masayuki's mother's name was Shizu (also known as Shizu), and although there are various theories about her origins, it is certain that she was not a woman of high social status.
Shizuka was a woman who served Hidetada's wet nurse, Ouba no Tsubone. Hidetada fell in love with Shizuka and gave birth to his child, but she could not become Hidetada's concubine and was instead entrusted to a woman named Kenshoin. Kenshoin was the second daughter of Takeda Shingen, a famous feudal lord during the Sengoku period.
The reason Shizuka could not become Hidetada's concubine is thought to be because Oe, Hidetada's legal wife, could not accept the existence of Shizuka and her child (it is said that Hidetada and Shizuka's first child was miscarried). Furthermore, the fact that Masayuki was born was known only to a few people, such as Hidetada's close aides, and even his half-brother Iemitsu did not know, which is evidence that Masayuki was someone who could not be made public. In short, Hidetada having a child with Shizuka would have been perceived as an "infidelity. Masayuki was raised by Kenshoin.
Raised as Masamitsu Hoshina's child
In 1617, when Masayuki was seven years old, he was entrusted to the care of Hoshina Masamitsu through
Hoshina Masamitsu was a former vassal of the Takeda clan and was appointed lord of the Takato Domain in Shinano Province (present-day Ina City, Nagano Prefecture). He was known for his honest nature and continued to be considerate of Kenshoin even after the downfall of the Takeda clan. As a result, Kenshoin decided that she could entrust Masayuki to Masamitsu, and confided in him the serious matter of the existence of the Shogun's illegitimate child. As a result, Masayuki became Masamitsu's adopted son and moved to Takato.
Although Masayuki was the son of a shogun, he lived in an environment where he could not make his status public. However, it is undoubtedly his experiences living in Takato that helped him grow into a man who would govern with the people of his domain in mind .
Hidetada's wife, Oe, died in 1626. Perhaps this meant that he could now proudly call himself Hidetada's son, as in 1629, met his older brother, Iemitsu, who had already become the third shogun, for the first time
In 1631, his adoptive father, Masamitsu, died, and Masayuki became the lord of Takato Domain with a fief of 30,000 koku at the age of 21. The following year, in 1632, his biological father, Hidetada, also died. After Hidetada's death, Iemitsu is said to have been particularly fond of his half-brother, Masayuki, as a family member he could consult with.
However, Masayuki continued to serve Iemitsu as a vassal rather than as a younger brother and it is said that he gained even more trust from Iemitsu and those around him This was in stark contrast to Iemitsu's younger brother, Tadanaga, who, after demanding preferential treatment as Iemitsu's younger brother, was abandoned by Hidetada and Iemitsu, and was ultimately forced to commit suicide.
To the lord of the Aizu domain
In 1636 (Kan'ei 13), Masayuki was given 200,000 koku of land in Yamagata Domain, Dewa Province (present-day Yamagata City). Then, in 1643 (Kan'ei 20), he was appointed lord of Aizu Domain, Mutsu (present-day Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture) with 230,000 koku of land It is believed that this was done in order to keep in check the Sendai Domain, which was ruled by the Date clan, and the Yonezawa Domain, which was ruled by the Uesugi clan, which were outside the Tokugawa clan. From then until the end of the Edo period, the Aizu Matsudaira clan, descendants of Masayuki, served as lords of the Aizu Domain.
Tsuruga Castle (Wakamatsu Castle), the residence of the Aizu feudal lord
said that when Hoshina Masayuki moved his territory, the people of his former territory, who admired him, followed him , which shows the good governance of Masayuki.
Takko's Last Will
On Iemitsu's deathbed in 1651, Iemitsu called Masayuki and said he would entrust the care of his eldest son, Ietsuna, to Masayuki after his death. This final command from Iemitsu is known as Takko's Will As per Iemitsu's will, Masayuki provided strong support to Ietsuna , who became the fourth shogun. Ietsuna was only 11 years old when he became shogun, so it can be said that real political power was with Masayuki.
Impressed by Iemitsu's last will and testament, Masayuki established the "Aizu Family Precepts, Fifteen Articles" in 1668, which stated that the first article was, " The Aizu clan is an entity that must protect the Shogun family, and if the lord of the clan betrays them, the vassals must not obey them."
From then on, the lord and retainers of the Aizu domain faithfully adhered to this provision, and even at the end of the Edo period, they remained central figures in the pro-shogunate faction, resisting the new government forces, which were centered around Satsuma and Choshu, until the very end
Why is Hoshina Masayuki called a great ruler? It is because he carried out many good governance actions both in the politics of the shogunate and in the politics of the Aizu domain.
Major reform of the shogunate
The shogunate government up until the third shogun, Iemitsu, was known for its military politics, which did not hesitate to take harsh measures against daimyo in order to solidify the shogunate's power base. However, Masayuki promoted a shift to civil politics governed by the law. He relaxed the prohibition on late-stage adoption (a ban on hastily adopting an heir when a daimyo without one was near death) and banned junshi (a practice of vassals following their lord when he died). He also abolished the daimyo witness system, which forced daimyo families to live in Edo as hostages. These reforms are known as the Three Great Beautiful Things
dug the Tamagawa Aqueduct to cope with the rapid population growth in Edo, and the upper reaches of this canal still support the lives of Tokyo residents today.
After the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, he provided relief to the common people who had been forced to flee their homes. Later, when rebuilding Edo, he implemented fire prevention measures such as widening roads, building Ueno Hirokoji as a firebreak, and widening the Kanda River. Regarding the keep of Edo Castle, which had been destroyed in the fire, he decided not to rebuild it, stating that it had "no practical use other than for viewing into the distance," and decided to use the funds for rebuilding it for other purposes.
Turning the Aizu Domain into a groundbreaking welfare state
The Aizu domain, which was his territory, established a system in which rice was purchased in good years and stored in "sha-so" (storehouses) as a reserve to save the people in times of famine. He also created a system to provide rice to people over the age of 90, regardless of their social status. This is said to be Japan's first pension system
He also banned the evil practice of infanticide and established systems that would today be equivalent to welfare, minimum wage, medical insurance, fire insurance, etc. It is amazing that such systems were created with the common people in mind in the first half of the 17th century.
It should be noted that Hoshina Masayuki's domain administration tended to favor only vassals and relatives who had followed him since the Takato period, and there are objections to his assessment that he was a wise ruler. However, there is also bound to be a counterargument as to whether this was such a serious problem in terms of personnel matters at that time, or whether it was a stain that outweighed Masayuki's political achievements.
The Yonezawa Domain was helped by Masayuki
In the Yonezawa Domain, located close to the Aizu Domain, the third lord of the domain, Uesugi Tsunakatsu, died suddenly in 1645 without an heir. Normally, the Uesugi family would have died out without an heir and been dissolved. However , Tsunakatsu's father-in-law, Masayuki, worked hard to ensure the survival of the Uesugi family , and succeeded in having Tsunakatsu's two-year-old nephew recognized as Tsunakatsu's adopted son, Uesugi Tsunanori, succeed the Uesugi family.
*As a complete aside, Uesugi Tsunanori's real father was Kira Kozukenosuke (whose real name was Yoshihisa). As recounted in "Chushingura," he is known for being killed by the Ako Roshi led by Oishi Kuranosuke (whose real name was Yoshio/Yoshitaka).
At this time, the Uesugi clan's territory was reduced by half, from 300,000 koku to 150,000 koku, but this was a far better result than abolishing it. It is said that the Uesugi clan and the Yonezawa clan's retainers felt indebted to Masayuki and the Aizu clan until the end of the Edo period. And this gratitude to the Aizu clan would have a major impact on the relationship between the Aizu and Yonezawa clans at the end of the Edo period.
There must have been many people who felt indebted to Hoshina Masayuki for his good governance, but as explained at the beginning, Masayuki was born because of his father Hidetada's infidelity. Therefore, those who felt indebted to Masayuki also thought, "Lord Hidetada, I'm so glad you cheated on me." I have heard such a saying myself, but I have not been able to find any definitive proof that people at the time actually said it.
Masayuki, who made great achievements in both the shogunate and the domain government, was encouraged by the shogunate to take the surname Matsudaira, but Masayuki continued to use the surname Hoshina for the rest of his life . The surname Matsudaira was adopted by Masayuki's sixth son, Masakata, who became the third lord of the Aizu domain.
Furthermore, in his later years, Masayuki burned documents related to his own achievements . It is said that he did this because he did not want the Shogun's achievements to be remembered for posterity as having been his own doings (although they did remain). He lived a selfless life until the very end.
In 1669, he retired and handed over the family headship to his eldest son, Masatsune. He passed away at the age of 63 on December 18, 1672, at his Edo residence. His grave is located on Mineyama in what is now Inawashiro Town, Fukushima Prefecture. Born as the son of a shogun, Masayuki achieved many accomplishments, yet always maintained the humility of a vassal. Even now, more than 350 years after his death, his life is still respected by many people, especially those in the Aizu region and Ina City, Nagano Prefecture.
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