Japan: Its History, Arts, and Literature/Volume 6/Celebrated Characters in Japanese History
CELEBRATED CHARACTERS IN JAPANESE HISTORY
Antoku, the eighty-second Emperor, was a child and under the control of the Taira, of which clan his mother was a member. When the Gempei war broke out, he was carried away by his mother's kindred, and was present at the naval battle of Dan-no-ura (1185) near Shimonoseki, when the power of the Taira clan was shattered. His grandmother, seeing that escape was impossible, took the young Emperor in her arms and plunged into the sea. Both were drowned.
Asaina Saburo, a member of the Minamoto clan during the Gempei war, was noted for his wonderful physical strength.
Benkei, Yoshitsune's henchman, is the subject of many traditional exploits. Originally a robber, he was overcome by Yoshitsune, then a stripling, and became a faithful follower, spending his days battling in the young general's cause and finally dying for him. For one of the stories concerning him, see vol. iii. p. 36.
Dengyō Daishi, a Buddhist priest, spent a portion of his life in China, and on his return to Japan founded the Tendai sect. This was in 805. He and Kobo were the first preachers of sectarian Buddhism in Japan. He is also known as Saicho. He built the monastery of Hizei-zan.
En no Shōkaku, a Buddhist saint of the seventh century, made pilgrimages to mountain-tops. Being condemned to death, the sword broke, as in the case of Nichiren. The saint then flew away out of mortal sight.
Forty-Seven Ronins. In 1701 Asano, Lord of Akō, resented the insult of another nobleman, named Kira, by slashing him with his sword. This happened in the Shogun's palace, and for forgetting the sacredness of his surroundings, Asano was ordered to commit suicide, his estate was confiscated, and his clan disbanded, his retainers becoming ronins. Forty-seven of them, under the leadership of the senior retainer, Oishi Kuranosuke, determined to avenge their chief. In order to lull suspicion and to prevent the authorities from frustrating the vendetta, they separated and devoted themselves to different trades or gave themselves up to debauchery. At the appointed time, two years later, they met at night, attacked Kira's mansion in Yedo, killed his retainers, and, after the nobleman had shown his cowardice by refusing to commit suicide, cut off his head. They marched to the tomb of their chief amid much popular enthusiasm, and placed the severed head on it; then, in obedience to the official sentence, they committed suicide. They are buried beside their lord.
Giyogi Bosatsu (670—749), a Buddhist prelate and saint, first enunciated the doctrine of the successive incarnations of the Buddha in the forms of the Shintō deities, thus reconciling the two creeds. He took an active interest in the welfare of the people and in internal improvements.
Godaigo, the ninety-seventh Emperor, celebrated for the vicissitudes of his reign. Some of Japan's most popular heroes are associated with his fortunes. (See the Index.)
Hachinan Taro. See Yosbiiye.
Hideyosbi (1536—1598), one of the most famous generals of Japan, although of low birth, became, as Regent, the practical ruler of the country. He was known under a variety of names, some of them nicknames, others assumed by him at different stages of his career. His final title was that of Taiko, and his posthumous name is Toyokuni. He was a groom to Nobunaga, who recognised his ability and made him a soldier. Rising rapidly, he became his chief's greatest lieutenant and his successor in power. He possessed the parvenu's love of rank and desired to be Shōgun, but not being a member of the Minamoto clan, he was obliged to satisfy himself with the reality of authority without its title. His ambition extended to the conquest of the mainland, and the invasion of Korea, which he began in 1592, was the first step in this direction. The result was disastrous both to Korea and to the invading army, and when Hideyoshi died the Japanese troops were withdrawn. (See the Index.)
Inouye, Count (1839—), was one of the younger members of the Chōshiu clan who took a prominent part in the Revolution of 1867. He accompanied Itō on the secret journey to Europe which so greatly influenced the policy of both. Since the Revolution he has often held a portfolio in the ministry, making a specialty of matters of internal improvement. He was raised to the peerage in 1885.
Isbikawa Goyemon, a famous robber who flourished at the end of the sixteenth century, and was noted for his physical strength. He was finally captured and boiled in oil with his only son, a child.
Itagaki, Count (1838—), a member of the Tosa clan, took a prominent part in the Revolution of 1867 and in the suppression of the Satsuma rebellion. He was created a count in 1887, and during his short-lived ministry in 1898 held the Home Office. (For his interest in representation and responsible ministry, see the Index.)
Itō, Marquis (1840—), was one of the young reformers of the Chōshiu clan, directing his agitation not only against the shogunate, but in favour of foreign intercourse and the assimilation of Western civilisation, a secret journey to Europe having convinced him that this was necessary to the progress of his country. He has been called the constructive statesman of the Meiji epoch. Several visits to Europe and America and a comprehensive study of their polities have furnished him with the material from which he has sifted out the principles of government that seem best suited to Japan; but his reforms have been too radical at times for the nation to follow, as was the case in 1890, when a conservative reaction drove him from the premiership. He had entered upon the duties of this office in 1886, and has held it at intervals since, his last short ministry being in 1901. Previous to his being called to the head of the government, he held the portfolios of Public Works and of Home Affairs. He drafted the Constitution. The German system of government, rather than the looser, many-sided system of America or Great Britain, is the one he has taken as his model. When the new orders of nobility were inaugurated, he was made a count; later he was raised to his present rank.
Iwakura, Prince (1825—1883), a Court noble, was but moderately opposed to the introduction of foreign intercourse, and a firm ally of the clan reformers who looked to the overthrow of the shogunate. After the Revolution of 1867, he was at the head of the new government and led the embassy sent to the treaty powers in 1872. He opposed the threatened invasion of Korea in 1874, and an attempt was made to assassinate him by some of the samurai, instigated by his no-war policy and by his attitude on the military-class pensions.
Iyemitsu (1604—1651), the third Tokugawa Shōgun, succeeded to the title in 1624, and firmly established the autocracy of the shogunate. His interests were entirely domestic; he continued the proscription of the Christians and began the policy of isolation. His mausoleum, like that of his grandfather Iyeyasu, is at Nikkō. (See the Index.)
Iyeyasu (1542—1616), the first Tokugawa Shōgun, began his career under Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, though at one time he was opposed to the latter. He was pledged by Hideyoshi to protect the interests of the latter' s son, but, disregarding the promise, he secured control for himself, winning his final victory in 1600 at Seki-ga-hara. In 1590 he had made Yedo the capital of the district over which Hideyoshi had appointed him as ruler, and he now established there the military seat of the nation. As he belonged to the Minamoto clan, he received the title of Shōgun in 1603; and while he manipulated the feudatories so as to prevent them from combining against his autocracy, on the other hand he secluded the Emperor from all contact with the outside world, and deprived him of everything but the semblance of power. He interested himself in internal improvements, patronised the arts and literature, and left a "legacy" of maxims and rules of conduct, which, however, cannot be considered as a code of laws according to the modern conception of that term. Although he resigned in favour of his son in 1605, he continued to exercise the real authority during the remainder of his life. He is worshipped under the name of Tosho or Gongen Sama, and his mausoleum at Nikkō is one of the show places of Japan. (See the Index.)
Jimmu, the mythical first mortal ruler of Japan, was the great-grandchild of Ninigi (q. v. in the list of Gods), and therefore fifth in descent from the Sun Goddess. The legend gives 660 B.C. as the date of his accession, and conducts him through a series of military enterprises and miraculous occurrences. (See the Index.)
Jingo, a legendary female ruler, is said to have concealed the death of her husband, the Emperor Chuai, and to have governed as regent from 201 to 270. She is credited with a successful invasion of Korea, during the three years of which she held the future Emperor Ōjin in her womb. It is probably because of this fact that Ōjin is worshipped as the God of War, Hachiman. (See the Index.)
Kat'ō Kiyomasa, one of Hideyoshi's generals, was, like his commander, of low birth. His exploits in Korea and his persecution of the Christians made him a popular hero. He is worshipped under the name of Sei Shōkō.
Kido Takayoshi (1833—1877), one of the Chōshiu reformers, wrote the address to the Throne which secured the abolition of the feudal system, was a Privy Councillor in the new government and one of the envoys to America and Europe in 1872. Later he was a member of the Cabinet. He believed in popular representation and in popular discussion, established one of the first newspapers in Japan, and was the author of the measure for local assemblies.
Kiyomori (1118—1181) was a son of Taira Tadamori, who bequeathed to him in 1153 the leadership of the clan. In a contest originating in rival claims to the Imperial succession, he defeated the Minamoto clan in 1156, and obtained possession of the Emperor and the whole of the administration. He endeavoured to destroy the rival house and filled all the offices with his own kindred. He was arrogant toward the nobles and oppressed the people, so that while he remained virtual ruler during his life, the power of his house was completely shattered by the Minamoto within five years of his death. (See the Index.)
Kōbō Daishi (774—834) was a famous Buddhist prelate and saint, popularly credited with an infinite number of achievements, including the invention of the Japanese syllabary. He was sent to China, and on his return in 816, founded the Shingon sect, sharing with Dengyō the honour of being the earliest preacher of sectarian Buddhism in Japan. His life name was Kōhai.
Kojima Takanori. When in 1330 the Hōjō vicegerent put down a revolt against his power, he sent the Emperor Godaigo into exile. En route an attempt at rescue was made by Kojimi Takanori, a young nobleman, son of the lord of Bingo. The attempt failed, and his followers refused to renew it. Anxious that the Emperor should know that he had not been forgotten, the young nobleman entered the court of the inn where Godaigo was passing the night, and on the inner bark of a cherry-tree, which is the emblem of loyalty, wrote these lines:—
While Hanrei still lives."
The allusion, which was to a Chinese king rescued from a similar fate by a faithful retainer, was understood by the Emperor, but not by his ignorant guard. The incident appealed to the æsthetic sense of the Japanese, and has been made the subject of many works of art. Later, Kojima fell fighting for the Emperor.
Kōmon, Prince of Mito (1622—1700), was the second chief of that branch of the Tokugawa clan. He made his capital an intellectual centre, and began the composition of the "History of Japan," which became a great authority for those who desired to rehabilitate the Imperial power. As one phase of this tendency, he patronised the "pure" Shinto movement, which professed to restore the Way of the Gods to its pre-Buddhistic condition as a basis of the divine origin and right of the Emperor. (See the Index.)
Kumagai Naozane was a famous Minamoto warrior. During a siege of the Gempei war, he challenged a Taira, about to depart from the besieged fort. The Taira, who was a noble youth named Atsumori, accepted the combat, and soon succumbed to his older antagonist. Tearing off the helmet of his victim, Naozane was filled with pity by the youth and beauty of the face thus revealed, resembling that of his lately fallen son. He determined at first to let Atsumori escape, but finally, steeling his heart, he cut off the head, and carried it to his commander, Yoshitsune; then, overwhelmed by remorse, he refused all rewards, abandoned his career, and became a Buddhist monk. The incident has been often reproduced by artists, and dramatised.
Kusunoki Masashige was one of the heroes of the court of the Emperor Godaigo, and is worshipped as the beau ideal of stainless loyalty. He made the restoration of the Imperial power the aim of his life, but his first attempt in 1331 was unsuccessful. He assisted in over-coming the Hōjō domination in 1333, and when Takauji turned his sword against the Emperor, Masashige drove him from the capital. But the loyal success ended here. Masashige's plans for destroying the Ashikaga general were rejected and their author accused of cowardice. In answer to the taunt, he gathered a small body of his followers and charged upon the main body of the enemy. All were quickly slain except fifty, and with these Masashige retired and committed suicide. (See the Index.)
Masa, daughter of Hōjō Tokimasa, was one of the famous women of Japan. She was wooed and won by Yoritomo under romantic circumstances, and contributed largely to his rise. After his death, she turned her unusual intellectual and administrative ability to fostering the power of her own house, the Hōjō, at the expense of her husband's, the Minamoto. (See the Index.)
Masakado, a prominent member of the Taira clan in the tenth century, was one of the historic rebels of Japan. He was a governor in the East, but aspired to the control of the whole section, and set himself up as a pseudo-Emperor. Against him the Imperial Court sent an army and invoked divine aid through a miraculous image of Fudo. Masakado was defeated and slain, but his spirit continued to trouble the neighbourhood of what is now Tōkyō, and to appease it a shrine was erected. The rebel thus became a tutelary divinity. When the Imperial troops entered Yedo in 1868, they destroyed the image, but Masakado is still reverenced as the embodiment of daring.
Michizane. (See the Index.)
Mori, Viscouut (1848—1889), a member of the Satsuma clan, was sent abroad to study, being out of the country during the Revolution. On his return, he took part in the reforms inaugurated by the new government, especially in those relating to the abolition of feudalism. Later, he held diplomatic positions at Washington and London, and in 1885, having been ennobled, received the portfolio of Education. He was assassinated by a religious fanatic on the day the Constitution was proclaimed.
Moriyoshi, son of Godaigo, was made Shōgun after the fall of the Hōjō family. This excited the jealousy of Takauji, who managed to poison the mind of the Emperor against the prince, telling him that his son aspired to the throne. Godaigo pronounced Moriyoshi a rebel, and gave Takauji power to punish him. The unfortunate prince was taken to Kamakura, imprisoned, and secretly murdered. Later the Emperor had full reason to regret his rash act, and to consider his son as a martyr to loyalty.
Nichiren (1222—1282), a Buddhist saint and sectarian, founded the popular sect which bears his name, called by Griffis the "Ranters of Buddhism." His tenets were extreme, his attacks on the other sects virulent; and this theological bitterness bred an equally bitter enmity among his opponents, that resulted in his banishment. Returning after three years, he continued his proselyting with increased vehemence and was condemned to death. As in the case of En no Shōkaku, the sword was broken by heavenly interposition, and the saintliness of the condemned man being thus undeniably established, he was released, but again exiled. A general amnesty brought about his return, and for the remainder of his life he preached unmolested to the crowds of disciples attracted by his creed and methods.
Nitta Yoshisada (1299—1338), a descendant of Yoritomo, was a captain in the Hōjō forces, but refused in 1330 to fight against the Imperial army and raised a standard of revolt against the vicegerency and in favour of the Emperor. Marching against Kamakura, as the story goes, he cast his sword into the sea, and prayed the God of the Sea to consider his loyalty and open a path across. Next morning the waves had receded, and his army marched across on the dry strand to the attack on the Hōjō capital. It fell, and with it the power of the vicegerency (1333). In the subsequent war between the Emperor and Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada was one of the great captains. The Ashikaga general defeated him and drove him from Kyōtō in 1336, and two years later attacked him in the North with an overwhelming force. Mortally wounded, Yoshisada is said to have cut off his own head in order to prevent identification. He and Kusunoki Masashige are the popular heroes of that period of rampant disloyalty.
Nobunaga (1534—1582), one of the three greatest generals of Japan, was a Tōkaidō chieftain of Taira extraction. In the general anarchy then existing, he followed the fashion and made war on his neighbours, gradually acquiring great power. He supported the claim of Yoshiaki to the Ashikaga shogunate, but in 1573 deposed him and took the power into his own hands. Not being a Minamoto, he could not be Shōgun, and his lack of administrative power prevented his victories from having any lasting value, so that he never exercised the control that was enjoyed by his successors, Hideyoshi and Iyeyasu. He encouraged Christianity, but merely because he hated the Buddhists. He waged remorseless war upon the sacerdotal soldiers of the great monasteries, and his destruction of Hiyei-zan and Hongwan-ji was accompanied by indiscriminate slaughter. His aim in life was a noble one, to rehabilitate the Imperial power, and he looked upon the great strongholds of Buddhism as the chief obstacle to this consummation. He was assassinated by one of his captains, who objected to being the subject of a practical joke. (See the Index.)
Okuho Toshimitsu (1830—1878), a member of the Satsuma clan and one of the most prominent of its reformers, became, after the overthrow of the shogunate, a leading organiser of the new Imperial government. He was the great interpreter of foreign ideas, and made the foreign policy of Japan his special field. His ideal was a strongly centralised government—a personal government—which could force the reforms it deemed necessary. He was active in suppressing the rebellion of his clan, and within a few months was assassinated by some of the soldiers of the defeated province.
Okuma, Count (1837—), made a specialty of financial measures in the reorganised Imperial government. In 1889 an attempt was made to assassinate him, his leg being blown off by dynamite. (For other details, see the Index. )
Saigo Takamori (1827—1877), Kido, and Okubo were considered the greatest of the early reformers. Saigo was a prominent retainer in the Satsuma clan, and in the development of his career it became evident that it was against the Tokugawa control rather than for "enlightened government" that he had battled. He commanded the Imperial forces in the war with the shogunate in 1868, and advocated war with Korea in 1873. Disappointed in this and finding himself unable to follow in the paths of the more radical reformers, he resigned from the government and retired to Satsuma, where he began to plan the rebellion that broke out in 1877, and ended with his overthrow and death. (See the Index.) The rebel has now been forgotten and only the brilliant services in behalf of the Imperial power remembered. In 1890 the ban of degradation was removed and all his honours restored posthumously, after the Japanese custom. More recently a monument has been erected to his memory.
Sanjo, Prince (1836—1891), was one of the radical anti-foreign leaders at the Imperial Court, but became converted, while in exile at Chōshiu, to the necessity of terminating the period of isolation. His position at Court made him a valuable ally to the clan reformers and an important factor in the Revolution and the new government. From 1871 to 1886 he was at the head of the ministry. In the new order of nobility he held the highest rank.
Shinran Shōnin (1173—1262) founded a sect known as the Protestants of Buddhism. He preached salvation by faith alone, denied the efficacy of celibacy, disapproved of monasteries, and had the Scriptures written in the vernacular. The sect is variously known as Shin, Ikkō, and Monto. It became very militant, and its great temple, Hongwan-ji, was destroyed by Nobunaga. In the present epoch Shinran has been given the posthumous name of Kenshin Daishi.
Shotoku (572—621), son of the Emperor Yomei and Regent during the reign of his aunt Suikō, is known not only for his championship of Buddhism, but also for his reforms in the government. He is credited with having written a history of his country and with having introduced the Chinese calendar. (For his constitution and other details, see the Index.)
Takauji (died in 1358), the first of the Ashikaga Shōguns, was of Minamoto descent, and received his title from the Emperor of the Northern or usurping Dynasty, which he had set up. (See the Index.)
Takeda Shingen (1521—1573) was one of the Tōkaidō chieftains who obtained prominence during the period of anarchy that closed the rule of the Ashikaga Shōguns. He waged war upon all of his neighbours, but especially upon Uyesugi Kenshin, and as a warrior was considered a peer of Nobunaga. They did not, however, come into conflict. His conquests aided in restoring order to the land, for what he gained he kept, and to his bravery he joined the power of administration, which Nobunaga did not possess.
Takenouchi no Sukune was a legendary Prime Minister who served six Emperors. He is said to have lived 255 or 360 years, and to have been born about 200 B.C.
Tametono was the most famous of the Minamoto archers, a clan noted for skill in that exercise. The legend also endows him with marvellous strength. Though captured by the Taira and mutilated, he escaped and fled to the islands to the southward. As to what happened then, the legends disagree. According to one, he was pursued, and after sinking one of the Tairo boats by means of an arrow, committed suicide. Another account says that he went to the Loochoo Islands and ruled over the people there. (See the Index.)
Yamato-take (77—113), a son of the Emperor Keiko and a great hero of the legendary days, was sent while still a youth to overcome the western rebels. This he did by disguising himself as a girl, and when the rebel chieftains had fallen victims to his charms, he drew his concealed sword and slew them. Then, obtaining the sacred sword from the shrine of Ise, he set out against the eastern Ainos. These he subdued after many adventures, and on his return march over the mountains had encounters with good and evil spirits, finally dying before he could reach his father's Court. His achievements are enshrined in many legends and have left their mark upon the names of various places. Many temples are dedicated to him.
Yoritomo (1147—1199), son of Minamoto Yoshitomo, became the first Shōgun and the founder of Japanese feudalism. When his father's force was finally overcome in 1159, the boy was captured and condemned to death. Kiyomori spared him at the intercession of his stepmother, and Yoritomo was placed in the care of two officers who were responsible for him. He grew up shrewd, ambitious, and unscrupulous. In 1180 he rose against Kiyomori's tyranny, and with the help of his half-brother Yoshitsune and his cousin Yoshinaka finally shattered the Taira power and exterminated the clan, root and branch. He made Kamakura his capital, and began the dual government that continued to exist until 1867. For this purpose he placed military men, his own relations, as civil governors over the provinces, and made them responsible to him, while he appointed military governors under like conditions. A permanent military force was to be maintained by each province. To these measures the Emperor consented, and in 1192 bestowed upon Yoritomo the title of Sei-i Tai Shōgun or Barbarian-subduing Generalissimo. He was one of the ablest rulers of Japan, but a heartless tyrant. He looked with disfavour upon all other persons of ability or ambition, and killed off all possible rivals, including his brother Yoshitsune. He left no successor; his own children were weaklings from whom the power soon passed to the family of Yoritomo's wife, the Hōjō family. (See the Index.)
Toshiiye, called Hachiman Taro, or first-born of the God of War Hachiman, was a member of the Minamoto clan in the eleventh century. He gave to his clan its first great prominence by conquering the northern portion of the main island. Yoritomo was his great-great-grandson.
Toshinaka, called the Morning-sun Shōgun because of his brilliant and sudden rise to power, was a cousin of Yoritomo. Taking up arms against the Taira, he descended upon the capital, Kyōtō, and captured it. The Taira fled with the young Emperor Antoku (q. v.), and Yoshinaka proclaimed Gotoba Emperor. The victor acted in an arbitrary manner, incensed the cloistered ex-Emperor Goshirakawa, became jealous of his superior, Yoritomo, and finally forced from the Court the title of Shōgun. Yoritomo sent Yoshitsune against their cousin, and the young Shōgun's glory sank, as quickly as it had risen, in defeat and death. He was thirty-one years old.
Yoshitsune (born in 1159), called the Bayard of Japan, was a half-brother of Yoritomo, his mother being a concubine. She sacrificed herself to the demands of Kiyomori in order to save her son's life. The child was sent to a monastery to become a Buddhist monk, but he escaped and found shelter in the north. When Yoritomo rose against the Taira power, Yoshitsune joined him and became his greatest general. Yoshitsune's military ability and the admiration with which he was greeted, excited the jealousy of his unnatural brother, who determined to compass his death, but Yoshitsune again escaped to the friendly North. The touching letter that he wrote to his brother is still treasured in Japanese literature for its pathos and fraternal affection. He was finally put to death by his protector's son, who had been suborned by Yoritomo. He is one of the most popular heroes of Japanese history, and many traditions have gathered around his name. According to one of these, he was not killed, but escaped to Yezo, where he lived among the Ainos for many years; a statement that finds some support in the fact that his memory is greatly reverenced by the inhabitants of that island. Another tradition says that he escaped to the mainland and became the great Mongul Emperor, Jenghis Khan. (See the Index, and Benkei.)
Yamagata, Marquis (1838—), a member of the Chōshiu clan, took part in the Revolution of 1867, and became Under Secretary of War in 1868. He observed the Franco-Prussian war, and after having been assigned to command the army intended for the invasion of Korea in 1873, was appointed Secretary of War in 1876. He is
265 best known through his command of the Japanese army in Korea during the Chinese war of 1894, but he has held various posts in the ministry, including that of Premier. In Korea he displayed strategic ability of the first order, and received the marquisate as a recognition.