The Mikado's Empire/Buku 1/Bab 26
XXVI.
IYEYASU, THE FOUNDER OF TEDO.
THE last of struggles of rival military factions for the possession of power is now to be narrated, and the weary record of war and strife closed. Since 1159, when the Taira and Minamoto came to blows in the capital, and the imperial palace fell into the hands of armed men, and the domination of the military families began, until the opening of the seventeenth century the history of Japan is but that of civil war and slaughter. The history of two centuries and a half that fol- lowed the triumphs of lyeyasu is that of profound peace. Few na- tions in the world have enjoyed peace so long.
The man who now stood foremost among men, who was a legislator as well as warrior, who could win a victory and garner the fruits of it, was Tokugawa lyeyasu, the hero of Sekigahara, the most decisive bat- tle in Japanese history, the creator of the perfected dual system and of feudalism, and the founder of Yedo.
Yedo is not an ancient city. Its site becomes historic when Yama- to Dake, in the second century of our era, marched to conquer the Eastern tribes. In later times, the Minamoto chieftains subdued the plains of the Kuanto. Until the twelfth century, the region around the Bay of Yedo was wild, uncivilized, and sparsely populated, and the inhabitants were called by the polished Kioto people "Adzuma Ebisu," or Eastern boors.
In the fifteenth century, a small castle was built on the rising ground within the western circuit of the present stronghold, and near Koji machi (Yeast Street), where now stands the British Legation. East of the castle was a small relay village, 0 Temna Cho, near the modern site of the prison, at which officials or travelers, on their way to Kamakura or Kioto, vi& the Tokaido, might stop for rest and re- freshment, or to obtain fresh kagos (palanquins), bearers, and bag- gage-carriers. The name of the commander of the castle, Ota Do- kuan, a retainer of the shogun at Kamakura, and a doughty warrior, is still preserved in the memories of the people, and in poetry, song,
lYEYASt, THE FOUNDER OF YEDO. 205
art, and local lore. A hill in the north of the city, a delightful pic- nic resort, bears his name, and the neighborhood of Shiba was his favorite drill-ground and rendezvous before setting out on forays or campaigns.
One romantic incident, in which a maiden of equal wit and beauty bore chief part, has made him immortal, though the name of the fair one has been forgotten. One day, while out hawking near Yedo, a heavy shower of rain fell. Dismounting from his horse, he, with his attendant, approached a house, and in very polite terms begged the loan of a grass rain-coat (mino). A pretty girl, daughter of the man of the house, came out, listened, blushing, to the request, but, answer- ing not a word, ran to the garden, plucked a flower, handed it, with mischief in her eyes, to the hero, and then coquettishly ran away. Ota, chagrined and vexed at such apparently frivolous manners and boorish inhospitality, and the seeming slight put upon his rank, re- turned in wrath, and through the rain, to his castle, inwardly cursing the "Adzuma Ebisu," who did not know how to treat a gentleman. It happened that, shortly after, some court nobles from Kioto were present, sharing the hospitalities of the castle at Ycdo, to whom he related the incident. To his own astonishment, the guests were de- lighted. " Here," said they, " in the wilderness, and among the 'Ad- zuma Ebisu,' is a gentle girl, who is not only versed in classic poetry, but had the wit and maidenly grace to apply it in felicitous style." Ota had asked for a rain-coat (mino) ; the little coquette was too po- lite to acknowledge she had none. How could she say " no " to such a gallant ? Rather, to disguise her negative, she had handed him a mountain camellia ; and of this flower the poet of Yamato had, centu- ries ago, sung : " Although the mountain camellia has seven or eight petals, yet I grieve to say it has no seed " (mino).
After the death of Ota, no name of any great note is attached to the unimportant village or fortress; but in 1590, at the siege of Oda- wara, Hideyoshi suggested to his general, ly^yasu, Yedo as the best site for the capital of the Kuanto. After the overthrow of the " later Hojo " clan, and the capture of their castle at Odawara, Iy6yasti went to Yedo and began to found a city. He set up his court, and watched his chances.
lyeyasu was born at Okasaki, in Mikawa, in 1542 ; he served with ,Nobunaga and with Hideyoshi; again fought with the latter, and again made terms with him. His first possessions were Mikawa and Suruga. In the latter province he built a fine castle at Sumpu (now
266 THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE.
called Shidzuoka), and made it his residence for many years. He seems to have had little to do with the Corean expedition. While busy in building Yedo in 1598, he received news of the taiko's sickness, at- tended his death-bed, and swore to protect and advance the interests of the child Hideyori, then six years old.
The prospects of the boy were not very fine. In the first place, few people believed him to be the son of the taiko. In the second place, the high-spirited lords and nobles, who prided themselves on their blood and lineage, detested Hideyoshi as an upstart, and had been kept in curb only by his indomitable will and genius. They were still more incensed at the idea of his son Hideyori, even if a true son, succeed- ing. Again : . Hidenobu, the nephew of Nobunaga, was living, and put in a claim for power. His professed conversion to Christianity gave him a show of support among the Christian malcontents. As for lyeyasu, he was suspected of wishing to seize the military power of the whole empire. The strong hand of the taiko wa& no longer felt. The abandonment of the Corean invasion brought back a host of men and leaders, flushed with victory and ambition. Differences sprung up among the five governors. With such elements at work — thousands of men, idle, to whom war was pastime and delight, princes eager for a fray in which land was the spoil, more than one man aspir- ing to fill the dead master's place — only a spark was needed to kindle the blaze of war.
The governors suspected lyeyasu. They began to raise an army, lyeyasu was not to be surprised. He followed the example of his rivals, and watched. I shall not tax the patience of the reader to fol- low through the mazes of the intricate quarrels which preceded the final appeal to arms. Suffice to say, that after the seizure and reseiz- ure of the citadel of Ozaka and the burning of the taiko's splendid palace in Fushimi, the army of the league and the army of lyeyasu met at Sekigahara (plain of the barrier), in Omi, near Lake Biwa.
By this battle were decided the condition of Japan for over two centuries, the extinction of the claims of the line of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, the settlement of the Tokugawa family in hereditary suc- cession to the shogunate, the fate of Christianity, the isolation of Ja- pan from the world, the fixing into permanency of the dual system and of feudalism, the glory and greatness of Yedo, and peace in Japan for two hundred and sixty-eight years.
In the army of the league were the five governors appointed by the taiko, and the lords and vassals of Hideyoshi, and most of the generals
1Y&YASU, THE FOUNDER OF YEDO. 267
and soldiers who had served in the Corean campaigns. Among them were the clans of Satsuma, ChOshiu, Uy^sugi, Ukita, Asano, and the famous Christian generals, Konishi and Ishida. This army, one hun- dred and eighty thousand strong, was a heterogeneous mass of veter- ans, acting under various leaders, and animated by various interests. As the leaders lacked unity of purpose, so the army was made the vic- tim of discordant counsels and orders. On the other hand, the army of one man, lyeyasQ, had one soul, one discipline, and one purpose. The Castle of Gifu, in Mino, was captured by one of his captains. On the 1st of October, 1600, lyeyasu marched from Yedo over the T5- kaidd with a re-enforcement of thirty thousand troops. His standard was a golden fan and a white flag embroidered with hollyhocks. The diviners had declared " the road to the West was shut." Iy6yasii answered, "Then I shall open it by knocking." On the thirteenth day he arrived at Gifu, where he effected a junction with his main body. Some one offered him a persimmon (ogaki). He said, as it fell in his hand, " Ogaki waga te ni otsuru " (" Ogaki has fallen into my hand "). He threw it down, and allowed his attendants to eat the good-omened and luscious pieces.
The battle-field at Sekigahara is an open, rolling space of ground, lying just inside the eastern slope of hills on the west wall of Lake Biwa, and part of the populous plain drained by the Kiso gawa, a branch of which crosses the field and winds round the hill, on which, at that time, stood a residence of the Portuguese missionaries. The Nakasendo,* one of the main roads between Yedo and Kioto, enters from Omi, and bisects the field from west to east, while from the north- west, near the village of Sekigahara, the road enters from Echizeu. By
- The Nakasendo (Central Mountain Road) is three hundred and eighty-one
miles long. It begins at the Bridge of Sanjo, over the river at Kioto, and ends at Nihon Bridge in Tokio. It was used, in part, as early as the second century, but was more fully opened in the early part of the eighth century. It passes through Omi, Mino, Shinano, Kodzuke", terminating in Musashi. It can be easily trav- ersed in fourteen days ; but the tourist who can understand and appreciate all he sees would be reluctant to perform the tour, if for pleasure, in less than a month. There are on the route nine toge (mountain passes). It carries the trav- eler through the splendid scenery of Shinano, which averages twenty-five hun- dred feet above the sea-level, along Lake Biwa, and nearly its whole length is classic ground. The Nakasendo is sometimes called the Kisokaido. An excel- lent guide-book, in seven volumes, full of good engravings, published in 1805, called Kisoji Meisho Dzuye (" Collection of Pictures of Famous Places on the Na- kasendo"), furnishes the information that makes a sight of the famous places very enjoyable. The heights of the toge are as follows : 620, 2150, 3060, 4340, 3680, 5590, 3240, and 4130 feet, respectively.
268 THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE.
this road the writer, in 1872, came to reach the classic site and study the spot around which cluster so many stirring memories. The lead- ers of the army of the league, having arranged their plans, marched out from the Castle of Ogaki at early morn on the fifteenth day of the Ninth month. They built a fire on a hill overlooking the narrow path, to guide them as they walked without keeping step. It was raining, and the armor and clothes of the soldiers were very wet. At five o'clock they reached the field, the Satsuma clan taking up their position at the foot of a hill facing east. Konishi, the Christian hero of Corea, commanded the left centre, Ishida the extreme left. Four famous commanders formed, with their corps, the right wing. Re- serves were stationed on and about the hills facing north. The cav- alry and infantry, according to the Guai Shi figures, numbered one hundred and twenty-eight thousand.
At early morn of the same day one of the pickets of lyeyasu's out- posts hastened to the tent of his general and reported that all the en- emy had left the Castle of Ogaki. Other pickets, from other points, announced the same reports simultaneously. lyeyasu, in high glee, exclaimed, " The enemy has indeed fallen into my hand." He order- ed his generals to advance and take positions on the field, himself leading the centre. His force numbered seventy-five thousand.
This was the supreme moment of lyeyasu's life. The picture as given us by native artist and tradition is that of a medium-sized and rotund man, of full, round, and merry face, who loved mirth at the right time and place, and even when others could not relish or see its appropriateness. Of indomitable will and energy, and having a gen- ius for understanding men's natures, he astonished his enemies by ce- lerity of movement and the promptitude with which he followed up his advantages. Nevertheless, he was fond of whims. One of these was to take a hot bath before beginning a battle ; another was to is- sue ambiguous orders purposely when he wished to leave a subordi- nate to act according to his own judgment. On the present occasion, his whim was to go into battle with armor donned, but with no hel- met on, knotting his handkerchief over his bare forehead. A dense fog hung like a pall over the battle-field, so that one could not see far- ther than a few feet.
The two armies, invisible, stood facing each other. However, lye- yasu sent an officer with a body of men with white flags, who ad- vanced six hundred feet in front of the main army, to prevent surprise. At eight o'clock the fog lifted and rolled away, and the two hosts de-
IYEYAS&, THE FOUNDER OF YEDO. 269
scried each other. After a few moments' waiting, the drums and concha of the centre of each army sounded, and a sharp fire of match- locks and a shower of arrows opened the battle. The easterners at first wavered, and till noon the issue was doubtful. Cannon were used during the battle, but the bloodiest work was done with the sword and spear. One of the corps in the army of the league deserted and joined the side of lyeyasti. At noon, the discipline and unity of the eastern army and the prowess and skill of lyeyasu triumphed. Ordering his conch-blowers and drummers to beat a final charge, and the reserves having joined the main body, a charge was made along the whole line. The enemy, routed, broke and fled. Nearly all the wounded, and hundreds of unscathed on the battle-field, committed hara-kiri in order not to survive the disgrace. The pursuers cut off the heads of all overtaken, and the butchery was frightful. The grass was dyed red, and the moor became literally, not only an Aceldama, but a Golgotha. According to the Ouai Shi's exaggerated figures, forty thousand heads were cut off. Of the Eastern army four thousand were slain, but no general was killed. The soldiers assembled, accord- ing to custom, after the battle in the centre of the field, to show their captives and heads. On this spot now stands a memorial mound of granite masonry within a raised earthen embankment, surrounded and approached from the road by rows of pine-trees. On the Kioto side of the village, near the shrine of Hachiman, may be seen a kubidzuka (barrow, or pile of heads), the monument of this awful slaughter, and one of the many such evidences of former wars which careful travelers in Japan so often notice.
lyeyasu went into the fight bare-headed. After the battle he sat down upon his camp-stool, and ordered his helmet to be brought. All wondered at this. Donning it with a smile, and fastening it securely, he said, quoting the old proverb, "After victory, knot the cords of your helmet." The hint was taken and acted upon. Neither rest nor negligence was allowed.
The Castle of Hikone, on Lake Biwa, was immediately invested and captured. Ozaka was entered in great triumph. Fushimi and Kioto were held; Choshiu and Satsuma yielded. Konishi and Ikeda were decapitated on the execution-ground in Kioto. The final and speedy result was that all Japan submitted to the hero who, after victory, had knotted the cords of his helmet.