Shitennō (Tokugawa clan)

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This article is about a group of Japanese samurai. For other uses, see Four Heavenly Kings (disambiguation).

Four Heavenly Kings of the Tokugawa. Clockwise from upper left: Ii Naomasa, Honda Tadakatsu, Sakai Tadatsugu, Sakakibara Yasumasa.

The Four Heavenly Kings of the Tokugawa (徳川四天王, Tokugawa-shitennō) is a Japanese sobriquet describing four highly effective samurai generals who fought on behalf of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Sengoku period. They were famous during their lifetimes as the four most fiercely loyal vassals of the Tokugawa clan in the early Edo period.[1]

Each of those four generals was the founder of a cadet branch clan:

Etymology[edit]

The sobriquet evolved from the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Buddhist iconography. These are said to be the guardians of the four horizons.[8]

Fudai leaders[edit]

See also: Fudai daimyō

In 1586, according to "Sakakibara clan historical records", Ieyasu sent Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Ii Naomasa as representatives to Kyoto, where three of them being regarded as "Tokugawa Sanketsu"(Three great nobles of Tokugawa).[9] Then in following month, the three of them joined by Tadatsugu Sakai to accompany Ieyasu in his personal trip to Kyoto, where the four of them "became famous".[9]

In 1894, Frederick Dickins also recorded in english language about the existence of "four Tokugawa guardians" during Sengoku period, although Dickins did not mentions those individuals name.[10]

Political aspects[edit]

After the peace negotiation between Ieasu Tokugawa with Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the aftermath of battle of Komaki and Nagakute, Tadatsugu, Naomasa, Tadakatsu, and Yasumasa gained fame in Kyoto.[9]

All of the Tokugawa Shitennō possessed more than 10,000 koku(rice unit) as Daimyo(provincial governor). Naomasa has already possess 120,000 koku, while Yasumasa and Tadakatsu respectively hold domains worth of 100,000 koku. However, Tadatsugu, who retired in 1588, had his successor Sakai Ietsugu only inherited domain which only 37,000 koku worth. There are several theories regarding this:

  • Shigeo Negishi, professor of history faculty in Kokugakuin University, viewed this clear disparities among them is due to several factors. the first reason of this disparity waa due to deliberate political strategy by Ieyasu to strengthen control over his vassals after he relocate to the Kantō region by promoting the younger generations of loyal vassals, as he viewed that Yasumasa, Tadakatsu, and Naomasa were great assets for the future. The second reason was due to Tadatsugu himself were content with his relatively low stipend, as he already held pivotal position as Fudai daimyō who has de facto control over the old loyalist clans of Tokugawa originated from Higashi-Mikawa.[11]
  • Kawada Sadao and other researchers who agreed with him instead argued it was actually Toyotomi Hideyoshi who decided the location of the territories and domains of Tadakatsu, Yasumasa, and Naomasa. The aim of Hideyoshi was because he valued military capabilities of those three, and the domains distributed to them hold significant strategic values to defend against potential threat from Uesugi Kagekatsu, who at that time still not submitted to Toyotomi's rule.[11]

Stephen Turnbull stated that prior to the inclusion of Ii Naomasa, the Tokugawa-shitennō consisted of Ishikawa Kazumasa, Sakai Tadatsugu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Honda Tadakatsu, as they fought in the battle of Anegawa.[12]

Kawada Sadao opined that during the restructurization of Tokugawa clan management after retirement of Tadatsugu, the memberships of the "Shitennō" were actually consisted five peoples. Sadao stated that aside from Yasumasa, Tadakatsu, and Naomasa, the two other members which replacing Tadatsugu place was Ōkubo Tadayo and Torii Mototada. This version did not include Tadatsugu, since he alteady retired from military affairs that time.[11]

Cultural & Art aspects[edit]

"Tokugawa 16 divine generals" (Tokugawa jūrokushinshōjin); Another cultural depiction about Tokugawa Fudai lords group has the original Shitenno Ii Naomasa, Sakai Tadatsugu, Honda Tadakatsu, and Sakakibara Yasumasa included in the more expanded version of collectives. The name of those 16 generals were enshrined in Nikkō Tōshō-gū shrine.[13] This list has additional 12 figures:[14][15][16]

  1. Ōkubo Tadayo (1532 – 1594)
  2. Torii Mototada (1539 – 1600)
  3. Hattori Hanzō (1542 - 1596)[17]
  4. Watanabe Moritsuna（1542 - 1620）
  5. Ōkubo Tadasuke (1537-1613)
  6. Yonegizu Tsuneharu (1524 - 1612)
  7. Takagi Kiyohide (1526 - 1610)
  8. Naitō Masanari (1528 - 1602)
  9. Hachiya Sadatsugu (1539-1564) / Uemura Iemasa (1541-1577)
  10. Torii Tadahiro (? - 1573)
  11. Hiraiwa Chikayoshi (1542 - 1611)
  12. Matsudaira Yasutada (1545-1618) / Matsudaira Ietada (1555-1600)

"Tokugawa 24 generals" (Tokugawa Nijūshi-shōjin); Another cultural depiction also expand the names above into more expanded version of the 16 Tokugawa generals with 8 more addition members. This list include another 8 Tokugawa generals:[18]

  1. Osuga Yasutaka (1527-1589)
  2. Itakura Katsushige (1545 - 1624)
  3. Toda Tadatsugu (1531 - 1597)
  4. Mizuno Tadashige (1541 - 1600)
  5. Atsumi Katsukichi (1557 - 1616)
  6. Andō Naotsugu（1555 - 1635）
  7. Sakai Shigetada (1549 - 1617)
  8. Matsudaira Sadakatsu（1560 - 1624）
  9. Honda Toshimasa (? - ?)

"Tokugawa 28 generals" (Tokugawa nijūhachishinshōjin); A bigger version of the groupings which depicted in the painting made by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892). This group were consisted of the original 16 Tokugawa generals plus another addition Tokugawa generals. It consisted of 12 different figures from the 24 generals additions. The 12 additional members consisted:[19]

  1. Okudaira Nobumasa (1555 – 1615)
  2. Sakai Masachika (1521 - 1576)
  3. Ina Tadatsugu（1550 – 1610）
  4. Honda Tadatoshi (? - 1564)
  5. Okabe Nakamori (1568 - 1632)
  6. Ōkubo Tadataka (1560 – 1639)
  7. Suganuma Sadamitsu (1542–1604)
  8. Naitō Ienaga (1546 – 1600)
  9. Naitō Nobunari (1545 – 1612)
  10. Honda Yasutaka (? - ?)
  11. Matsudaira Koretada (1537 - 1575)
  12. Mizuno Katsunari (1564–1651)

Tokugawa Four Gallery[edit]

  • Ii Naomasa Armor at Hikone Castle (1561–1602)
    Ii Naomasa Armor at Hikone Castle (1561–1602)
  • Honda Tadakatsu armor, at Mikawa Bushi Museum, Okazaki, Aichi prefecture (1548–1610)
    Honda Tadakatsu armor, at Mikawa Bushi Museum, Okazaki, Aichi prefecture (1548–1610)
  • Sakakibara Yasumasa's Gusoku armor with Nanban(european) style.[20] (1548–1606)
    Sakakibara Yasumasa's Gusoku armor with Nanban(european) style.[20] (1548–1606)
  • Sakai Tadatsugu Iroiro Dō-maru armor, Chidō Museum (1527–1596)
    Sakai Tadatsugu Iroiro Dō-maru armor, Chidō Museum (1527–1596)

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). "Sakakibara Yasumasa" in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 811., p. 811, at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Archived 24 May 2012 at archive.today.
  2. ^ Nussbaum, "Honda Tadakatsu" at p. 347., p. 347, at Google Books
  3. ^ Appert, Georges. (1888). "Honda" in Ancien Japon, pp. 65., p. 65, at Google Books
  4. ^ Nussbaum, "Ii Naomasa" at p. 374., p. 374, at Google Books
  5. ^ Appert, "Ii" at Ancien Japon, p. 67., p. 67, at Google Books
  6. ^ Appert, "Sakakiwara" at Ancien Japon, p. 77., p. 77, at Google Books
  7. ^ Appert, "Sakai" at Ancien Japon, p. 76., p. 76, at Google Books
  8. ^ Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). "Shi-tennō" in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 875., p. 875, at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Archived 24 May 2012 at archive.today.
  9. ^ a b c Tetsuo Nakamura; Kazuo Murayama (1991). 徳川四天王: 精強家康軍団奮闘譜 歴史群像シリーズ22号. 学研プラス. pp. 111, 125. ISBN 4051053679. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  10. ^ Dickins, Frederick Victor (1894), The Life of Sir Harry Parkes, vol. 2: Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan, London, Macmillian and co., p. 9
  11. ^ a b c Hirano Akio; Iwata shoin (2007). "関東領有期徳川氏家臣と豊臣政権". In Sato, Hironobu (ed.). 中世東国の政治構造 中世東国論：上 [Political structure of medieval Eastern countries: Theory of medieval Eastern countries: Vol. 1] (in Japanese). Kamakura Prefecture: iwata-shoin. ISBN 978-4-87294-472-3. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  12. ^ Stephen Turnbull (2013). The Samurai A Military History. Taylor & Francis. p. 140. ISBN 9781134243693. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  13. ^ Kenji Yanai (1975). Edo no kaibaku (in Japanese). Shûeisha. p. 256. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  14. ^ Harada Kazutoshi (2009, p. 300)
  15. ^ 奥出 賢治 (2002). 徳川十六将図再考 [Reconsideration of the Sixteen Tokugawa Generals] (in Japanese). Nagoya City Museum Research Bulletin. pp. 1–21. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  16. ^ Kanō Ryūsetsu （1556-1618）. "Sixteen Tokugawa Generals Tokugawa Jurokushozu" [Sixteen Tokugawa Generals Tokugawa Jurokushozu]. bunka.nii.ac.jp (in Japanese). Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture Chido Museum: NII Powered by GETA (C) The Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 20 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Kacem Zoughari, Ph.D. (2013). Ninja Ancient Shadow Warriors of Japan (The Secret History of Ninjutsu). Tuttle Publishing. p. 58. ISBN 9781462902873. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  18. ^ Nitta Jun (1980). 戦国武将100列伝 [100 Sengoku military commanders] (in Japanese). 展望社. p. 120. ISBN 978-4-7993-8596-8. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  19. ^ Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1875); Sidney A. Tannenbaum (1978). "The Twenty-eight Deified Generals of the Tokugawa Clan (Tokugawa nijūhasshōjin)". philamuseum.org. Philadelphia, USA: Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 20 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "Nanban (Western style) Armor". emuseum.nich.go. the Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, Kyushu National Museum and the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties. Retrieved 9 May 2024.

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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