* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Itabeoka Kōsetsusai
板部岡江雪斎
Diplomat-Monk Who Served Three Generations of the Later Hōjō, Remembered Through His Sword Kōsetsu Samonji
- Era
- Sengoku period
- Lifespan
- 1537-1609
Description
Life
He is said to have been born in 1537 (by another account, 1536) as the son of Tanaka Yasuyuki, lord of Tanaka district in Tagata District, Izu Province. He first became a Shingon Buddhist monk, but later entered the service of the Later Hōjō clan, returned to lay life under the succession name Itabeoka Yasuo, and served as scribe (yūhitsu) and council member (hyōjōshū) under three successive Hōjō heads: Hōjō Ujiyasu, Ujimasa, and Ujinao.
Activities as a Diplomatic Monk
Valued for his calligraphy and eloquence, he was relied upon as the Hōjō clan's channel for external negotiations. He traveled to negotiate with the Takeda and Oda clans, and brokered the marriage negotiations between clan head Ujinao and Tokuhime, daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, playing a central role in the clan's diplomatic strategy. In the dispute over the arbitration of Numata territory in 1589, he worked to repair relations with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but he could not prevent the campaign against Odawara in the following year.
After the Odawara Campaign
After the fall of the Hōjō clan, he was summoned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and placed in the companion circle (otogishū). After Hideyoshi's death he drew close to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and is said to have accompanied him at the Battle of Sekigahara. He died in 1609.
Connection to Swords
Kōsetsusai's beloved sword is called "Kōsetsu Samonji" and is said to be the work of the Nanboku-chō period swordsmith Samonji. It is said to have later been presented to Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Ieyasu gave it to Tokugawa Yorinobu, founder of the Kishū Tokugawa house, it was handed down as a treasure of that house. It is now designated a National Treasure and is held by the Fukuyama Museum of Art in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture.
Later Reputation
Kōsetsusai is known as a cultured figure well versed in the tea ceremony and waka poetry, and he is regarded as a forerunner of the diplomat-bureaucrat type of warrior, not limited to martial prowess. His beloved sword Kōsetsu Samonji survives today as a National Treasure and stands as a symbol of the Hōjō clan's diplomacy and cultivation in the late Sengoku period.
Notable Swords
- Kōsetsu Samonji