Suzuki Motonobu

• Born: 1555
• Died: 1620
• Titles: Keizaikikakuchôkan, Ôkura Daijin
• Son: Shichiemon
• Distinction: Date retainer

Motonobu, whose origins are unclear (one opinion is that he was from the Hozumi family of the Aizu district of Mutsu province), served Date Masamune. He was skilled in administrative matters and so was named Masamune's Minister of Finance (Ôkura Daijin) and the Director of the Economic Planning Agency (Keizaikikakuchôkan). He was also well-versed in the tea ceremony. He is best known for actually composing what amounted to a constitution for a dreamed-of Date shôgunate. When he was on his deathbed, and knowing that his cherished hopes for Masamune would never become reality, he had the documents burned in a bamboo basket lest they be discovered by the Tokugawa (and be used against Masamune). As his eldest son had predeceased him, he was succeeded by his second son, known, like his father, as Shichiemon.

References

• Initial text from Sengoku Biographical Dictionary (Samurai-Archives.com) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005