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My sandbox
 
My sandbox
Japanese Inn
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Sanada Masayuki
Japanese Inn by Oliver Statler, first published in 1967 and published by
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* ''Born: [[1544]]''
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* ''Died: [[1611]]''
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* ''Title: Awa no Kami'' 安房守
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* “Japanese:” 真田昌幸 “(Sanada Masayuki)”
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* ''Distinction: Sometimes credited as one of [[Takeda Shingen's 24 Generals]]''
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About X kiometers east of Shunpu in [[Surugu province]] (now Shimizu in Shizuoka Prefecture) along the important [[Tokaido Highway]] lies the town of Okitsu興津, <ref>It has been recently incorporated into Shimizu.</ref> dominated by [[Seikenji Temple]] 清見寺. This book tells the history of Japan from 1550-1953 as seen through the eyes of the people of an Okitsu inn, a waki-honjuku 脇本宿, <ref>A regular inn that could be called upon to host daimyo or their retinue in case there was not enough room in the honjuku inns  </ref> called the Minaguchi-ya. The highway system and the inns that supported it were an important feature of the [[Edo periol]].
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The Seiken-ji housed nobility who were passing through. [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] stayed there as a child according to tradition, [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Hideyoshi]] stayed there on the eve of the siege of [[Odawara castle]], as did his teamaster [[Sen no Rikyu|Sen no Rikyû]]. The shogun [[Tokugawa Iemochi]] on his way to Kyoto in XXXX, and [[Emperor Meij]] on his way to the new capital of Tokyo also spent the night there.
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Masayuki was the 3rd son of [[Sanada Yukitaka]] ([[1512]]-[[1574]]) and like his father first served [[Takeda Shingen]]. His first taste of battle, in fact, is said to have been at the famous [[Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima]]. At one point he was known as Mutô Kibêjô 武藤喜兵衛尉, but his two elder brothers, Nobutsuna and Masateru, were killed  in [[1575]] at [[Battle of Nagashino|Nagashino]], and he became head of the Sanada.  
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At the Minaguchi-ya itself , the XX family (founders of the YY department store) were regular guests by XXXX. Among other guests over the years were attendants of [[Kiranosuke]], [[Shimazu XX]] of [[Satsuma province]], who gave the inn permission to use the Shimazu crest, members of the suite of the [[genro]] [[Saionji Kinmochi]], a member of the US occupation named Oliver Statler, and Emperor Hirohito (Shôwa). And of course among the many people passing along the Tokaido--samurai, daimyo, plotters, poets, artists, pilgrims, Dutch--many of them must have stopped at the inn.
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As the power of the Takeda declined, Masayuki expanded from northern [[Shinano province|Shinano]] into [[Kozuke province|Kôzuke]] in [[1580]] and took [[Numata castle|Numata]] from the [[Go-Hojo clan|Hôjô]], who controlled most of the [[Kanto|Kantô]]. Numata is in northern Kôzuke on the Tone River 利根川, which flows into the Kantô plain, so the Sanada had access to all three [[highways]] between Kantô and [[Echigo province]].  
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This is written as a popular book.The bulk of the book could probably be subtitled "The Edo Period as the Japanese see it." It describes many of the famous events and cultural figures of the time as could have seen by the people at the inn. Though there is some fiction, it is not like historical fiction which primarily tells a story about people of a certain period. The amount of detail is almost incredible.  Even someone who has lived decades in Japan can still come across things first known in that book.
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In [[1582]][[Oda Nobunaga]] attacked the Takeda, and as their cause was hopeless, Masayuki wrote the Hôjô requesting to become their vassal.[fn 1] and after Nobunaga’s death, sent hostages to them. But Shinano was semi-controlled in quick succession by various warlords, and Masayuki accepted whoever was in control. He ended up serving [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who now ruled the former Takeda center of [[Kai province|Kai]].  
This is not a book for historians. Statler writes almost nothing about politics or the economics of the period, though the shogun-daimyo-han system is talked about. Furthermore he does not bother about specifying the calendar he is using, he avoids proper names as much as possible (probably a good idea for a popular book) and he uses popular versions of events. For instance, [[Takeda Shingen]] was killed listening to a flute. But it is usally easy to tell when he is actually fictionalizing, even without reading his discussion in the afterward. For example, when he gives his source, he is not.
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I had long thought, "Some day (when I can afford it!) I would like to spend the night in that inn." Some time ago I was travelling by car along the Tokaido in Shizuoka and decided to at least try to see the inn. In Okitsu I kept my eyes open on the ocean side of the street, and soon found a gate with "Minaguchi-ya" written on it. However, alas, I will not be able to stay there. It has been bought up by an area corporation for their private use. According to the internet, this happened in >
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Masayuki now worked on consolidating control of the Chiisagata district of Shinano. He had built a number of mountain castles as Sanada-yama castle and Matsuo castle and still held on to Numata castle, but in [[1583]] started the construction of the flatland  [[Ueda castle]] on the junction of the Tôsendô 東山道 (Nakasendô) and the Hokkoku Highway 北国街道.
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In [[1585]]  Ieyasu demanded that Numata be returned to the Hôjô as part of a Tokugawa-Hôjô agreement signed that year. Masayuki refused, allied with [[Uesugi Kagekatsu]] of Echigo, and sent his second son [[Sanada Yukimura|Nobushige]] as a hostage to Kaizu in the 8th month in return for assistance at Numata against the Hôjô. In the intercalary 8th month (int. 8) he defeated a Tokugawa army sent to chastise him near Ueda. Also, the Hôjô failed to bring down Numata, which was held by Masayuki's uncle, [[Yasawa Yoritsuna]]. Masayuki asked [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi]] to intervene [fn] and finally made peace with the Tokugawa by sending his elder son [[Sanada Nobuyuki|Nobuyuki]] as a hostage to Hamamatsu.
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In [[1589]] Hideyoshi arbitrated the dispute over Numata, and gave it to the Hôjô, but let the Sanada keep [[Nagurumi castle]] and the Azuma district of Kôzuke, and also gave them part of the Ina district of  Shinano as a replacement for Numata. However, in the eleventh month the commander in Numata, attacked and took Nagurumi castle. Hideyoshi immediately announced he would attack the Hôjô, and the next year carried out the [[Odawara Campaign]]. Masayuki participated by attacking Hôjô forts in Kôzuke and saw his territories increased somewhat as a result. Numata was given to his elder son Nobuyuki, however.
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In [[1600]] during the [[Sekigahara campaign]] Masayuki and his two sons accompanied the Tokugawa on their march against Uesugi Kagekatsu, but [[Ishida Mitsunari]]’s call to arms of 7/17 reached them in Shimotsuke. Masayuki was furious that he had not been informed beforehand,[3] but he and Nobushige declared for the 'western' cause and returned to Ueda, though Nobuyuki joined the Tokugawa camp, probably with his father’s encouragement to preserve the family whichever side won. Masayuki and Nobushige were besieged in Ueda by [[Tokugawa Hidetada]] but succesfully resisted the Eastern forces, doing so in such a staunch manner that Ueda is considered one of the 'classic' sieges of Japanese history.
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Having won control of the country, at the end of the year, Tokugawa Ieyasu banished both Masayuki and Yukimura to Kudoyama of Kôyazan in [[Kai province]]. Nobuyuki, who had been given Ueda, supported them, but Masayuki often complained of debt.  Apparently thought he would soon be pardoned, but that was not to be, and he died in 1611.
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Yukimura would become the major figure on the Toyotomi side during the [1614]-[1615] [[Osaka Campaign]], while Nobuyuki, who was later transfered to Matsushiro in NW Shinano, would live into his 90's, and his descendents ruled there until the Restoration.
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Masayuki is considered one of the most skilled samurai commanders of the later Sengoku Period, and foul play has traditionally been suspected in his death.
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[1]Letter from [Hojo Ujikuni|Hôjô Ujikuni] to Masayuki dated 1582/3/12 ([Sanada Family Material], p. 57).
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[2]Letter from Hideyoshi to Masayuki dated 1585/10/17 ([Sanada Family Material], p. 84).
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[3]Letter from Mitsunari to Masayuki dated 1600/7/30 ([Sanada Family Material], p. 94).
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==References==
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{{saref}}
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[[Category:Samurai]][[Category:Sengoku Period]]
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