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According to some sources, Masashige was a Christian himself early in life, but turned from the religion around [[1620]]. He is said to have been close with the shogunal heir, [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], who then became shogun in [[1623]]. Iemitsu granted Masashige the 10,000 ''[[koku]]'' fief of Takaoka. Masashige then also gradually rose through the ranks of shogunate bureaucracy, eventually to the position of ''ômetsuke'' ("Inspector"), one of the heads of the shogunate's information networks. In that position, he visited [[Nagasaki]] on at least three occasions, including in 1640-[[1641]], when he helped oversee the relocation of the [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch East India Company's]] operations and residences to [[Dejima]].
According to some sources, Masashige was a Christian himself early in life, but turned from the religion around [[1620]]. He is said to have been close with the shogunal heir, [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], who then became shogun in [[1623]]. Iemitsu granted Masashige the 10,000 ''[[koku]]'' fief of Takaoka. Masashige then also gradually rose through the ranks of shogunate bureaucracy, eventually to the position of ''ômetsuke'' ("Inspector"), one of the heads of the shogunate's information networks. In that position, he visited [[Nagasaki]] on at least three occasions, including in 1640-[[1641]], when he helped oversee the relocation of the [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch East India Company's]] operations and residences to [[Dejima]].
Among his other duties and activities, Masashige frequently played a role in previewing or inspecting gifts the Dutch brought to present to the shogun; these included, among other things, a [[perspective box]] presented to the shogun in [[1647]] and a group of live [[birds of paradise]] presented to the shogun in [[1652]]. Masashige also purchased reading glasses, spyglasses, and other objects from the Dutch for his own personal interest or use on a number of occasions.
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