At once a habitual schemer and a cultured man of tea, Matsunaga Hisahide came in some ways to embody the spirit of the 16th Century - albeit largely the worst qualities. His plots and the manner of his dying (in addition to the smashing of the tea item, it is said that he ordered his head be blown up to deny that to Oda as well) became the stuff of Edo dramas. An ardent Nicheren, Matsunaga was also vilified in contemporary western accounts of the day, especially after he banned the Jesuits from Kyôto in [[1565]]. | At once a habitual schemer and a cultured man of tea, Matsunaga Hisahide came in some ways to embody the spirit of the 16th Century - albeit largely the worst qualities. His plots and the manner of his dying (in addition to the smashing of the tea item, it is said that he ordered his head be blown up to deny that to Oda as well) became the stuff of Edo dramas. An ardent Nicheren, Matsunaga was also vilified in contemporary western accounts of the day, especially after he banned the Jesuits from Kyôto in [[1565]]. |