Umezu Masakage

• Born: 1581
• Died: 1633

Umezu Masakage was a retainer in service to Kubota han, known chiefly for his role as sô yama bugyô, or "general mining magistrate."

Masakage was originally a rônin, who entered the service of the Satake clan of Kubota when his more educated and cultivated older brother, Umezu Noritada, was appointed Satake Yoshinobu's tea server. After successfully eliminating a treasonous karô (domain elder) at Yoshinobu's orders, he was elevated in status to one of the daimyô's closest advisors, and soon afterwards was named in 1612 administrator over the domain's mines.

As mines magistrate, he took a harsh stance against bandits and anything else which threatened the smooth operations and prosperity of the mine, but was relatively laissez-faire when it came to imposing controls on the people of the mining towns - this, too, was aimed at ensuring the productivity of the mines. His work also included procuring horses, hawks, and the like for the lord's use, as well as women (prostitutes, baijo) to work in the mining towns.

References

• Amy Stanley, Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan, UC Press (2012), 24, 28-29.