Ōta Dōkan (太田 道灌;Japanese pronunciation:[oː.ta(|)doꜜː.kaɴ],[1] 1432 - August 25, 1486), also known asŌta Sukenaga (太田 資長),[2] was a Japanesesamurai lord, poet andBuddhist monk. He took thetonsure as a Buddhist priest in 1478, and he also adopted theBuddhist name, Dōkan, by which he is known today.[3] Dōkan is best known as the architect and builder ofEdo Castle (now theImperial Palace) in what is today modernTokyo; and he is considered the founder of the castle town which grew up around thatŌnin era fortress.
TheŌta clan originated in 15th-centuryMusashi Province.[4] They claimed descent fromMinamoto no Yorimasa, and through that branch of the Minamoto they claimed kinship with theSeiwa-Genji.[5]
The feudal progenitor of the clan name,Ōta Sukekuni, established himself at Ōta inTanba Province, and he adopted this location name as his own. He traced his lineage as a fifth-generation descendant of Yorimasa.[5]
In a special context created by theTokugawa shogunate, the Ōta clan were identified astozama or outsiders, in contrast with thefudai or insiderdaimyō clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawas.[4]
In, 1638,Ōta Sukemune, the grandson ofŌta Yasusuke, was grantedNishio Domain inMikawa Province; and then, in 1645, he and his family was transferred toHamamatsu Domain (35,000koku) inTōtōmi Province. Yasusuke's descendants were moved several times by shogunate decree, residing successively in 1687 atTanaka Domain inSuruga Province, in 1703 atTanakura Domain inMutsu Province, and in 1728 atTatebayashi Domain inKōzuke Province.[5] Then, in the period spanning the years 1746 through 1868, this branch of the Ōta clan established itself atKakegawa Domain (53,000koku)[6] in Tōtōmi.[4]
The head of this clan line was ennobled as a "Viscount" in the Meiji period.[5]
Although born into theŌta clan—and claimed by the Ōta as a clan celebrity—Dōkan served as a vassal of the Ōgigayatsu branch of theUesugi clan which occupied land in theKantō region ofHonshū.
Dōkan is credited with designing and building Edo Castle forUesugi Sadamasa [ja] (1443–1494) over the fortificationsEdo Shigenaga had earlier built.[7] Work on the defensive walls and moats began in 1457; and he took the name Dōkan the following year.
ŌgigayatsuUesugi Mochitomo orderedŌta Michizane and Dōkan to construct fortifications atKawagoe in 1457.[8]
As a military strategist, he is reputed to have been an effective tactician; but political intrigues can be as deadly as any battle. Despite years of distinguished service, the Uesugi clan leader proved fickle. Dōkan met an untimely end atUesugi Sadamasa [ja]'s home inSagami (modern-dayKanagawa) after he was falsely accused of disloyalty during a period when the Uesugi family struggled through an internal clan conflict.[5] Hisdeath poem is as follows:
Kakaru toki
sakoso inochi no
oshikarame
kanete nakimi to
omoishirazuba
Had I not known
that I was dead
already
I would have mourned
the loss of my life.
Following his death, the castle was then abandoned until it was taken over by Ieyasu in 1590.[9]
Dōkan was also well-read in classical (Heian period) literature; and like other samurai of his time, Dōkan was said to have been a skilled poet, but only fragments attributed to him have survived.
Dōkan is also credited with having selected the site of theHikawa Shrine, which is dedicated toSugawara no Michizane, thekami of poetry and scholarship. Hikawa Shrine is located very near Edo Castle.
Dōkan's residence in Kamakura becameEishō-ji, a Buddhist temple.[10] The temple complex was founded byOkaji, a daughter ofŌta Yasusuke who would have been one of Dōkan's great-great-grandsons. Okaji was one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's attendants, and she later became a foster mother toTokugawa Yorifusa (1603–61), the founder of the Mito branch of the Tokugawa family. After Ieyasu's death, Okatsu became a nun, taking the name Eishoin. The third shōgun,Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604–51), granted her the property her ancestors had once owned. In 1636, Eishoin had a temple built and she invited a daughter of Yorifusa to join her. Eisho-ji's prosperity helped preserve the memory of the 15th century ancestor who once lived in the same place.[11]
In the late 16th century, Dōkan's Edo Castle was chosen as the new home ofTokugawa Ieyasu, who had been persuaded byToyotomi Hideyoshi to transfer the seat of his clan holdings into the Kantō. With the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in the early 17th century, Edo Castle became the center of the shogunate government. When the shogunate was displaced in theMeiji Restoration in the late 19th century, the newly named Tokyo became an Imperial capital with an Imperial Palace rising from the former shōgun's stronghold. Every October 1, modernTokyo celebrates the anniversary of its founding, which becomes a festival in honor of the memory of the samurai who would become honored as the founder of a great city.
The city ofIsehara celebrates Dōkan's contributions to the area with the annual Dōkan festival each summer.
Dōkan's 15th century poetic description of what was once just a fortified hill on the Sumida River near Edo Bay would become the basis formetropolitan Tokyo GovernorRyokichi Minobe's 1971 re-election slogan: "Give Tokyo back its blue sky!"[12]
The abode of mine |
Instead of stone walls, the defense works around the 15th-century castle were only grassy embankments, and the structures inside them were not grand. The initial enclosure which served as the castle's core area, the space which would have been Dōkan'shon-maru, was modestly sized; but the moats were extensive for that time period. These moats and their locations would figure prominently in the serial phases of construction and development which followed.[13]
Dōkan is also credited with diverting the Hira River east at Kandabashi to create theNihonbashi River.[3]
Celebrations attending the 500th Anniversary of Greater Tokyo illuminated parts of the story of Dōkan's life and achievements; and since that time, he has remained a well-known figure in modern popular culture.[14]
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