Letter by Kutami Shigenori
- Person
-
作者朽網鎮則
- Date
-
制作年 AD16
- Title
- クタミシゲノリヒツショジョウ
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
Kutami Shigenori (years of birth/date unknown) was a warrior of the Momoyama Period. He was the son of Kutami Akiyasu (?-1584), the vassal serving the Otomo clan. He had a secret passion for tea ceremony, and after entering the Buddhist priesthood, he adopted the name of Sosaku. When Lord Otomo headed for Hyuga (Miyazaki Prefecture) in the campaign of 1578, Akiyasu and Shigenori (a father-son alliance) did not join the dispatched army. In 1580, the Ohtomo clan surrendered to the Shimazu clan. When the Shimazu family invaded Bungo (Oita Prefecture), they were defeated by the army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98), who had resolved to destroy this powerful clan in Kyushu (the southernmost island of Japan). After the Shimazu family’s surrender, Shigenori was said to have fled to the mainland of Japan, but nothing is known of him thereafter. This letter is addressed to Sen no Shoan (1546-1614), the son of Sen no Rikyu (1522-91). As it is signed “Sosaku,” it was written after Shigenori retired into the priesthood, perhaps close to his later years when he associated with Shoan. When Shoan’s father, Rikyu, was ordered to commit the ritual suicide of seppuku (belly slashing) due to his irking the most powerful ruler of the country, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Shoan fled to Aizu-Wakamatsu and lived under the protection of Gamo Ujisato (1556-95). Later, he was acquitted with Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) speaking on his behalf in 1594. This letter describes how Shoan was called into service by Hideyoshi at his Fushimi Castle to attend to matters of ceremonial tea and was allowed to live in the old house that belonged to his father. The construction of Fushimi Castle began in 1592, and it slowly transformed into a grandiose structure. This letter is an interesting reminder that Rikyu had a residence in Fushimi. The free and uninhibited hand, written at lightning speed, has resulted in exquisite beauty that defies description.
尚々御取紛 たるへく候間以貴面可申 貴待入ましく候今朝御使者之由令他行事候扨々只今承候昨日伏見へ珍重々々一身之大慶被遂御出仕御仕合能殊更不過之申候利休之御宿被給候由誠／＼珍重々々我等式帰宅不得候程近候間又一入存申候定而御普請等可有之候間随分可申付候御用之事等可承景様も昨朝令御帰宅候爰元用所等仕舞ゆる／＼と可申談候恐惶謹言廿七日少庵尊老下宗策
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- Letter by Kutami Shigenori
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Quantity 1幅
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