英語訳
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and later served Ieyasu and handled tax matters. However, Masatsuna was born on the 12th day of the 6th month of Tenshō 4 in Nagae village, Tōtōmi Province. From the age of seventeen he was employed close to Ieyasu, and by his command succeeded Matsudaira Jinzaemon-no-jō Masatsugu. This Jinzaemon-no-jō was from the Nagasawa branch of the Matsudaira clan, whose ancestors, as previously mentioned, descended from Matsudaira Izumi-no-kami Nobumitsu, making them so-called collateral branches of the Tokugawa house. Therefore, they were quite an important family line at the time. This Masatsuna in particular had many noteworthy accomplishments, as he was most skilled in administrative affairs. From the time when Ieyasu still held only the eight Kantō provinces until he finally pacified the realm, all of the Tokugawa financial matters were handled by this one person. Moreover, without any delays, he was able to support the economy constantly during times of military activity, so his achievements were truly great. I think he was truly the Xiāo Hé of the Tokugawa house. In his later years, Itami Harima-no-kami Yasukatsu was added to assist him, but eventually Masatsuna also aged and retired. On the 3rd day of the 3rd month of Kan'ei 19, the position of accounting head (kanjō-gashira) was first established, with the former Harima-no-kami, Sakai Kii-no-kami Tadayoshi, and Sugiura Kura-no-suke Masatsuna-tomo appointed to handle these matters. In reality, this was work that Masatsuna alone had been handling for a long time. For these reasons, the early Tokugawa financial system can be seen as almost entirely planned by this person. Among his accomplishments, what I particularly want to relate is his forestry projects.
Among his forestry projects, the most famous was planting cedars on Mount Hakone and Mount Nikkō, but the Nikkō forestry project is particularly worthy of study. As you know, Tokugawa Ieyasu died on the 17th day of the 4th month of Genna 2, and the shogunate decided to build his mausoleum at Mount Nikkō in Shimotsuke Province, immediately beginning construction, which was completed in the 3rd month of the following year. The various lords competed to donate all manner of things regardless of expense, but at that time Masatsuna had only a small stipend of about 4,670 koku, so he could not possibly donate goods like the great lords. Instead,
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he could do nothing significant. Rather than this, he thought it would be far more beneficial for posterity to plant cedar saplings on Mount Nikkō and along its approaches and donate these. So he began this forestry project, which was truly a great undertaking. In fact, it took about twenty years to complete. However, Masatsuna subsequently received an increase in territory from Hidetada in the 7th month of Kan'ei 2, bringing his total to 22,120 koku with lands in Mikawa, Sagami, and Musashi provinces. This must have greatly facilitated the financing of this forestry project. In any case, for one minor lord to accomplish such a great undertaking is truly admirable from today's perspective. When you visit that area today, you can see countless ancient cedar trees growing majestically not only along both sides of the road from Utsunomiya City to Mount Nikkō but throughout the Nikkō mountains. If these were calculated in terms of monetary value, how much would they be worth? It is truly incalculable, and who knows how much more valuable they are today compared to the gold, silver, and treasures donated at that time. Of course, for this forest to flourish as it has today, successive generations of descendants have continuously maintained and replanted without neglect, which was no easy task. I think such forest landscapes are rarely seen elsewhere. A stone monument relating to this forestry project fortunately still remains beside the Yamasuga Bridge at Mount Nikkō, and the full text of that monument is as follows:
"From Yamasuga Bridge at Mount Nikkō in Shimotsuke Province to Ogura village in Tsuga District of the same province, Ōsawa village in Kawachi District of the same province, and Ōkuwa village in the same district of the same province, for over twenty years planted cedars along the roadside left and right and in the mountains for over ten ri, humbly donated to Tōshō-gū.
1st year of Keian, year of the earth rat, 17th day of 4th month, Junior Fifth Rank, Matsudaira Uemon-no-tayū Minamoto Masatsuna"
Also, at the same time, similar stone monuments were erected on the three highways to Kanuma, Utsunomiya, and Ōshū, but since I have not personally verified whether these monuments still exist today, I cannot say for certain. However, their full text is as follows:
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