英語訳
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to the capital, and in the 15th year became senior among the senior councillors, and in the 1st month of the 16th year was granted an increase to 60,000 koku and transferred to Kawagoe Castle in Musashi Province. In the 9th month of the 20th year he was promoted to chamberlain, but in Shōhō 4 he was granted an additional 10,000 koku. After Iemitsu's death in Keian 4, he further assisted Shogun Ietsuna according to his [Iemitsu's] dying wishes and increasingly bore the weight of governing the realm, but he died on the 17th day of the 3rd month of Kanbun 2 at the age of sixty-seven. During Nobutsuna's tenure in office, there was the famous incident of Yui Shōsetsu, the construction of the Tamagawa Aqueduct, dealing with the aftermath of the great Edo fires, and other events. This was particularly the crucial period when the Tokugawa's foundation was first being established after they took control of the realm, so there were many various incidents. At the beginning of the third shogun's reign, Doi Toshikatsu was still among the senior councillors wielding great influence, and after Iemitsu's death when the fourth shogun Ietsuna took power, that Hoshina Masayuki took on the role of advisor. However, at that time this Nobutsuna, together with Sakai Masakatsu, Abe Tadaaki and others, mostly handled the brunt of affairs, and among them Nobutsuna's intelligence and decisiveness had already gained established recognition in the world. However, the famous prohibition of junshi (following one's lord in death) and the return of hostages that the various daimyo had provided to the shogunate, as well as melting down the Great Buddha of Kyoto to mint coins, were all implemented after Nobutsuna's death, but whether these were actually planned by Nobutsuna during his lifetime remains questionable, though generally these too are all transmitted as Nobutsuna's achievements.
To fully describe Nobutsuna's career and character would require more than a separate volume, as I mentioned before, but here I would like to briefly mention one more thing for reference: the Ōkōchi Viscount house preserves many relics, including the armor that Nobutsuna wore when he went to the Shimabara campaign. Also, an ancestor of the house steward Kohata Nobue, who was called Sukeemon, served Nobutsuna closely, and when Nobutsuna was constantly in the shogunate's palace and had business to attend to, he would write instructions on paper slips and hand them over - dozens of these are also preserved in the same house. Among these are quite a few that give one the feeling of seeing Nobutsuna's character right before one's eyes. I cannot introduce them all here for lack of time, but these
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items are all important historical materials, and I think you should all definitely take a look at them for Nobutsuna research.
Now, after Nobutsuna became an adopted son, in the 12th month of Genna 6, Masatsuna's biological son Toshitsuna was born. Originally Nobutsuna was first called Masanaga, but at this point he changed his name to Nobutsuna and made clear his intention for independence. **[Marginal note: Nobutsuna establishes a separate house]** So when Masatsuna died in the 7th month of Keian 1, Nobutsuna voluntarily requested not to receive Masatsuna's domain inheritance, and divided it between Masatsuna's second son Takatsuna and fourth son Suetsuna (Masatsuna's eldest son Toshitsuna and third son Masamitsu had already died at this time). **[Marginal note: The Ōkōchi clan of Ōtaki]** This Takatsuna succeeded Masatsuna, so his descendants were lords of Ōtaki in Hitachi Province before the Restoration, and after the Restoration they too returned to the Ōkōchi surname and are currently viscounts. Actually, this is Lord Masatoshi's birth family, and the current master of this house, Lord Seirin, is Lord Masatoshi's younger brother. Now returning to the beginning of the story, at this time Nobutsuna petitioned that since the Matsudaira surname would be inherited by Takatsuna, he himself wanted to return to the Ōkōchi surname, but by special decree of the shogun he continued to bear the Matsudaira name. For this reason, the present Ōkōchi clan considers this Nobutsuna as the first-generation ancestor. Nobutsuna had five sons: Terutsuna, Yoshitsuna, Nobusada, Nobuoki, and Katatsuna. Terutsuna succeeded him, but Nobuoki also advanced through the ranks to reach 32,000 koku. **[Marginal note: The Ōkōchi clan of Takasaki]** His descendants also gradually received increases, so that house was the lord of Takasaki in Kōzuke Province before the Restoration, and similarly now bears the Ōkōchi surname and holds the rank of viscount.
**Ōkōchi Terutsuna** Now Terutsuna, the eldest son who succeeded Nobutsuna, was quite a remarkable person. He was born on the 5th day of the 8th month of Genna 6, and on the 28th day of the 12th month of Kan'ei 12, at age sixteen, he was appointed to Junior Fifth Rank and made Kai-no-kami. Two years later, in the 12th month of Kan'ei 14, he accompanied his father Nobutsuna in the Shimabara suppression campaign. However, this person had quite different characteristics from his father Nobutsuna, so afterwards he did not take on prominent official roles to participate in national politics like his father
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