Совет пяти старейшин при Тоётоми Хидэёси: управление феодальной Японией (1598–1600)

1598–1600 government in feudal Japan

In the history of Japan, the Council of Five Elders ([[:jp:五大老) was a group of five powerful feudal lords (大名) formed in 1598 by the Regent (太閤) Toyotomi Hideyoshi, shortly before his death the same year. While Hideyoshi was on his deathbed, his son, Toyotomi Hideyori, was still only five years old and as such Hideyoshi needed to create the council in order to ensure his heir would be able to succeed him after coming of age. They also acted as advisers for the Go Bugyō (Five Commissioners), which had also been established by Hideyoshi to govern Kyoto and the surrounding areas.

Hideyoshi had been slowly changing in demeanor as the invasions of Korea (in attempt to conquer both Korea and China) were failing. Hideyoshi himself had not joined the Korean Campaigns and assigned vassals in his command to head the campaign. He sent his final force of 140,000 to Korea in 1597, but the efforts were fruitless. Once Hideyori was born, he ordered Toyotomi Hidetsugu to commit ritual suicide on Mount Kōya, this causing Hideyoshi's only possible heir to be his infant son Hideyori. The people closest to Hidetsugu, such as his family and retainers, were also put to death. In 1595 Toyotomi Hideyoshi officially announced five laws and ordinances (Japanese: 御定五ヶ条 Onkite Gokajō) to maintain the stability of the regime and overcome the upheaval of politics after the removal of Hidetsugu. On the "fifteenth day of the seventh month", the senior daimyō under order gathered at Maeda Toshiie's residence in Fushimi to renew their pledge of loyalty to Hideyori. On the "fifth day of the eighth month", 13 days before his death (which took place on the 18th day of the 8th month of the third year of the Keichō era, Hideyoshi issued an order to the Elders stating that children of various generals shall go to Osaka Castle, once Hideyori has moved there. Hideyoshi's health started to degenerate after falling ill in the later half of 1598. These daimyō had also all served under Hideyoshi for many years in his house administration. Even before the creation of the council, Hideyoshi treated the five differently from other daimyō. One reason for this was the absence of a Toritsugi (Japanese: 取次). Toritsugi acted as mediators that went between the daimyō to help with the communication of orders. This allowed each daimyō to talk directly to Hideyoshi, and it also meant that Hideyoshi would not intervene in the business of the daimyō in ruling their own domain. For the Shimazu clan, Ishida Mitsunari was appointed as the toritsugi, which also meant that Mitsunari and/or Toyotomi had power to intervene in Shimazu's domain. Hideyoshi expected the daimyō under his control to govern their lands and serve military services. The larger the domains of the daimyō were, the more experienced those daimyō were at governing their lands. As such, Hideyoshi treated them differently than smaller daimyō, who needed Hideyoshi to intervene in local governance. In the 1588 Sword Hunt Policy (Japanese:刀狩 katanagari), it is assumed that Hideyoshi only ordered smaller class daimyō to enforce the policy. The larger daimyō followed even without orders, but Hideyoshi did not strictly expect them to enforce the policy. Initially the sword hunt was intended to confiscate weapons to restrict formation of military forces, ensuring that no one could take the country by force. Hideyoshi could rely on the large daimyō, who were experienced and equipped with large military forces, to suppress local powers if they rebelled. In this way, Hideyoshi's treatment of the larger daimyō, Tokugawa, Maeda, Mori, and Uesugi, was exceptional.

Hideyoshi also appointed the Five Commissioners (Japanese: Go Bugyō) who were tasked to oversee the "basic business of the realm"; while the Elders were tasked to make sure that Hideyori would succeed Hideyoshi. During this time the Five Commissioners were Asano Nagamasa, Mashita Nagamori, Ishida Mitsunari, Natsuka Masaie and Maeda Gen'i. The Elders had assistants known as chūro (Japanese: 中老) who acted as mediators, the Five Elders and the Five Commissioners. The chūro at this time were Nakamura Kazu uji of Suruga, Ikoma Chikamasa of Takamatsu, and Horio Yoshiharu of Tottori.

After the death of Hideyoshi, the five commissioners, including Ishida Mitsunari referred to Ieyasu and the other elders as Go bugyoshu (Japanese:御奉行衆) and referred to the five commissioners as Toshiyoridomo (Japanese:年寄共) on Kishomon. He purposely used the term Go bugyoshu to remind the elders that their job was to support Hideyori with their lives. On the other hand, Shimazu Yoshihisa referred to the five elders as Go rojushu (Japanese: 御老中衆) and Kato Kiyomasa called them the Nihon Gotoshiyorishu (Japanese: 日本御年寄衆). They both called the five commissioners Go bugyoshu (Japanese: 御奉行衆). People were calling them differently depending on their relationship with the five elders and the five commissioners, but there is no document that gives evidence that the Five Elders were actually called as Go Tairo. The word Tairo (Japanese: 大老) was the name of the highest position that was temporarily a higher position than Roju (Japanese: 老中), under the Tokugawa Shogunate. It is believed that the Five Elders were referred to as the Go Tairo after the title of Tairo was created in the Edo Period.

Tokugawa Ieyasu (Japanese: 徳川 家康) controlled eight provinces in the Kantō region surrounding Edo (present day Tokyo), and among the Five Elders, held the most power measured in koku. He was also entrusted by Hideyoshi with the order of Soufujirei (Japanese: 惣無事令) to take control of Kanto and Okuryogoku (Mutsu Province and Dewa Province) in 1587. After the Hidetsugu Incident (Japanese:秀次事件 Hidetsugu Jiken) in 1597, Ieyasu was appointed to act as Regent temporarily until Hideyori reached 15 years of age and requested him to reside in Fushimi. Before the establishment of the council, Hideyoshi awarded the province of the Hojo to Ieyasu after the successful Odawara campaigns in the Kanto region. This action demonstrated the power that Hideyoshi had over Ieyasu. Hideyoshi had made alliances with Kagekatsu because he had the potential power to attack Ieyasu from the Echigo province in the north. He was allied with Ishida Mitsunari at the Battle of Sekigahara and acted as the head general of the Western Army.

Kobayakawa Takakage (Japanese: 小早川 隆景) was a samurai and daimyō (feudal lord) during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama period. At first he fought against Hideyoshi as he was the one holding the power in the Mōri family, but after the Battle of Shizugatake, he decided to submit to Hideyoshi. Under Hideyoshi's rule, he was assigned to be in charge of Chikuzen province, which is modern day Fukuoka. Takakage handed over rule of the family to Hidetoshi (Hideaki) and retired, moved to Mihara. Takakage refurbished Najima Castle (Japanese: 名島城 Najima Jō) and made it his own residence. Kobayakawa died on June 12, 1597, at the age of 65. Due to the death of Kobayakawa in 1597, he is often excluded from the list of the Five Elders or referred as the 6th Elder. After his death his nephew, Mōri Terumoto, took his place on the council of Five Elders.

Hideyoshi had given ownership of Osaka castle to his son Hideyori in 1594, Hideyori was just one year old at the time. Tokugawa Ieyasu was also charged with the role of guardian of Hideyori, as well as to see to Hideyori being appointed to the role of Regent. Ukita Hideie was to be counted on as a loyal member of Hideyori's service.

Ieyasu was appointed by Hideyoshi to act as Regent (Japanese: 摂政 Sesshō) until Hideyori reached maturity and could take his place as leader. Uesugi Kagekatsu and Mōri Terumoto were to be informed and consulted on all political matters as advisers. The Elders were to deal with the administering of punishment to any person who broke the law. All monetary transactions were to be supervised by the Elders, and the elders were tasked with to setting up an account for Hideyori when he came of age.

After Hideyoshi's death the Council of Five Elders issued an order for the Japanese army at the Korean Peninsula to return. The Council feared disorder among Hideyoshi's troops in Korea if they were to be told of his death and so, his death was not told to the armies in order to preserve their morale. After the withdrawal of Japanese armies which followed a military stalemate, the final peace negotiations to mark the end of war continued for several years.

Ieyasu engaged his sons and daughters into political marriages which became a cause of disagreement between the Elders and Commissioners. Ieyasu married his son Tadateru to Date Masamune's daughter Irohahime. The cause for disagreement in these matters were due to statements in ”The wall writings of Osaka Castle" (Japanese: 大阪城中壁書 Osakajochu kabegaki) of 1595 that marriages would need the consultation of both Elders and Commissioners. The Commissioners called for Ieyasu's resignation on the grounds of these marriages. One of the retainers, Ishida Mitsunari, complained about this matter to Maeda Toshiie. Ieyasu insisted that it was not a big matter; and this issue was resolved by Horio Yoshiharu, who happened to be a friend of Ieyasu.

After the death of Hideyoshi, friction generated between the council members. Two factions formed, the Bunchiha (Japanese: 文治派; those who wished for a state governed by a specialized civil service) and the Bundanha (Japanese: 武断派; those in favor of a strong military authority); Tokugawa Ieyasu was part of the bundanha. One year after Maeda Toshiie died, Ieyasu saw his chance to take control. The death of Maeda Toshiie in 1599 made Ieyasu the most experienced of the Five Elders. Finally, due to the fact that Uesugi Kagekatsu had been illegally constructing and restoring forts, Ieyasu was able to justify going to battle which led to the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Following the Tokugawa victory at the Siege of Osaka in 1615, Ieyasu was not satisfied with destruction of Hideyori alone, but in order to make sure the Toyotomi clan would not be able to return to power in the future, he had as many as possible of the Toyotomi family killed, or in the case of Hideyori's daughter, placed in a nunnery. In the 31st episode of Sanadamaru, a brief explanation of why the Council of Five Elders didn't work out as Hideyoshi expected is explained and we can also see that Elders were referred as Otonashu(Japanese: 老衆). The drama also shows that early death of Maeda Toshiie had led to Ieyasu gaining more power, and Ishida Mitsunari's lack of popularity among the Toyotomi family caused a lot people to support Ieyasu during the Battle of Sekigahara.