Matsunaga Hisahide - The Ultimate Villain?
Devious Schemer, Wanton Destroyer, or Victim of Character Assassination?
The Sengoku period daimyo Matsunaga Hisahide is remembered as an infamous schemer, an evil, withered and wrinkled devious character, a wonton destroyer of property and lives, the ultimate villain. Even today, in modern plays, TV dramas, movies, and in traditional woodblock prints, Matsunaga Hisahide is depicted in this way, however, he was just 67-years-old when he died, apparently a tall, handsome man, well educated and a patron of the gentler arts.
Born in 1510, Hisahide was a retainer of Miyoshi Chokei, Lord of Awa and Settsu, and one of the most powerful men of his time. Hisahide was much trusted by the Miyoshi, and acted as clan representative and later governor at the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Between 1561 and 1564, three of Chokei’s brothers, and his son and heir Yoshioki died or were murdered under suspicious circumstances. Whether Hisahide actually had any part in their deaths will never be known or proven, but what is known is that the deaths, rumored to have been at the hands of Hisahide, paved the way for Hisahide to claim his master, Chokei’s, power and domains in 1564.
The Miyoshi clan had long held power over the shogunate, making the generations of Ashikaga Shogun nothing but puppets, with the Miyoshi Triumvirate (Miyoshi Nagayuki, Miyoshi Masayasu and Iwanari Tomomichi) pulling the strings. When the shogun Yoshiteru attempted to rid himself of the Miyoshi, they turned on him, sending joint troops under Matsunaga Hidehisa to the shogun’s palace, forcing the shogun to commit seppuku, and be replaced by the infant Yoshihide. Not long afterwards, the Miyoshi and Matsunaga Hidahide took to fighting, and in 1566 during a battle between the Miyoshi and Hisahide’s troops, the Great Buddha Hall of the ancient Todaiji, a temple in Nara burned down. Hisahide was rumored to have started the needless blaze.
When the warlord Oda Nobunaga was increasing his presence in Kyoto, Matsugana Hisahide wisely submitted to the man, and in doing so presented Nobunaga with a renowned and treasured tea implement. He then continued to serve Nobunaga well for a number of years, however by 1573, he is said to have conspired with the Miyoshi against Nobunaga!
Siege
In 1577 Nobunaga’s son, Nobutada, led troops against Hisahide attacking the Matsunaga held mountaintop Shigisan Castle, on the borders of Yamato and Kawachi Provinces (modern-day Ikoma, Nara Prefecture). Defeated but defiant the famed tea masterHisahide first destroyed his beloved tea bowl and implements so as to deny them to his enemy, Nobunaga, and then committed seppuku in the castle’s large four story yagura watchtower on November 19, 1577. Having committed seppuku, Hisahide’s son, Matsunaga Kojiro is said to have taken his father’s head and jumped off the mountain castles’ walls with his sword piercing his throat. His other son, Hisamichi, also committed suicide as the Oda troops stormed and destroyed the castle.
The reasons for his character assassination include his undermining of his former masters, reputed burning of the Todai-ji, the temple housing the Great Buddha of Nara, his alleged having had so many killed in his name, and the fact that he was vilified by the foreign missionaries at the time, when the Nichiren devotee Hisahide banned the Jesuits from Kyoto. He is said to have been responsible for the destruction of the Todai-Ji in Nara following his defeat when fighting the Miyoshi Clan in 1566.
Perhaps we, as contemporary followers of samurai history and culture, should take the time to look deeper into the lives and times of those who have been remembered as villains, such as Akechi Mitsuhide, Ishida Mitsunari etc. and look to see why they have been remembered this way. It is possible there is a grain of truth in the allegations against Hisahise, but then again, history is written by the victors, who are always more than happy to see their adversaries vilified.