Tada Kasuke
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese farmer who led a failed appeal for lowered taxes in Azumidaira, a part of the Matsumoto Domain
under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate
. He was caught and executed along with twenty-seven farmers without trial. The rebellion has been called the Jōkyō Uprising
, or the Kasuke Uprising.
school of Neo-Confucianism
. In around 1680, he was fired as village head when authorities decided that he was too lenient on peasants. He had a wife named Otami, two sons, and three daughters. At the time of the uprising, the first-born son named Dempachi was twelve years old, and the second son named Sanzō was eight. ( Both of them were caught and executed, though neither of them had taken part in the incident.) In addition, Kasuke had an unmarried younger brother named Hikonojō. (He took part in the uprising, and was executed. Some people believe that he was engaged to Oshyun, the sixteen-year-old girl who took part in the uprising. She was also executed.)
raised taxes to a very high level. But Azumidaira had been hit by crop failure, and the tax rise was exorbitant. In the fall of that year, Tada Kasuke and a number of farmers’ leaders gathered at a local shrine, called Kumano Jinja (Kumano Shrine
), and held a series of meetings. They decided to appeal to the magistrate’s office in Matsumoto, though they fully understood that they were risking their lives in doing so. They wrote a letter of appeal of five articles, in which they asked for lowered taxes. On October 14, they hand delivered the letter to the magistrate’s office outside Matsumoto Castle
. Tada Kasuke and his followers expected to carry out this mission peacefully. But when word spread that they were appealing, thousands of peasants gathered at Matsumoto Castle. (One scholar who disagrees with this notion claims that the leaders did intend to perpetrate an uprising.) Some peasants stormed shops, others committed robbery, and still others attacked wealthy merchants. The domain lord, Mizuno Tadanao, was away in Edo
at the time, and executives of the domain government had to deal with the situation themselves. After all, the tax rise in question had obviously been decided by the executives without consulting the lord. In order to settle the incident, the executives at Matsumoto Castle agreed to grant the farmers their wishes. On October 18, five executives signed documents promising that the taxes would be lowered. It seemed a peaceful end to a stormy incident. But a month later, Kasuke and his followers were arrested and the documents signed by the executives were confiscated. The farmers were cheated by the authorities. Without trial, twenty-eight farmers were executed on November 22 (or Jan.5, 1687 by the solar calendar). Kasuke's last words were a passionate outcry for lowered taxes. The executions were witnessed by hundreds of citizens, which was the custom of those days. The scene of Kasuke's last moment made an enormous impact on the people.
, was ruling the Matsumoto Domain, the executed farmers were deemed as rebels. And then in 1725 the lord of the Mizunos at the time was dethroned after a dishonorable incident which he perpetrated at Edo Castle
. The Toda clan took over the Matsumoto Domain the following year.
The first evidence of the commemoration of Kasuke, or Gimin (martyr, in the non-religious sense) as he was referred to, was a household altar dedicated to Kasuke and other executed members of the Tadas founded on the grounds of the Tada homestead in 1735.
At around the same time, a stone pagoda inscribed with Buddhist scripture was erected to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the uprising. The stone (140 cm tall and 75 cm wide) stands in Niré, where Kasuke's right arm, Oana Zembei, had governed.
Kasuke was also given a kaimyō (afterlife name) soon after his death. The meaning of the kaimyō clearly shows how Kasuke was honored as a selfless person. The name was inscribed on his gravestone when it was erected in the Tada family cemetery many years later.
On the part of the Mizuno clan, they suffered a number of mishaps after the uprising. The final blow was the dethronement of Mizuno Tadatsune, Mizuno Tadanao's grandson. Fearing that those unfortunate incidents might be the karmic backlash of Kasuke's passion, the Mizuno family had a statue of Kasuke sculptured and reverently placed it inside the homestead.
In 1786 the household altar honoring Kasuke and others was renovated to observe the centennial anniversary of the uprising. A hundred years later in the Meiji period
, the altar was moved out of the Tada homestead to a new site nearby and was expanded to a shrine. Kasuke's followers who had been executed were also enshrined there in 1880 to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary. This is the origin of Kasuke shrine.
) raged nationwide in the 1870s and 1880s during the Meiji period. Matsuzawa Kyūsaku from Azumidaira featured Tada Kasuke in his column in the newspaper, and went on to dramatize the story. Matsuzawa perceived Jōkyō Uprising as a model of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. Because he understood that what Kasuke had struggled for was the right to life
, though there was no such concept as human rights two hundred years before.
In 1898 the sculpture of Kasuke, along with some money, was donated to Kasuke shrine by the Mizuno family. The sculpture has been an object of worship ever since. The interesting thing about it is that Mizuno Tadanao was enshrined there on this occasion. The reason for his enshrinement is believed to be that the passage of two hundred years had assuaged the grief and bitterness on the part of the descendants of Kasuke and his followers. Besides, Mizuno Tadanao was widely believed to have been the victim himself in that he had been kept in the dark during and after the uprising. (Obviously, the lord consented to the executions of the farmers without the knowledge of the tax rise that had triggered the uprising.) The real culprits were the executives at Matsumoto Castle and the petty officials who were in charge of collecting taxes. The reasoning behind this was not very common, but not unheard of.
In 1960 Kasuke shrine was granted the status of religious institution as Jōkyō Gimin-sha (Jōkyō Gimin shrine) by the Association of Shinto Shrines
.
. The post-house of the station was remodeled after the shrine. A number of books were published and cassette tapes made about the uprising. There was a surge in public sentiment of desire for a memorial museum around this time.
In 1992, Azumino people founded a memorial museum in honor of the uprising. It was built right across the street from Jōkyō Gimin-sha. The museum is called Jōkyō Gimin Memorial Museum
. Two plaques stand on each side of the main entrance to the museum. One is inscribed with the 11th and 12th articles of the Constitution of Japan
. The other is inscribed with the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
. The inscriptions on the two plaques are both in Japanese and English, which clearly shows a global perspective of the founding fathers of the museum.
Matsumoto Domain (ed), Shimpu-tōki (The official record compiled by the Matsumoto Domain), 1724
TSUKADA Masakimi, Gimin Shiro ni Sakebu (Gimin Shouts at the Castle), Shinkyō Shuppan-bu, 1986
NAKAJIMA Hiroaki, Tampō "Azumino" (Investigating Azumino), Kyōdo Shuppan-sha, 1997 ISBN4-87663-113-1
HOSAKA Satoru, Hyakushō Ikki to Sono Sahō (Farmers' Uprising and Its Manners), Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 2002 ISBN 9784642055376
TANAKA Kaoru, Jōkyō Gimin Ikki no Jitsuzō (The Real Image of The Jōkyō Gimin Uprising), Shinmai Shoseki Shuppan Center, 2002 ISBN 4-88411-005-6
MIYAZAWA Hisanori, Jōkyō Gimin Kenshō no Sokuseki (Tracing the History of Commemoration of the Jōkyō Gimin), Jōkyō Gimin-sha Hōsankō, 2009
Matsumoto Domain
The ' was a Japanese feudal domain in Shinano Province . Home to a major strategic center in the form of Matsumoto Castle, it was ruled by various families during the course of its history, the Hotta among them.-List of Daimyo:...
under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
. He was caught and executed along with twenty-seven farmers without trial. The rebellion has been called the Jōkyō Uprising
Jokyo Uprising
The , or the Kasuke Uprising, was a large-scale peasant uprising that happened in 1686 in Azumidaira, Japan. Azumidaira at that time, was a part of the Matsumoto Domain under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate. The domain was ruled by the Mizuno clan at the time...
, or the Kasuke Uprising.
Family life
Tada Kasuke was born into a wealthy farmer’s family in the late 1630s. The Tada family homestead was surrounded by moats and mounds, which suggests the power and position they held. Traditionally the head of the family became the headman of Nakagaya village, and Kasuke took over the position when his father retired. He was an educated man, who was said to have been influenced by the Wang YangmingWang Yangming
Wang Yangming was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox...
school of Neo-Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
. In around 1680, he was fired as village head when authorities decided that he was too lenient on peasants. He had a wife named Otami, two sons, and three daughters. At the time of the uprising, the first-born son named Dempachi was twelve years old, and the second son named Sanzō was eight. ( Both of them were caught and executed, though neither of them had taken part in the incident.) In addition, Kasuke had an unmarried younger brother named Hikonojō. (He took part in the uprising, and was executed. Some people believe that he was engaged to Oshyun, the sixteen-year-old girl who took part in the uprising. She was also executed.)
Jōkyō Uprising
In 1686, the domain government of MatsumotoMatsumoto
Matsumoto is the 16th most common Japanese surname and the name of a city in Nagano Prefecture.-People:* Chizuo Matsumoto, a.k.a...
raised taxes to a very high level. But Azumidaira had been hit by crop failure, and the tax rise was exorbitant. In the fall of that year, Tada Kasuke and a number of farmers’ leaders gathered at a local shrine, called Kumano Jinja (Kumano Shrine
Kumano Shrine
A ' is a type of Shinto shrine which enshrines the three Kumano mountains: Hongū, Shingū, and Nachi . There are more than 3000 Kumano shrines in Japan, and each has received its kami from another Kumano shrine through a process of propagation called or...
), and held a series of meetings. They decided to appeal to the magistrate’s office in Matsumoto, though they fully understood that they were risking their lives in doing so. They wrote a letter of appeal of five articles, in which they asked for lowered taxes. On October 14, they hand delivered the letter to the magistrate’s office outside Matsumoto Castle
Matsumoto Castle
, also known as the because of its black exterior, is one of Japan's premier historic castles. It is located in the city of Matsumoto, in Nagano Prefecture and is within easy reach of Tokyo by road or rail....
. Tada Kasuke and his followers expected to carry out this mission peacefully. But when word spread that they were appealing, thousands of peasants gathered at Matsumoto Castle. (One scholar who disagrees with this notion claims that the leaders did intend to perpetrate an uprising.) Some peasants stormed shops, others committed robbery, and still others attacked wealthy merchants. The domain lord, Mizuno Tadanao, was away in Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
at the time, and executives of the domain government had to deal with the situation themselves. After all, the tax rise in question had obviously been decided by the executives without consulting the lord. In order to settle the incident, the executives at Matsumoto Castle agreed to grant the farmers their wishes. On October 18, five executives signed documents promising that the taxes would be lowered. It seemed a peaceful end to a stormy incident. But a month later, Kasuke and his followers were arrested and the documents signed by the executives were confiscated. The farmers were cheated by the authorities. Without trial, twenty-eight farmers were executed on November 22 (or Jan.5, 1687 by the solar calendar). Kasuke's last words were a passionate outcry for lowered taxes. The executions were witnessed by hundreds of citizens, which was the custom of those days. The scene of Kasuke's last moment made an enormous impact on the people.
Kasuke shrine
Several decades passed before people could openly commemorate and appreciate Tada Kasuke and others. For one thing, while the domain lord's family, the Mizuno clanMizuno clan
The was a Japanese clan which claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji branch of the Minamoto clan. In the Edo period, the Mizuno clan produced many men who were fudai daimyo serving the Tokugawa shogun, as well as countless families of hatamoto...
, was ruling the Matsumoto Domain, the executed farmers were deemed as rebels. And then in 1725 the lord of the Mizunos at the time was dethroned after a dishonorable incident which he perpetrated at Edo Castle
Edo Castle
, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...
. The Toda clan took over the Matsumoto Domain the following year.
The first evidence of the commemoration of Kasuke, or Gimin (martyr, in the non-religious sense) as he was referred to, was a household altar dedicated to Kasuke and other executed members of the Tadas founded on the grounds of the Tada homestead in 1735.
At around the same time, a stone pagoda inscribed with Buddhist scripture was erected to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the uprising. The stone (140 cm tall and 75 cm wide) stands in Niré, where Kasuke's right arm, Oana Zembei, had governed.
Kasuke was also given a kaimyō (afterlife name) soon after his death. The meaning of the kaimyō clearly shows how Kasuke was honored as a selfless person. The name was inscribed on his gravestone when it was erected in the Tada family cemetery many years later.
On the part of the Mizuno clan, they suffered a number of mishaps after the uprising. The final blow was the dethronement of Mizuno Tadatsune, Mizuno Tadanao's grandson. Fearing that those unfortunate incidents might be the karmic backlash of Kasuke's passion, the Mizuno family had a statue of Kasuke sculptured and reverently placed it inside the homestead.
In 1786 the household altar honoring Kasuke and others was renovated to observe the centennial anniversary of the uprising. A hundred years later in the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
, the altar was moved out of the Tada homestead to a new site nearby and was expanded to a shrine. Kasuke's followers who had been executed were also enshrined there in 1880 to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary. This is the origin of Kasuke shrine.
Kasuke shrine to Jōkyō Gimin shrine
Tada Kasuke and the Jōkyō Uprising were buried in oblivion before the Jiyū-Minken Undo (Freedom and People's Rights MovementFreedom and People's Rights Movement
The was a Japanese political and social movement for democracy in 1880s....
) raged nationwide in the 1870s and 1880s during the Meiji period. Matsuzawa Kyūsaku from Azumidaira featured Tada Kasuke in his column in the newspaper, and went on to dramatize the story. Matsuzawa perceived Jōkyō Uprising as a model of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. Because he understood that what Kasuke had struggled for was the right to life
Right to life
Right to life is a phrase that describes the belief that a human being has an essential right to live, particularly that a human being has the right not to be killed by another human being...
, though there was no such concept as human rights two hundred years before.
In 1898 the sculpture of Kasuke, along with some money, was donated to Kasuke shrine by the Mizuno family. The sculpture has been an object of worship ever since. The interesting thing about it is that Mizuno Tadanao was enshrined there on this occasion. The reason for his enshrinement is believed to be that the passage of two hundred years had assuaged the grief and bitterness on the part of the descendants of Kasuke and his followers. Besides, Mizuno Tadanao was widely believed to have been the victim himself in that he had been kept in the dark during and after the uprising. (Obviously, the lord consented to the executions of the farmers without the knowledge of the tax rise that had triggered the uprising.) The real culprits were the executives at Matsumoto Castle and the petty officials who were in charge of collecting taxes. The reasoning behind this was not very common, but not unheard of.
In 1960 Kasuke shrine was granted the status of religious institution as Jōkyō Gimin-sha (Jōkyō Gimin shrine) by the Association of Shinto Shrines
Association of Shinto Shrines
The is a religious administrative organization that oversees about 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. These shrines take the Ise Shrine as the foundation of their belief.The Association has five major activities:...
.
The tercentennial and the Jōkyō Gimin Memorial Museum
In 1986 the tercentennial anniversary of the uprising was observed with much enthusiasm. The nearest railroad station to Jōkyō Gimin-sha is Nakagaya Station on Ōito LineOito Line
The is a railway line which runs from Matsumoto Station in Nagano Prefecture to Itoigawa Station in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.There are two operators on the line: East Japan Railway Company operates the section south of Minami-Otari Station in Otari, Nagano Prefecture, and West Japan Railway...
. The post-house of the station was remodeled after the shrine. A number of books were published and cassette tapes made about the uprising. There was a surge in public sentiment of desire for a memorial museum around this time.
In 1992, Azumino people founded a memorial museum in honor of the uprising. It was built right across the street from Jōkyō Gimin-sha. The museum is called Jōkyō Gimin Memorial Museum
Jōkyō Gimin Memorial Museum
The Jōkyō Gimin Memorial Museum is a museum dedicated to the Jōkyō Uprising that occurred in Azumidaira, Japan in 1686 . The uprising, also called the Kasuke Uprising , is perceived to be a struggle for the right to life...
. Two plaques stand on each side of the main entrance to the museum. One is inscribed with the 11th and 12th articles of the Constitution of Japan
Constitution of Japan
The is the fundamental law of Japan. It was enacted on 3 May, 1947 as a new constitution for postwar Japan.-Outline:The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights...
. The other is inscribed with the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
. The inscriptions on the two plaques are both in Japanese and English, which clearly shows a global perspective of the founding fathers of the museum.
List of References
(In Japanese)Matsumoto Domain (ed), Shimpu-tōki (The official record compiled by the Matsumoto Domain), 1724
TSUKADA Masakimi, Gimin Shiro ni Sakebu (Gimin Shouts at the Castle), Shinkyō Shuppan-bu, 1986
NAKAJIMA Hiroaki, Tampō "Azumino" (Investigating Azumino), Kyōdo Shuppan-sha, 1997 ISBN4-87663-113-1
HOSAKA Satoru, Hyakushō Ikki to Sono Sahō (Farmers' Uprising and Its Manners), Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 2002 ISBN 9784642055376
TANAKA Kaoru, Jōkyō Gimin Ikki no Jitsuzō (The Real Image of The Jōkyō Gimin Uprising), Shinmai Shoseki Shuppan Center, 2002 ISBN 4-88411-005-6
MIYAZAWA Hisanori, Jōkyō Gimin Kenshō no Sokuseki (Tracing the History of Commemoration of the Jōkyō Gimin), Jōkyō Gimin-sha Hōsankō, 2009
- Jōkyō Gimin Memorial Museum http://www.anc-tv.ne.jp/~gimin/english.html