Wakisaka Yasutada (脇坂安董)
Yasutada WAKISAKA was a feudal lord and a member of shogun's council of elders during the late Edo period. He was the eighth lord of the Tatsuno Domain of Harima Province. He was also the tenth head of the Wakisaka family of the Tatsuno Domain.
Career
He was born as the second son of the seventh lord of the Tasuno Domain Yasuchika WAKISAKA, and became the heir of the family since his older brother Yasunori died young. After his father retired in 1784, he succeeded his father. Later, he worked as the magistrate of temples and shrine twice, and as a member of shogun's council of elders. The Wakisaka clan was formerly related to a nonhereditary feudal lord, who applied for the rank of hereditary feudal lord, i.e., applied to the goverment for raising of the clan from a nonhereidtary feudal lord to a hereditary feudal lord, but there was a custom that prevented the descendants of nonhereditary feudal lord family from being appointed to an official position in the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun). However, since Yasutada was a good speaker as well as assertive and brave, he garnered the attention of the shogun Ienari TOKUGAWA and was appointed to the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines as an exception in 1791.
During this period, Yasutada passed judgements on two incidents, one was the Enmei-in Temple (present-day, in Arakawa Ward) in Yanaka (present-day Taito Ward) Incident and the other one was the Incident that Disturbed the Three Deeds.
The Yanaka Enmei-in Temple Incident was a scandal of female criminal that involved a servant of O-oku (the inner halls of Edo Castle where the wife of the Shogun and her servants reside). The chief priest of the Enmei-in Temple at that time was called Nichijun, and it was theorized that he was an illegitimate child of the Kabuki actor, Kikugoro ONOUE (a different theory exists as well). There was a rumor that Nichijun had affairs with the maids of O-oku; so in 1803, Yasutada hired a female spy to look into the incident carefully. Then he raided the Enmei-in Temple to arrest Nichijun and other apostates on July 14. Yasutada gained sudden fame after Nichijun was sentenced to death on September 14.
The Sango Wakuran Controversy was an incident where disputes occurred over the creed of the Nishihongan-ji Temple. Traditionally the bakufu did not get involved in conflicts relating to creed and religious doctrine, but in this case, a disturbance was developped bigger as a group of believers of the sect were to come to the head temple, the matter was brought before the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines. Since Yasutada was acquainted with Buddhism doctorin after being influenced by Kagetsu-in Jinrei of the Shinshu sect Otani school, he conducted a detailed investigation. He conducted hearings with both parties, and a decision was made on August 24, 1806, which said the Nishihongan-ji Temple should be punished for not controlling the doctrine. However considering that this was a conflict in relation to religious creed, the Nishihongan-ji Temple only faced minor punishment which involved closing the temple for one hundred days. The Wakisaka's decision was praised as being excellent by the head of the shogun's council of elders, Nobuaki MATSUDAIRA (the lord of the Mikawa-Yoshida Domain).
Although Yasutada proved himself to be an able person, he lost his position as the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines and resigned due to slander which was created based on his relation to his mistress.
After that, Yasutada focused on ruling the Tatsuno Domain, and sixteen years later, he was reappointed the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines by the Shogun, Ienari. Some people outside and inside of the bakufu, did not agree that Yasutada should be appointed as the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines. There was one theory that Yasutada was appointed because Ienari was fed up with the continual scandals caused by the O-oku maids following the Enmei-in Temple incident, and that Yasutada was expected to investigate and solve the issue. In fact, some people in temples and shrines involved with these scandals, were afraid of Yasutada's return.
There was a lampoon which went around Edo saying, 'Monks were shocked to see marten again' ('marten' means Wakisaka, please refer to the chapter of "Yasuharu WAKISAKA" for the reason.)
However, for some unknown reason Yasutada kept quiet, and did not deal with the corruption of public morals in the temples and shrines.
On the other hand, from the Bunsei era, there was a conflict within the Sengoku clan in the Izushi Domain of the Tajima Province, especially between the factions of the two chief retainers Sakyo SENGOKU and Miki SENGOKU over the issue concerning the family succession and the rule of the domain. In 1835, Utata KAMIYA, a feudal retainer of the Miki group, left the domain and pretended to be a begging Zen priest staying in Edo, waiting for an occasion to appeal the injustice by Sakyo to the bakufu; however, Sakyo made a quick move to bring the head of the shogun's council of elders, Yasuto MATSUDAIRA, to his side and had Yasuto order the South town Magistrate of Edo, Masanori TSUTSUI, to arrest Kamiya.
However, it was the Temple's responsibility to regulate begging Zen priests, and the reason was not clear as to why Kamiya changed his outlook to pretend to be the begging Zen priest, whether he had religious intentions or had another thought. This incident was then examined in the conference chamber, which was structured by the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines, the town magistrate, and the Magistrate, and Shogun Ienari ordered Yasutada to exclusively control the case.
This incident was concluded with the help of careful investigation by Yakichi KAWAJI (later called Toshiakira KAWAJI), an investigator of the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines, such that Sakyo was imprisoned, the Izushi Domain was reduced its territory by thirty thousand koku, and Yasuto MATSUDAIRA, a member of shogun's council of elders, lost his position. (the Sengoku Disturbance)
After this incident, Yasutada was promoted to the rank of the assistant to the shogun's chosen successor and was appointed as the aide of Shogun's successor, Iesada TOKUGAWA; furthermore, he was promoted to the assistant in the shgun's palace. Despite his successful promotion, he died while he was the assistant. He dided at the age of 74. Since he died suddenly, there was a rumor that he was killed by poisoning. His family estate was succeeded by his oldest son, Yasuori. Incidentally, Yasuori also became a member of shogun's council of elders.
Chronicle (History of jofficial rank)
He was born on June 30, 1767.
On May 31, 1784, he succeeded his family estate. He became the lord of the domain.
He received Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade on January 14, 1786. He was appointed the governor of Awaji Province.
He was appointed as an official in charge of the ceremonies on May 7, 1790.
He had an additional position of the Magistrate of Temple and Shrines on September 25, 1791.
He was promoted to Junior Forth Rank, Lower Grade and became the Senior Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Central Affairs on November 7, 1804.
On November 4, 1813 he was relieved of the position of an official in charge of ceremonies.
He resigned the position of the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines on January 3, 1814.
On November 20, 1829, he was reappointed to the position of the Magistrate of Temples and Shrines and an official in charge of ceremonies.
He was promoted to the rank of the assistant to the shogun's chosen successor on April 1, 1836, he was also appointed as a chamberlain.
He became a member of shogun's council of elders on August 9, 1837.
He died on April 15, 1841.