Council of Five Elders
In the history of Japan, the Council of Five Elders (Japanese: 五大老, Hepburn: Go-Tairō) was a group of five powerful feudal lords (大名, daimyō) formed in 1598 by the Regent (太閤, Taikō) Toyotomi Hideyoshi, shortly before his death the same year.
They also acted as advisers for the Five Commissioners (五奉行, Go-Bugyō), which had also been established by Hideyoshi to govern Kyoto and the surrounding areas.
[7] 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.
[7] Realizing he would need to find a way to ensure the installation of his son as heir following his death, he called out to certain trusted daimyō to grant his final request:[10] Until Hideyori reaches adulthood, I am asking for the help of the people whose names are listed in this document.
[11][12] The members of the council were all daimyō chosen due to their relation to the taikō and the amount of power they held in the country.
Maeda Toshiie was also chosen due to the respect he had from the Toyotomi family and Hideyoshi wanted to prevent Ieyasu from holding absolute power among the Five Elders.
[8] During this time the Five Commissioners were Asano Nagamasa, Mashita Nagamori, Ishida Mitsunari, Natsuka Masaie and Maeda Gen'i.
[16] The chūro at this time were Nakamura Kazu-uji of Suruga, Ikoma Chikamasa of Takamatsu, and Horio Yoshiharu of Tottori.
The Five Commissioners, or overseers, were to strive to work together in the administration of public affairs, suppressing all petty jealousies and differences.
But at the same time if the opinion of the minority showed no signs of being dictated by any personal interests, it should be duly considered.
If any of the Commissioners or their followers found that unconsciously they had acted contrary to the orders given to them, they would immediately report this to their superior officers, who would then deal leniently with them.
[22] 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.
[19] Before the establishment of the council, Hideyoshi awarded the province of the Hojo to Ieyasu after the successful Odawara campaigns in the Kanto region.
[24] After the collapse of the Council, Ieyasu became the founder and first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, which effectively ruled Japan from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Ukita Hideie (Japanese: 宇喜多 秀家) was the daimyō of Bizen and Mimasaka Provinces (modern Okayama Prefecture).
At the age of 26, Ukita was elected to be one of the five elders when he returned from the Imjin war, also known as the Japanese invasions of Korea.
While he was an elder, he was also serving as a daimyō during the Warring States period (Japanese: 戦国時代 Sengoku Jidai).
While he was an elder, he also had a position as senior second rank (Japanese: 権大納言 Gon-Dainagon) and had the authority to pass his opinions on to the national government.
[26] Hideyoshi had made alliances with Kagekatsu because he had the potential power to attack Ieyasu from the Echigo province in the north.
[27] He was allied with Ishida Mitsunari at the Battle of Sekigahara and acted as the head general of the Western Army.
[7] Maeda Toshiie was given the order to raise Hideyori in Osaka Castle until he came of age to take his place as Hideyoshi's successor.
[33] Ieyasu was appointed by Hideyoshi to act as Regent (Japanese: 摂政 Sesshō) until Hideyori reached maturity and could take his place as leader.
[33] After Hideyoshi's death the Council of Five Elders issued an order for the Japanese army at the Korean Peninsula to return.
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.
[19] On the Article 6 of the Allegiance Document Ieyasu added the following statements: "No questions concerning landed estate will be dealt with during the minority of Hideyori.
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.
Ieyasu sent his granddaughter, Senhime to Osaka to marry Hideyori in order to stabilize the relationship between the two families.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was victorious against the Toyotomi clan, eliminating them completely, thus cementing his place as ruler of Japan.
[39] Ieyasu had Hideyori's son Kunimatsu, then 8 years old, killed at the Rokujō riverbed (Rokujō-Gawara) in Kyoto.
