Kii was a rich region of over 500,000 koku, but it was still in debt and had a lot to pay back to the shogunate.

Nonetheless, great financial debt which the domain had owed to the shogunate since his father's and even grandfather's time continued to burden the finances.

What made things worse was that in 1707, a tsunami destroyed and killed many in the coastal areas of Kii Province.

Yorimasa decided that he could not rely on conservative Confucianists like Arai Hakuseki in Edo and did what he could to stabilize Kii Domain.

Still, they remained prominent until the end of Tokugawa rule, and some later shōguns were chosen from the Hitotsubashi line.

Since the beginning of the Edo period, it was quite difficult for smiths to make a living and to be supported by daimyōs, because of the lack of funds.

The four winners who emerged were all great masters, Mondo no Shō Masakiyo (主水正正清), Ippei Yasuyo (一平安代), the 4th generation Nanki Shigekuni (南紀重国) and Nobukuni Shigekane (信国重包).

Yoshimune also ordered the compilation of Kyōhō Meibutsu Chō (享保名物帳), listing the best and most famous swords all over Japan.

[4] Yoshimune's relaxation of the rules may have been influenced by a series of lectures delivered before him by the astronomer and philosopher Nishikawa Joken.

[4] Engravement or official sanction of Chinese medical volume Taiping Huìmín Héjì Júfāng 『太平恵民和剤局方』 appears to have happened around this time.

In 1745, Yoshimune retired, took the title Ōgosho and left his public post to his oldest son.