Feudal lords in Miso history
Are you interested in the stories of Feudal lords in Miso history?
They all lived in the civil war period.In Japan, the civil war period which lasted about a hundred years from the 15th century to the 16th century is very popular.
Maybe it is because of their lifestyle. The vivid lifestyle of the feudal lords who were always confronting the death never bores us.
However, we can never forget the important role Miso has played in their lifestyle.
As I mentioned in the Miso page, the high nutritional power of Miso has attracted more and more attention from feudal lords.
Among them, three major feudal lords, that is to say, Takeda Shingen, Date Masamune, and Tokugawa Ieyasu are especially known for their love for Miso.
They all made full use of Miso, not only to nourish their people, but also to bring prosperity to their territory.
By reading this article, you will soon understand that the feudal lords in Miso history are all very clever.
1) Takeda Shingen
Takeda Shingen encouraged the farmers on the roadside of his military expeditions to cultivate soybeans and produce Miso. Moreover, he always bought them at fairly handsome prices. Maybe this is one of the reasons why he is still very popular in the regions he used to govern.
In fact, this method brought him not only victories in wars, but also an industry in his territory. Incidentally, he governed the region called Kai (today’s Yamanashi and Nagano prefecture).
By the way, there was another very important meaning in this policy.
Although Japan is an island country, his territory did not face the sea. As a result, salt which was very precious at that time was far more precious in his territory. As I mentioned in the Japanese salt page, to keep salt in the protein is the best way to preserve it. Before the time this effect was scientifically testified, Shingen understood this mechanism and made full use of it.
2) Date Masamune
Date Masamune is well known for his huge storehouses of Miso (Miso- gura).
As well as Shingen, he always bought a quantity of Miso from farmers and merchants. It was mainly to prepare for the wars.
As he could always ensure Miso of good quality in abundance, samurai following Masamune always fighted very bravely. As a result, he formed a very strong army.
Unfortunately, he did not succeed in unifying the country (another Miso lover, Ieyasu , fulfilled it).
But the system Masamune established to gather Miso from all over his territory (today’s Miyagi prefecture) brought a big business. Later, they sold Miso to Edo (today’s Tokyo) in good quantity and earned huge amounts of money.
3) Tokugawa Ieyasu
Ieyasu is also known as a great Miso lover and he always encouraged his vassals to eat a lot of Miso.
For instance, When he invited guests, including aristocrats of high rank, he served quite often a series of dishes made with Miso.
Likewise, among the offerings form feudal lords, Ieyasu’s most favorite was the meat pickled with Miso.
As a side note, at that time, samurai ate meat frequently. But gradually they began to avoid eating it under the influence of Buddhism.
Ieyasu and Shizuoka
No one doubt that Tokugawa Ieyasu is a history maker in Japan. Without him, Japanese history must have become totally different.
He completely ended the civil war period which lasted from the end of 15th century to the end of the 16th and established Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo (today’s Tokyo). Surprisingly, this Shogunate lasted for around 260 years (1603-1867).
Although he was born in Okazaki (today’s Aichi prefecture), he spent quite a long time in the Shizuoka prefecture.
From the age of 6 to 17, he lived in Sumpu (today’s Shizuoka city) as a hostage. After going back to Okazaki, he governed there as a feudal lord for several years. Then he constructed his castle at Hamamatsu and Sumpu (both in Shizuoka prefecture).
In 1607, he handed the Shogun status to his son Hidetada and moved again to Sumpu. In Sumpu, he stayed until his death in 1616.
