Mikawa Monogatari (The Tale of Mikawa): Author, the Time of Creation, Autograph, and Manuscript Copies (Fragment of Book II)
https://doi.org/10.55105/2687-1440-2025-54-323-361
Abstract
The article examines a valuable source on the history of the Sengoku and early Edo periods, Mikawa Monogatari 三河物語 (The Tale of Mikawa), written by samurai Ōkubo Tadataka. Ōkubo, a family of hereditary vassals of Tokugawa (Matsudaira) house, played an important role in the rise of this house, whose original holdings were located in the western part of Mikawa Province. Tadataka, under the command of his brother Tadayo, participated in many military campaigns and battles, was acquainted with the Tokugawa warlords and Tokugawa Ieyasu himself.
The sources for Mikawa Monogatari were both the memoirs of Tadataka, who was an eyewitness to many of the events described in his work, and stories he heard from relatives and other vassals of the Tokugawa clan. In addition, he also turned to various written sources. The surviving three-book autograph represents the final version of Mikawa Monogatari, while most of the copies appear to reproduce the original, unfinished version of the text. Although the colophons in three books date the autograph to the 8th year of Genna (1622), in reality, the manuscript was probably completed later, between 1626 and 1632. Apparently, Tadataka began writing his work after 1615 and had prepared the first versions by 1622.
The Mikawa Monogatari recounts the history of the Tokugawa dynasty, glorifies the exploits of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and recounts the exploits of the Ōkubo clan’s descendants in the service of the Tokugawa. Tadataka intended his work to serve both a commemorative and a didactic function. In Mikawa Monogatari, its creator saw a means of maintaining proper ties between his descendants and the overlords of the Tokugawa house, he called on his children not to stop their faithful service under any circumstances. It can also be noted that Ōkubo Tadataka also addressed his work not only to his relatives, but also to samurai from other clans. This publication also includes a translation into Russian of a fragment of the book II of Mikawa Monogatari, which primarily tells of the wars of Tokugawa Ieyasu with daimyo Imagawa Ujizane, as well as of Ieyasu’s participation in the military campaigns of Oda Nobunaga.
About the Author
S. A. Polkhov
Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS
Россия
Россия
Polkhov Sviatoslav A., PhD in History, Senior Researcher at the Center for Japanese Studies
12, Rozhdestvenka St., Moscow, 107031
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Review
For citations:
Polkhov S.A. Mikawa Monogatari (The Tale of Mikawa): Author, the Time of Creation, Autograph, and Manuscript Copies (Fragment of Book II). Yearbook Japan. 2025;54:323-361. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.55105/2687-1440-2025-54-323-361
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