ABSTRACT
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND HIDEYOSHI AND IYEYAsu.-In his declining years, Hideyoshi became very wayward in conduct, and seems to have been as severe on Christianity as Nobunaga, his predecessor, was on Buddhism. But there were many Jesuits among his staff who were not without hope that though he often published very unfriendly ordinances against their religion, their master's prejudice would melt some day. When Iyeyasu laid siege to the castle of Osaka after his victory in the decisive battle of Sekigahara, the native Jesuits sympathized deeply with the remnants of Hideyoshi's retainers, so much so that Murayama Toan, Magistrate of Nagasaki, secretly helped the besieged party by sending arms and ammunition. It is, therefore, quite natural that when he became Shogun, Iyeyasu should have found himself in a position in which he could not be friendly toward the Jesuits, and, indeed, he wished to extirpate the Roman Catholic influence. But he found himself on the horns of a dilemma because, if he should prohibit the propagation of the religion, he would be compelled to deport the Portuguese, which would mean the end of the trade with Spain and Portugual. Few of the successful warrior-statesmen in the history of Japan have given so much attention to trade as Hideyoshi and Iyeyasu. Rising to the post of Shogun from a very humble station in life, they both knew, from their experience, the importance of business, that money was a key to unlock the hearts of war lords, and that money could be obtained only by promoting business. The fact that they made themselves agreeable to business men is an eloquent testimony of how important money was in the carrying on of administration in those days. While even feudal lords of no mean standing could get an audience with the Shogun only by the most respectful solicitations, tradesmen of Izumi and Sakai had free and easy access to him. Shimaya Sotan, a merchant of Hakata, had especially close connections with Hideyoshi. This is ascribed by some historians to the fact that he was an expert in the tea ceremony, in which Hideyoshi was greatly interested; but this is not a very satisfactory explanation, for many of the merchants of those days pretended to be interested in the tea ceremony, to prove that their sordid pursuit had not robbed them of resthetic tastes. In fact, merchants were in a sense more influential than the staff of
the Shogun. Witness the following story: When Hideyoshi was attempting the invasion of Korea, members of his staff were all sceptical of success. Not having the courage themselves to approach their master with advice, they planned to cause Sotan, just referred to, to warn Hideyoshi of the danger he was incurring, for the Kampaku had summoned Sotan to get information on the Korean question. Iyeyasu also often summoned merchants to his presence to obtain from them information on current questions.
