《84》The Dawn of Early Modern Hakata and Hakata Merchants (Part 8)... About the "Sotan Nikki"("Sotan Diary")
- The "Sotan Nikki"("Sotan Diary") is a diary of tea ceremonies written by Kamiya Sotan, a well-known tea master, and is considered to be one of the most outstanding tea ceremony diary. It is also known as one of the four major tea ceremony chronicles of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, along with "Tennojiya Kaikki" by Tsuda Munenori, "Imai Sokyu Chanoyu Kakinuki" by Imai Sokyu, and "Matsuya Kaiki" by the three generations of Matsuya.
- The "Sotan Nikki" was written continuously from 1586 to 1613, although there were interruptions along the way, and has high historical value from the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the Early Modern Period. In particular, the tea ceremony diary of Kamiya Sotan, a tea master favored by Hideyoshi, is a first-rate historical document that provides insight into the movements of Hideyoshi at that time as a work that highlights the human aspects of Hideyoshi's tea ceremonies.
- Novelist Ibuse Masuji (1898-1993) wrote a book titled "The Diary Left by Kamiya Sotan" ("神屋宗湛の残した日記"). In the text, Masuji writes, "It was common sense for a person with a good mind at that time not to put any subjectivity into a diary, but even so, Sotan did not express any subjectivity about Hideyoshi or the state of the world". Masuji expressed his dissatisfaction with Sotan's lack of subjectivity in both Hideyoshi and the state of the world. It seems that Sotan consciously avoided writing anything with political connotations. /
近世博多の黎明期と博多商人（その８）…「宗湛日記」について
- 「宗湛日記」は、著名な茶人でもあった神屋宗湛が書き残した茶会記です。茶会記の白眉と称され、津田宗及の「天王寺屋会記」、今井宗久の「今井宗久茶湯書抜」、松屋三代に渡る「松屋会記」と並び、安土桃山時代の四大茶会記の一つとして知られています。
- 「宗湛日記」は、途中中断があるものの、1586年から1613年まで連綿として書きつがれており、中世末期から近世初頭までの歴史的な史料価値の高いものです。とりわけ、秀吉に寵愛された茶人神屋宗湛の茶会記は、秀吉の茶会の人間模様を浮き彫りにした作品として、当時の秀吉の動静を知る第1級の歴史資料となっています。
- 小説家の井伏鱒二（1898-1993）の著書に「神屋宗湛の残した日記」というものがあります。その文中で、「日記に主観をいっさい入れないのは、当時の心がけある人の常識ではあるが、それにしても宗湛は秀吉についても世情についても主観を何一つ云わなさすぎる。」と不満を吐露しています。どうやら、宗湛は意識的に政治的な意味合いの記述を避けていたように思われます。