《82》The Dawn of Early Modern Hakata and Hakata Merchants (Part 6)...The Hakata Reconstruction Project and Kamiya Sotan (Second Half)
- In his youth, Sotan was forced to flee to Karatsu (Saga Prefecture) after Hakata was reduced to ruins by the battle between the Otomo and Mouri clans (both powerful feudal lords at the time) in 1569. However, he finally returned to Hakata 18 years later when the Taiko Machiwari was declared.
- According to "Sotan's Diary" written by Sotan himself, in October 1586, Sotan left Karatsu for Kyoto and was ordained at Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto. In the New Year of 1587, he was invited to a tea ceremony at the Osaka Castle by Hideyoshi, and as mentioned above, he was given special treatment by Hideyoshi, who called him "Tsukushi-no-bouzu".
- This visit to the capital was the meeting with Hideyoshi Toyotomi, who was to become his lifelong ally, and the opportunity for Sotan of Hakata to rise to the top merchant of the country. As mentioned in the blog article "Taiko Machiwari", Hideyoshi already had a plan for the reconstruction of Hakata (a plan to make Hakata a base) when he went to pacify Kyushu. At that time, Sotan also had his own plan for the reconstruction of Hakata, and it is believed that this encounter marked the collaboration between Hideyoshi and Sotan in their respective reconstruction plans.
*The left photo shows the famous Hakata Neribei(Neribei meaning the wall is constructed by alternately piling up kneaded mud and tiles, and then covering the top with tiles). /
近世博多の黎明期と博多商人（その６）…博多復興計画と神屋宗湛（後半）
- 青年期の宗湛は、1569年の大友氏と毛利氏（いずれも当時の有力大名）による合戦により博多が廃墟と化してやむなく唐津（佐賀県）に疎開しましたが、１８年後の太閤町割によってようやく博多に舞い戻ったのでした。
- 宗湛自らが著した『宗湛日記』によれば、1586年10月、唐津から上洛した宗湛は京都大徳寺で剃髪得度しました。明けて1587年正月、秀吉の大坂城における大茶会に招かれ、秀吉から「筑紫ノ坊主」と名指しされて特別な厚遇を受けたことは、前述したとおりです。
- この上洛こそが生涯の盟友となる豊臣秀吉との出会いとなり、また博多の宗湛が一躍天下の宗湛に成り上がる契機となったものでありました。秀吉には九州平定に赴くとき、すでに博多の復興計画（博多基地化構想）というものがあったことは「太閤町割り」のブログ記事で触れたとおりです。当時、宗湛もまた独自の博多復興計画を抱いており、この出会いによって秀吉と宗湛のお互いの復興計画のコラボレーションが成立したと思われます。
※写真の左は、有名な博多の練塀（練塀とは、練った泥と瓦を交互に積み上げ、その上に瓦をかぶせたもの）です。