- Toki Yoritoshi
nihongo|Toki Yoritoshi|土岐 頼稔| (
March 20 ,1695 -October 17 ,1744 ) was a Japanese daimyo of theEdo period . He served in a variety of positions in theTokugawa shogunate , including "Kyoto Shoshidai " (1734-1732) [Screech, Timon. (2006). "Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822," p. 241 n77.] and "rōjū ".Screech, p. 114.]At some point, there was a devastating fire in
Heian-kyō while Toki Tango-no-kami held the office of "Kyoto shoshidai." Shortly afterwards, a clever poem which included a play on the "shoshidai"'s name was widely circulated::::"Toki mo toki":::"Tango no gogatsuban ni":::"kaji dashite":::"Edo e shiretariya":::"Mi-shoshi senban". [Screech, pp. 113-114.] :::*A conventional English translation (Frederic Shoberl, 1822): "Such is the time at present: a fire broke out in the fifth night of the fifth month. When the news shall have reached Edo, there will be numberless applicants who will harass you without ceasing." [see above] ] :::*A more literal English translation (Timon Screech, 2006)::::::At this very time:::::On Tango's evening:::::Fire broke out:::::Edo was informed:::::For the noble governor:::::Much [trouble] .Screech, p. 242 n78.]The 18th century poet was Kazehaya Yoshizane, who puns "Tango" (
Tango no Sekku ), one of the five main festivals of the year (falling on the 5th day of the 5th month), with the daimyo's toponym, "Tango" (Tango province ). [see above] ] Poetry of this sort was an element of popular culture in this period. Witty and timely word play which somehow married puns on a personal name with a current event became fashionable. It could engender broad public approval, and occasionally such poetry might even receive approbation from the emperor. [see above] ]References
* Bolitho, Harold (1974). "Treasures among men; the fudai daimyo in Tokugawa Japan". New Haven:
Yale University Press . ISBN 0-3000-1655-7
* Screech, Timon. (2006). "Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822." London:RoutledgeCurzon . ISBN 0-7007-1720-X
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