#137
  137.OATHS OF IRIKI-IN SHIGETOYO AND SHIMADZU TADAMASA,
                                          1481
                             (Copies in Iriki-in docs.;also KK, IV.)
WHEN the eleven-year old Shimadzu Takehisa, later Tadamasa, succeeded his father Haruhisa, in
1474, the three kuni were still torn with strife and rebellion, and an arduous, tragic life awaited the
youthful lord. It wass probably on his attainment to majority that the following oaths were ex-
changed between him and Iriki-in Shigetoyo. Two months later, Takehisa and Shigetoyo's son
Shigetsuna mutually swore oaths in nearly identical terms, which are omitted here.



[IMAGE]　　[JP-#165]



#137-A
                                     A
     "OATH.1
    "That whatever changes may occur in the three kuni, I will, as heretofore, serve
the lord with single [devotion] and without a second thought;
     "That my mind has several times been expressed to Murata dono, and that there
remains naught else; and
     "That if a calumny or an evil report should [arise], I beg that [the lord] deign
to tell me of it and I be permitted to utter my thought.
       "If thses staements be false, [. . .(The names of deities). . . .]2
"Bun-mei 13 y, kanoto ushi,5 6 m. 23 d. [19 July 1481].
                                           Shimotsuke no kami, Shigetoyo.
"Respectfully presented to Murata Hizen no kami3 dono."




[IMAGE]　　[JP-#40]

[IMAGE]　　[JP-#43]



#137-B
                                     B
       "Pledge.4
"That I acknowledge [your oath] that whatever changes may occur in the
 kuni you will entertain (kokoro-zasu) toward me sigle [devotion]; and 
that I,
will, Whatever may happen in the world, consult you with single [faith];
P296
    "That I acknowledge [your statement] that you will be ever more loyal toward
me; and that since you are of that mind, I will regard your important affairs as my
own, and we will mutually rely and be relied upon; and
     "That if, despite this understanding, a calumny or an evil report should arise, we
would mutually explain ourselves with complete frankness.
     "If these statements be false, the punishments of
       the Ten-sho Dai-zhin Gu, of Ise,
       the Gon-gen of the three places of Kumano,
       the Great Bodhisattva Sho Hachiman,
       the Ten-man Ten-zhin, and
       the Great Myo-zhin Upper and Lower Suwa,
would be visited [upon me].
"Ten-myo 13 y., kanoto ushi,5 6 m. 23 d. [19July 1481]. Takehisa, monogram.
     "Iriki-in dono."





1 Ki-sho mon. In the original copy, the word ki is omitted. By this error the genealogist of the
family was misled to think that the document was a responsive letter posterior to B, (the two
characters shomon of the mutilated word being the same as those of uke-bumi, for which see No.
22) . That this is wrong may be inferred from the texts of the two documents. B was a reponse
to A, not A to B.
2 The copyist omitted the conventional ending of the oath.
3 Murata Tsuneyasu, a chief councillor of Takehisa.
4 Kei zho.                     5 The 38th of the sexagenary cycle.