m.

In 1632, Iemitsu made another military demonstration at Kyoto, and on
this occasion the Emperor would have conferred on him the post of
prime minister (dajo daijiri). But he refused to accept it. This
refusal was subsequently explained as a hint to the feudal chiefs
that inordinate ambition should be banished from their bosoms; but in
reality Iemitsu was influenced by the traditional principle that the
Throne had no higher gift to bestow on a subject than the shogunate.

PROMINENT FEATURES OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF IEMITSU

The prominent feature of this able ruler's administration was that he
thoroughly consolidated the systems introduced by his grandfather and
confirmed by his father. From the time of Iemitsu downwards, cardinal
forms were never changed, alterations being confined to
non-essentials. On his death-bed he desired that his prime minister,
Hotta Masamori, and several other notables should accompany him to
the tomb, and on the night of the 10th of June, 1651, Hotta Masamori
(aged forty-six), Abe Shigetsugu (aged fifty-two), Uchida Masanobu
(aged thirty-three), Masamori's mother (aged sixty-three), Saegusa
Moriyoshi, and Okuyama Yasushige all committed suicide. Their tombs
stand to this day in Nikko.

THE NIKKO SHRINE AND THE KWANEI TEMPLE

It has been related how largely Ieysau was aided against the Osaka
party by Tengai, abbot of Enryaku-ji. This priest it was that devised
the singular accusation connected with the inscription on a bell at
Hoko-ji. He received from Ieyasu the diocese of Nikko in Shimotsuke
province, where he built a temple which ultimately served as the
shrine of Ieyasu. But the first Tokugawa shogun, faithful to his
frugal habits, willed that the shrine should be simple and
inexpensive, and when Hidetada died, his mausoleum (mitamaya) at the
temple Zojo-ji in Yedo presented by its magnificence such a contrast
to the unpretending tomb at Nikko, that Iemitsu ordered Akimoto
Yasutomo to rebuild the latter, and issued instructions to various
feudal chiefs to furnish labour and materials. The assistance of even
Korea, Ryukyu, and Holland was requisitioned, and the Bakufu treasury
presented 700,000 ryo of gold. The shrine was finished in 1636 on a
scale of grandeur and artistic beauty almost unsurpassed in any other
country. The same priest, Tengai, was instrumental in building the
temple known as Kwanei-ji, and at his suggestion, Hidetada asked the
Imperial Court to appoint a prince to