tral temple here." So that from the time of Ieyasu the Jodo
was the authorized sect to which the court of the shoguns was especially
attached, and to this is to be attributed the fact that its temples and
monasteries in Tokyo have always been of the most majestic and gorgeous
character.(243)

Ieyasu did not long hold the office of shogun, which the emperor had
conferred upon him in 1603. It is not easy to understand why a man, who
was only sixty-three years of age and who was still in vigorous health,
should wish to throw off the responsibilities of office and retire to
private life. We must remember, however, that it was the custom of his
country, consecrated by the usage of the imperial house and of the shoguns
and regents who had preceded him. Morever, though he surrendered to his
son the title of shogun, he retained in his own hands a large part of the
power which he had hitherto exercised.

It may be supposed that he was anxious to establish the succession of the
shogunate unquestionably in his own family. For this purpose he deemed it
wise to initiate a successor while he still had the influence and the
power to compel the acquiescence of the feudal lords of the empire. Acting
upon these considerations Ieyasu, in 1605, retired in favor of his third
son Hidetada. He received from the emperor the title of
_sei-i-tai-shogun_, which his father had held. Ieyasu took up his
residence at Sumpu(244) (now Shizuoka), which was situated on Suruga bay,
one hundred and fourteen miles from the shogun's capital. Here he
maintained a court and practically in all important matters governed the
country. He was free, however, from the petty details of the
administration, and devoted himself as an amateur to a literary life, to
the collection and printing of books, and to the encouragement and
patronage of literary men, in which he delighted.

In the meantime important events had been taking place which had great
influence on the history of Japan. The contest between the Spanish on the
one hand, and the Dutch and English on the other, was not confined to the
Atlantic, but broke out in the Pacific, where the Portuguese and Spaniards
had so long been predominant. A preliminary to the opening of trade with
the Dutch were the arrival of William Adams and his extraordinary
experiences in Japan. As we learn from his own letters,(245) he was born
near Rochester in England, 1574, and when twelve years old was apprenticed
to Nicholas Diggin