Picure Scroll of the Shogun's Procession to Kyoto 寛永三年将軍上洛絵巻

In 1626, Emperor Gomizunoo visited Nijo Castle in Kyoto, where Tokugawa Hidetada, the retired shogun, and Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa shogun, awaited his arrival. That was the only time during the entire Edo period that the emperor paid a call on the shogun. The visit was promoted by the shogunate as a device to leverage the emperor’s authority to demonstrate the shogun’s power. This picture scroll, whose main subject is the imperial visit to Nijo Castle, consists of four volumes. The first volume depicts Iemitsu’s procession from Nijo Castle to the Imperial Palace and back. Before the emperor’s visit, Iemitsu made a call at the palace to express his thanks to Gomizunoo for agreeing to make the visit. Having paid his respects, Iemitsu returned to Nijo Castle. This photograph of the scroll shows that he traveled between the two locations in Kyoto in an oxcart, probably the type known as a karaguruma, a large cart with a karahafu (undulating bargeboard) type roof, usually reserved for members of the imperial family and other high-ranking families. By demonstrating his own exalted status by riding in that type of oxcart, Iemitsu was displaying his authority to the people of Kyoto. The second and third volumes present processions of the Emperor’s consort (Masako) and their daughter, Princess Onna-no-ichi, who later took the throne as Empress Meisho. Masako was Tokugawa Ieyasu’s granddaughter and was engaged to Emperor Gomizunoo in 1620. Princess Onna-no-ichi was born in 1624. The fourth volume records the lavish banquet held in Nijo Castle. The emperor himself is not depicted here, but we know from other materials that he was accompanied by a large group of noblemen when he visited Nijo Castle. The emperor’s visit to Nijo Castle, a major political event, was depicted in paintings such as these picture scrolls and other materials. In later generations, people looking at these works must have been astonished by the splendor and luxury on display.