Ishin Sūden

Who was Ishin Sūden?

Ishin Sūden also known as Konchiin Sūden, was a Zen Rinzai monk and advisor to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and later to Tokugawa Hidetada and Iemitsu on religious matters and foreign affairs. He played a significant role in the initial development of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Sūden oversaw the administration of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in the country alongside Itakura Katsushige, and was involved in a great many diplomatic affairs along with advisors Hayashi Razan and Honda Masazumi. Sūden made his home at the Konchi-in temple he founded in Sunpu, and founded another one by the same name in Edo in 1618. He was abbot of Nanzen-ji in Kyoto.

Sūden played an important role in negotiations with the Chinese Ming court over the reopening of trade and the problem of piracy. Sūden was also involved in communications with the Spanish authorities in Manila and with the Kingdom of Siam. He was instrumental in organizing and receiving Korean embassies to Japan. He drafted a great many communications during this period, some of the more notable ones being rejections of the notion that the shogun should be referred to as a "king", as this would imply subordination to the Emperor of China and tributary status within the Sinocentric world order.