Yoichi Suminokura

Background

Yoichi Suminokura was born in 1571 Kyoto, Japan. Original personal name: Haruyuki. He was the eldest son of Ryoi.

Education

He studied calligraphy under Koetsu Hon-ami and a disciple of Seika Fujiwara, a Confucian scholar.

Career

Yoichi Suminokura assisted his father in his shipping business. With his father, he engaged in foreign trade and sent Shuinsen (vessel with a Shogunate license to trade) to Annam and Tonkin.

In the Tokugawas campaign against the Toyotomis in Osaka (1614-1615), he transferred the rice in Osaka warehouses to Fushimi Castle, broke dikes on the Yodo River, built dikes on the river at Nagae and diverted the waters of the Kanzaki River for the benefit of the Tokugawa forces.

Yoichi was appointed magistrate of Omi Province (Shiga Prefecture) and concurrently head of the Kawaramachi in Kyoto and superintendent of shipping on the Yodo River, being authorized to take possession of the tolls collected from the owners of the ships navigating the Omi and Kamo rivers.

Achievements

• He founded the Suminokura school of calligraphy.

Connections

Father:

Suminokura Ryoi