4 May (Year unknown)
Donated by the Homma family
This is a letter from the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu to Mogami Yoshiaki (1564–1614), a chamberlain of Dewa Province, expressing his thanks for the seasonally-appropriate gift of a raw silk summer robe (katabira) presented on Tango no Sekku, the fifth day of the fifth month which is today known as Childrens’ Day.
In samurai society, gifts were given during seasonal milestones and celebrations. It is believed that they also reaffirmed the relationship between two parties –in other words, the lord-vassal relationship.
This letter is thought to date from the period when Ieyasu was a feudal lord under the Toyotomi regime, some years before to the Battle of Sekigahara, which took place on 21 October 1600.