Letter to Honda Masazumi, addressed to Honda Masanobu

14 January 1608

Donated by the Homma family

This is a letter from Honda Masazumi (1566–1637) to his father, Honda Masanobu, who was the governor of Sado Province. 

Tokugawa Ieyasu’s newly-built castle, Sumpu Castle (in present-day Shizuoka City), was destroyed by fire on 22 December 1607. Following this, Ieyasu took refuge in Masazumi’s residence. At this time, Masazumi was one of Ieyasu’s close associates, and had been made a daimyō in what is now present-day Tochigi Prefecture, with an income of 33,000 koku. This letter is thought to have been a report regarding the sympathy offerings of 1,000 candles and 300 candles for the fire, respectively donated by Uesugi Kagekatsu of Yonezawa and Naoe Kanetsugu.