大河ドラマ『豊臣兄弟！』。現在柴田勝家とのお家騒動の真っ最中で、信長後の世の情勢がいよいよ決まる佳境にあります。
秀吉といえば、貧しい農民の家に生まれ、草履取りから信長に仕え、知恵と機転で出世し、最後には天下人になった人物。
日本史の中でも、これほど分かりやすい立身出世物語はありません。
ところが、秀吉の若い頃については、実は驚くほど分かっていない。
草履を懐で温めた。墨俣一夜城を築いた。薪の節約で信長に認められた。僕らには馴染みのある話ですが、同時代の史料で確認できないものが多い。後世の『太閤記』や『絵本太閤記』によって形作られた話もかなりあります。
つまり、秀吉がどうやって織田家の中で頭角を現したのかという、一番面白そうな部分がよく分からない。
人間は「分からない」が嫌いです。
だから空白に物語を入れる。
しかも、つまらない話より面白い話の方が残る。
そうして何百年も語られているうちに、「そうだったかもしれない」が「そうだった」に変わっていく。
僕らが見ている戦国時代は、16世紀そのものではありません。
実際の出来事の上に、江戸時代の軍記物が載り、明治以降の歴史観が載り、小説が載り、映画が載り、大河ドラマが載っている。
だから、歴史上の人物像は、その本人だけでできているわけではない。後世の人間が、どう描いたか。そこまで含めて今のイメージができています。
織田家という組織も、現代風に見るとかなり面白い。信長の時代、織田家は猛烈な勢いで領土を広げています。
当然、仕事も増える。
でも、人材は急には増えない。
そこで、家柄がそれほど高くなくても、仕事のできる人間には大きな仕事が回ってくる。
秀吉も明智光秀も、結果を出せばどんどん出世する。
今でいえば、急成長中のベンチャー企業です。
めちゃくちゃ働けば、めちゃくちゃ上に行ける。
ただし、仕事量も半端ではない。
成果を出せば、さらに仕事が来る。
つまり、かなりブラックです。（笑）
秀吉が面白いのは、仕事ができただけではなさそうなところです。備中高松城攻めでは、水攻めによって毛利方をかなり追い込んでいたにもかかわらず、信長に出馬を要請しています。
今の会社なら、
「案件はほぼまとまっています。でも最後は社長に来ていただかないと決まりません」
と言っているようなものです。
自分で最後までやれるのに、最後の花は上司に持たせる。こういう人は出世します。
一方、佐久間信盛は信長から厳しく叱責され、最終的に追放されました。信長は、結果だけではなく、仕事の進め方までかなり細かく見ていたようです。
何を考えているのか。
どう工夫したのか。
問題があるなら、なぜ相談しなかったのか。
現代風にいえば、報告・連絡・相談に加えて、改善提案まで求める上司です。
明智光秀は報告が上手だったともいわれます。
戦国武将というと、刀や槍で出世したような印象がありますが、実際には、
仕事を可視化する力。
上司との関係を作る力。
報告する力。
相手に花を持たせる力。
このあたりも大事だったのでしょう。
500年前も、人間関係はそれほど変わらない。
弟の秀長も興味深い人物です。
大河ドラマでは、秀吉の横にいつもいる弟として描かれていますが、秀吉が偉くなるにつれて、秀長は別方面で独立して動くことが増えます。
秀吉一人では回らない仕事を、もう一人の責任者として処理する。
単なる補佐役ではありません。
今の会社でいえば、社長の横にいる秘書ではなく、別部門を丸ごと任されるCOOに近い。
しかも、その相手が弟です。
急成長組織としては強い形です。
ねねと淀殿の関係も、僕らのイメージと少し違います。
一般には、「正妻ねね」と「秀頼を産んだ淀殿」が対立していたという印象が強い。
でも、同時代史料を見る限り、激しく対立していた証拠は乏しく、むしろ役割を分けて豊臣家を支えていた可能性がある。
淀殿は秀頼の母。
ねねは公家や大名との関係を担う、いわばファーストレディ。
この方が組織としては自然です。
ただ、
「二人が協力して豊臣家を支えました」
より、
「正妻と側室の壮絶な女の戦い」
の方が物語としては面白い。
だから、後者が残る。
歴史は、面白い話の方へ転がりやすい。
「秀吉に学ぶ出世術」
「信長に学ぶ経営」
「坂本龍馬に学ぶリーダーシップ」
こういう話はたくさんあります。
もちろん歴史から学べることはあります。
でも、その根拠になっているエピソードが後世の創作だったら、それは本人から学んでいるのではありません。
後世の人が作った人物像から学んでいる。
それなら、『ワンピース』に学ぶリーダーシップや、『スラムダンク』に学ぶチーム論と、あまり変わらない。
フィクションから学ぶこと自体は悪くない。ただ、史実と創作は分けておいた方がいい。
大河ドラマも同じです。
「これは本当にあったのか」だけで見るのではなく、
「史料のないところを、どう埋めたのか」と見ていく。
その方がたぶん面白い。
秀吉ほど有名な人物でも、若い頃のことはほとんど分かっていない。それでも僕らは、性格も考え方も、生き方も知っているような気になっている。
大河ドラマは、そのあたりも頭に置いて観るのが正解なのでしょうね。
Is the Hideyoshi We Know Really Hideyoshi?
The historical drama Toyotomi Brothers! is currently at the heart of the internal power struggle involving Katsuie Shibata. The political landscape of Japan after Nobunaga is finally beginning to take shape, and the story has reached one of its most pivotal moments.
When we think of Hideyoshi, we tend to think of a man born into a poor farming family who began his career serving Nobunaga as a humble sandal bearer, rose through the ranks with his intelligence and resourcefulness, and eventually became the ruler of Japan.
There are few stories in Japanese history that fit the classic rags-to-riches narrative so perfectly.
And yet, surprisingly little is actually known about Hideyoshi’s younger years.
He supposedly warmed Nobunaga’s sandals inside his clothing. He supposedly built the famous “One-Night Castle” at Sunomata. He supposedly impressed Nobunaga by finding ways to save firewood.
These are stories most Japanese people are familiar with, but many cannot be confirmed by contemporary historical sources. Quite a few were shaped by later works such as the Taikōki and Ehon Taikōki.
In other words, the most interesting part of the story—how exactly Hideyoshi managed to distinguish himself within the Oda clan—is precisely the part we know the least about.
Human beings don’t like “not knowing.”
So we fill the gaps with stories.
And, naturally, the more entertaining the story, the more likely it is to survive.
After being told and retold for hundreds of years, “it may have happened” gradually turns into “it happened.”
The Sengoku period we imagine is therefore not quite the same thing as the sixteenth century itself.
On top of the actual events came the military chronicles of the Edo period, then the historical interpretations of the Meiji era and beyond, followed by novels, films, and eventually television dramas like the NHK Taiga dramas.
That means our image of a historical figure is never made up solely of the person himself.
It is also shaped by how later generations chose to portray him.
And when you look at the Oda clan as an organization through a modern lens, it becomes quite fascinating.
Under Nobunaga, the Oda clan was expanding its territory at an extraordinary speed.
Naturally, that meant more work.
But people cannot be trained and multiplied overnight.
So even people who did not come from particularly prestigious families were given major responsibilities if they proved capable.
Hideyoshi and Akechi Mitsuhide both rose rapidly as long as they delivered results.
By today’s standards, the Oda clan was something like a rapidly growing startup.
Work incredibly hard, and you could rise incredibly fast.
The downside was that the workload was equally incredible.
Deliver results, and even more work came your way.
In other words, it was pretty much a toxic workplace. (Laughs.)
What makes Hideyoshi especially interesting is that he seems to have possessed more than just the ability to get things done.
During the siege of Bitchu Takamatsu Castle, for example, he had already driven the Mori forces into a difficult position through his famous flood attack. And yet, he asked Nobunaga to come personally to the battlefield.
In a modern company, it would be something like saying:
“The deal is almost done. But we need the CEO to come in person to close it.”
He could probably have taken things all the way to the finish himself. But he knew how to let his superior take the final glory.
People like that tend to get promoted.
By contrast, Nobunaga severely reprimanded Sakuma Nobumori and eventually expelled him from the Oda clan. Nobunaga seems to have paid close attention not only to results, but also to how people went about doing their work.
What were you thinking?
How did you come up with that solution?
If there was a problem, why didn’t you come and talk to me?
In modern corporate terms, he was the kind of boss who expected not only reporting, communication, and consultation, but also proposals for improvement.
Akechi Mitsuhide, too, is said to have been particularly good at reporting and communicating with his superior.
We tend to imagine that Sengoku warriors rose through the ranks by fighting with swords and spears.
But in reality, other skills probably mattered just as much:
The ability to make your work visible.
The ability to build a relationship with your boss.
The ability to report effectively.
The ability to make someone above you look good.
Five hundred years ago, human relationships were probably not all that different from what they are today.
Hideyoshi’s younger brother, Hidenaga, is another fascinating figure.
In the Taiga drama, he is portrayed as the brother who is always by Hideyoshi’s side. But as Hideyoshi rose in power, Hidenaga increasingly began operating independently in other areas.
He took responsibility for work that Hideyoshi could no longer handle alone.
He was not simply an assistant.
In today’s corporate world, he would be less like a secretary sitting beside the CEO and more like a COO entrusted with running an entire division.
And, remarkably, that COO happened to be the CEO’s younger brother.
For a rapidly expanding organization, that is actually a very powerful structure.
The relationship between Nene and Yodo-dono is also somewhat different from the image many of us have inherited.
The conventional story is that Nene, Hideyoshi’s principal wife, and Yodo-dono, the mother of his heir Hideyori, were bitter rivals.
But when we look at contemporary historical sources, there is surprisingly little evidence of an intense personal conflict between them. If anything, it is possible that they supported the Toyotomi household by taking on different roles.
Yodo-dono was the mother of Hideyori.
Nene, meanwhile, was responsible for relationships with the imperial court and powerful daimyo—in a sense, she functioned almost like a First Lady.
From an organizational perspective, that arrangement actually makes more sense.
But compare these two stories:
“They worked together to support the Toyotomi household.”
versus
“A dramatic and bitter battle between the principal wife and the concubine.”
The second one is obviously more entertaining.
So it is the second story that tends to survive.
History has a tendency to roll toward the more interesting story.
There are countless books and articles along the lines of:
“Lessons in career advancement from Hideyoshi.”
“Management lessons from Nobunaga.”
“Leadership lessons from Sakamoto Ryoma.”
Of course, there is plenty we can learn from history.
But if the episode that forms the basis of that lesson was actually a later invention, then we are not really learning from the historical figure himself.
We are learning from a character created by later generations.
And if that’s the case, “leadership lessons from One Piece” or “team-building lessons from Slam Dunk” aren’t all that different.
There is nothing wrong with learning from fiction.
But I think it is better to keep historical fact and creative storytelling in separate boxes.
The same applies to Taiga dramas.
Rather than watching them only by asking,
“Did this really happen?”
perhaps it is more interesting to ask,
“How did the writers fill in the gaps where the historical sources tell us nothing?”
I suspect that way of watching history is actually much more fascinating.
Even with someone as famous as Hideyoshi, we know remarkably little about his younger years.
And yet we often feel as though we know his personality, his way of thinking, and the way he lived his life.
Perhaps the best way to watch a Taiga drama is to keep that in the back of your mind.
