About ~Staff Officers~

I have a mental disability. Perhaps because of that, I have people I can consult with, such as my attending psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist, an internist, and a registered dietitian, who are all medical professionals.
In addition, I can also consult with employment support staff and the managers at the company where I work.
Furthermore, I have many people I can consult with, such as friends from high school with whom I can talk about anything, people I met through hobbies, and friends who are specialists in specific areas—this person for romance, that person for computers, and another for studies.
When a problem arises, I listen to the opinions of multiple advisors, select and discard ideas, and then consolidate my own thoughts.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was that type of person.
In his early years, he had Sakai Tadatsugu and Ii Naomasa as staff officers, and in his later years, Honda Masanobu served as his staff officer.
In particular, Ieyasu and Masanobu were of one mind from the Battle of Sekigahara through the Siege of Osaka (Winter and Summer), which led to the destruction of the Toyotomi clan.
It was truly like the relationship between water and fish. They were inseparable.
Oda Nobunaga did not have a staff officer with whom he shared a 'water and fish' relationship like Ieyasu did. While he did absorb the opinions of people like Hashiba Hideyoshi, Shibata Katsuie, and Akechi Mitsuhide, it seems Nobunaga decided matters using his own intellect.
In his youth, Toyotomi Hideyoshi strove to conquer the realm by utilizing the brains of Takenaka Hanbei and Kuroda Kanbei, who were known as the 'Two Beis.' After the Toyotomi administration was established, he had economic bureaucrats like Ishida Mitsunari as his staff.

While I have many acquaintances, there is only one person I can call a staff officer like Honda Masanobu, with whom I share a 'water and fish' relationship like Ieyasu. We know each other's pasts and have shared both joys and sorrows. However, our relationship is not master and servant like Ieyasu's, but rather one of equals.
Conversely, there are several people for whom I act as a staff officer or advisor.
At those times, I refrain from expressing myself and let the other person talk. Then, I share what I felt; that is how I handle it.

~Staff Officer~ is a word and role that I find attractive, but as seen with Kuroda Kanbei and Honda Masanobu, I feel that schemes only succeed because they are honest and sincere at their core.

Index: Sengoku Staff Officers by Tetsuo Owada