On June 1 of Ansei 5 (1858), within Edo Castle, the idea of choosing the shogun’s heir by blood ties was quietly communicated. On the same day, Yoshinobu visited his birth father Tokugawa Nariaki at his residence in Koishikawa. Who would be chosen remained concealed.
Opinion within the castle leaned toward Hitotsubashi, but inside the shogunate it had already been decided on Yoshitomi. Tokutomi Sohō writes that the name was deliberately concealed to mislead people, out of fear of public backlash. Toki Yorimune, who had moved from senior inspector to guard captain on May 6, also believed the decision had gone to Hitotsubashi and rejoiced. When he was told a different, private account by Matsudaira Yoshinaga, he could only burst into tears in astonishment.
At Nariaki’s side, Yoshinobu’s retainer Hiraoka Enshirō and Nariaki’s retainer Ajima Yajirō had intended to consult closely together. But Nariaki and his wife were deeply disheartened, and showed none of their usual fierce argument or spirit. Yoshinobu too remained silent, and Ajima was greatly disappointed. Sohō writes that this was probably the truth of the matter. Around this time Yoshinaga had come to favor opening the country, and he urged Nariaki not to rewrite his memorial but to press his earlier argument as it stood.
In a letter of June 5, Yoshinaga wrote that rewriting it now would reassure the other side and give grounds for deceiving Kyoto. He declared outright that the memorials of Nariaki and Tokugawa Yoshikumi were the one thin lifeline left to the country. In Kyoto the mood over the signing of the treaty grew harsher day by day. Ii sent his trusted aide Nagano Yoshikoto to Kyoto. In a letter from mid-May, Nagano reported that he had even chosen a place in the mountains of Kiso where the emperor could be hidden.
Sohō writes that in Nagano’s mind the seeds of the Ansei Purge were already forming. The center of politics in Kyoto was neither the retired regent nor the regent, but the emperor himself. There was the side of Regent Kujō, who sought to push the shogunate’s will through the court, and, in the opposite direction, Sanjō Sanetsumu. On June 4, Honda Tadamoto submitted a report to the court’s liaison officer on the matter of the heir, with the name still withheld. From Kyoto came only a formal word of congratulation in return, and for the shogunate that was enough.
Yet the reply confirming approval was slow in arriving. Wondering whether the continuing rain had made the rivers impossible to cross, on the 15th the shogunate ordered Honda Kaga no kami, the road magistrate, to send an agent racing by fast palanquin. Even so it did not arrive in time for the announcement on the 18th, and on July 1 Shiga took his own life. Ii’s side said the Hitotsubashi faction had hidden it, while the Hitotsubashi faction said it was because Ii had scolded him. The matter of the heir itself passed without any great trouble. Where the box containing the letter had been held up remains unknown.
From the announcement with the name withheld to the delay of the reply, the Sakumu Kiji, Nagano Yoshikoto’s letter, and the Kōyōkata Hiroku together join up the story.
The first day of the sixth month of Ansei 5 (1858).Original
The members of the Gosanke who had come to Edo Castle as usual (Owari excepted), the two kyō lords, and the men of the Tamarinoma-zume were ordered to remain behind.OriginalOriginal
六月朔日御登城如御例、今日御三家(尾張殿御斷り)御大老御老中御逢、左之通り御逹し有之し由
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe meaning was that an adopted lord would be chosen from within the bloodline, that this would eventually be declared openly, but for now only the private intention was being conveyed.Original
No name was given.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that the talk within the castle that day was, “It cannot be told whether it is Hitotsubashi or Kii, but most say it is Hitotsubashi.”Original
In truth, within the shogunate’s leadership, the matter had already been settled in favor of Yoshitomi.Original
Tokutomi Sohō considers that the name was concealed because the ministers, wary of public opposition, deliberately allowed the misunderstanding to stand.OriginalOriginal
A Night Too Joyful for Sleep
Tokutomi Sohō cites from the Sakumu Kiji a scene that shows how deep the misunderstanding ran.Original
Toki Yorimune, who until recently had been senior inspector and on the sixth day of the fifth month had been transferred out to guard captain, met Matsudaira Yoshinaga and said:Original
“Though I have already been transferred away and set aside, having heard that Lord Hitotsubashi is to be set up, I shall have no regret even in death.”Original
He also said that although he had been on night duty the evening before, he had been so overjoyed that he could not sleep.OriginalOriginal
When Yoshinaga told him the private news concerning “Lord Bitchū” that he had heard the day before, Yorimune was so astonished that he could do nothing but weep.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that since even a man who had served as senior inspector was like this, it is no wonder that the public had come to believe that Hitotsubashi was settled upon.OriginalOriginal
On that same first day of the sixth month, Yoshinobu visited his birth father Tokugawa Nariaki at his residence in Koishikawa.Original
Yoshinobu’s close retainer Hiraoka Enshirō and Nariaki’s close retainer Ajima Yajirō intended, with father and son both present, to explain the state of affairs within the shogunate’s leadership and to press the case that the treacherous one should be removed at this juncture, laying their plans accordingly.Original
But the Sakumu Kiji records: “Both the old lord and his wife were deeply dispirited, and neither his fierce arguments nor his usual vigor appeared.”Original
This meant that Nariaki and his wife were deeply dispirited, and neither his usual heated argument nor his vigor emerged.Original
Yoshinobu too felt pity and said nothing, Ajima was greatly disappointed, and Hiraoka, hearing of it, also lamented.OriginalOriginal
昨日は老公御夫妻共に、痛く御力落にて、御暴論も御英氣も出ざれば
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryTokutomi Sohō writes that although some Mito-faction historians deny this, it is probably the truth of the matter.OriginalOriginal
The One Thin Thread of Life for the Divine Land
The Hitotsubashi faction resorted to its last measure.OriginalOriginal
Yoshinaga’s conduct also changed.Original
He adopted the views of Hashimoto Sanai and Yokoi Tokiari, and at the time held to the position of opening the country and advancing.Original
On this one point, he could not be reconciled with the treaty-rejection arguments of Nariaki and of Tokugawa Yoshikumi of Owari.Original
Previously, he had been negotiating with one or two of the senior councillors to have the unsettling passages in Nariaki’s memorial rewritten, intending to mediate on behalf of the shogunate’s leadership in exchange for progress on the Hitotsubashi question.Original
But now, conversely, he was urging Nariaki not to accept the rewriting and to hold firm to his original argument.OriginalOriginal
Please consult the original page images for this source.
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryIn a letter sent by Yoshinaga to Nariaki dated the fifth day of the sixth month, it states that if the memorial were rewritten now, “it would be entirely to the advantage of the treacherous ones, and they would feel thoroughly at ease,” and that they would surely use this as a pretext to deceive Kyoto and proceed to report the matter to the throne on the basis of the provisional treaty.Original
And he declared outright, “The memorials of the two lords are truly the one thin thread of life for the divine land.”Original
This meant that the memorials of Nariaki and Yoshikumi were the one slender lifeline remaining to this country.Original
Tokutomi Sohō sets out two possible readings: that the memorial was meant as a lever to reform the shogunate’s leadership, or that it was meant to contribute directly to the Hitotsubashi question.Original
It might also be read as a mere expedient for shifting the situation.Original
Rumors of the Kiso Mountains
Tokutomi Sohō writes that when one turns one’s eyes to Kyoto, public feeling over the treaty signing grew more hostile day by day.Original
Ii sent his trusted retainer Nagano Yoshikoto to Kyoto, where he worked in coordination with Shimada Ryūshō.Original
There is a letter that Nagano sent to Ii in Edo in mid-fifth month.OriginalOriginal
Within the palace there was unrest, and it was said that the conspiring side was speaking ill of the Kantō through the Ministers of the Left and Right.Original
And it said, “It is certain that they will draw their bows against Kyoto. At that time, a place has been chosen to hide the Sovereign away within the Kiso Mountains.”Original
It reported that Tokugawa Yoshikumi was conspiring with Minister of the Left Konoe Tadahiro, and that there was even a wicked plot to bring Ii up to Kyoto and harm him within the palace.OriginalOriginal
Nagano declared to Regent Kujō that should anyone emerge in opposition to the regent, “suppressing them is the proper business of the warrior houses.”Original
This meant that putting down such opposition was the duty of the warrior houses.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that looking at this letter, one can clearly see that the ferment of the Ansei Purge was already living within Nagano’s mind.Original
He also remarks, “With such an outlook, there is no helping it if anyone at all comes to be regarded as a traitor.”OriginalOriginal
It is also recorded that he tried to persuade the Tominokōji house to have the eighteen-year-old Tominokōji Hironao decline to appear before the Sovereign as a page.Original
Tokutomi Sohō surmises that this was probably because Hironao had served as a go-between linking men of resolve with the Sovereign.Original
He also conveyed Regent Kujō’s private instruction that the matter of the adopted lord should be announced as soon as possible.Original
Sanjō Sanetsumu, Nakayama Tadayasu, and Koga Takemichi proposed sending an imperial envoy to the Kantō once again, but the regent intended to overrule them on the grounds that there was no precedent.OriginalOriginal
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Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryA Man Who Prayed for the Union of Court and Shogunate
Since the time when Ii had still been a mere Tamarinoma-zume daimyo, the two had exchanged letters, and the Ii house had also given the Sanjō house some financial assistance.OriginalOriginal
This meant a prayer that court and shogunate might become one, so that the country would not be brought to shame, and that a lasting and safe course might be found.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that he was not a schemer seeking to drive the shogunate into a corner in order to restore imperial authority.Original
The side of Regent Kujō sought to carry the shogunate’s will through within the court, while Sanjō sought to carry the court’s will through within the shogunate.Original
It was merely a matter of opposite directions.Original
Nagano Yoshikoto, under the name “Nagano Shume,” also sent a private envoy to the Sanjō house.Original
This meant that he was by nature weak and had neither learning nor skill.Original
But Tokutomi Sohō considers that the general trend of the time was not one that such excuses could sweep away, as far as the discord between Kyoto and Edo was concerned.OriginalOriginal
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Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryDay and Night, Troubling the Sovereign’s Heart
Tokutomi Sohō writes that the center of politics in Kyoto was, with all reverence, none other than the Sovereign himself, not the retired regent, nor the regent, nor the Minister of the Left.Original
As for Ii becoming great elder: “I humbly surmise that he intends, in any event, to push back and have matters proceed according to the wishes of the Kantō.”Original
This meant that he was understood to be positioning himself to force through the intentions of the Kantō.Original
As directed on the twentieth day of the third month, the court council’s decision stands, and there will be no reconsidering it again, it continues.OriginalOriginal
This meant that even if the regent (kampaku) should weaken, Konoe and others were urged to summon their energy.Original
To Regent Kujō he wrote that if the Kantō side simply decided on signing the treaty and then merely reported it afterward, that would be “truly, truly lamentable, and a grave matter indeed.”Original
Reading this, one feels as though the future had been foreseen, Tokutomi Sohō writes.OriginalOriginal
との宸翰を賜りたるを拜見しては、宛も未然を透視遊ばされたる心地がする
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryRegent Kujō conveyed the sovereign’s intent in a note.Original
It meant that His Majesty was troubled day and night, unable to rest in sleep or eating, and had even given up amusements.Original
Tokutomi Sohō declares that the blunder of the Kantō side, which lightly overlooked a Kyoto so fraught with tension, was beyond words.OriginalOriginal
The Document Box That Forced Its Way Through the Rivers
On the fourth day of the sixth month, Honda Tadamoto submitted a memorial concerning the adoptive heir to both court liaisons.Original
Since the shogun had reached a suitable age, an adoptive heir would soon be named from within the bloodline.Original
The accompanying note followed the precedent of the Tenmei era, namely the case in which the tenth shogun Ieharu received Ienari from the Hitotsubashi house, and stated that the name would be kept secret and not conveyed.Original
They sought to obtain blanket approval from Kyoto.OriginalOriginal
Tokutomi Sohō gives two reasons for avoiding the name.Original
First, the fear that the choice would not match the three qualifications of age, wisdom, and popular trust that the court had indicated to Hotta Masayoshi, who was handling diplomatic affairs.Original
Second, the fear that the Hitotsubashi faction within the court would erupt in agitation.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that although Sanjō Sanetsumu took pains to write to Yamauchi Toyoshige that “there are difficulties causing delay,” the result was only a perfunctory approval consisting of words of congratulation, “a matter for celebration.”Original
For the shogunate, that was quite sufficient.OriginalOriginal
What was unexpected was the delay of the letter of approval.Original
Suspecting that continuous rain had made the rivers impassable, on the fifteenth day they ordered Honda Kaga no kami, the road magistrate, to send a man to meet it, and dispatched a clerk by fast palanquin with instructions that the document box must break through the rivers and arrive without fail.Original
It meant that the document box was to be delivered even if it had to force its way through the rivers.Original
Even so, the opportunity for announcement on the eighteenth day was missed.OriginalOriginal
The Kōyōkata Hiroku records that the fact that only this was delayed was “a thoroughly suspicious affair.”Original
On the first day of the seventh month, Shiga took his own life.Original
The Ii side says it was the result of the Hitotsubashi party concealing the reply, while the Hitotsubashi faction says it was because he had been reprimanded by Ii for a minor fault.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that the rumor that Hotta had ordered the concealment should not be believed.Original
This is because Hotta, having been appointed official in charge of the adoptive heir on the first day of the sixth month, had already accepted the established fact and was pouring all his energy into the treaty, and was not the sort of man capable of such a secret scheme.OriginalOriginal
然も何れにしても此の返書一件に關するこを容れない。但だ堀田が故らに志賀に命じて、之を隱匿せしめたりと云ふは、
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryAn announcement with the name withheld, a perfunctory approval, a document box blocked by rivers, and the death of a single scribe.Original
The matter of the adoptive heir itself passed “without comparatively great trouble.”Original
As to where that single document box had been held up before the name was finally spoken, even Tokutomi Sohō could only write that it was “truly a strange affair.”OriginalOriginal
| Source text | Kinsei Nihon kokuminshi, vol. 39: The Administration of Ii Naosuke (1935). National Diet Library Digital Collections (PDM). PID 1223976 |
| Dates and names | All 9 dates in the text exist in the calendar for their year, and the Western years given alongside them agree. The 9 people named in the text were checked word for word against the source text. No matching entry was found in vol. 2. |
| English gates | 89 of 89 sentences passed the checks on the English text. |
This article is a reading of Kinsei Nihon kokuminshi, vol. 39: The Administration of Ii Naosuke. Tokutomi Sohō’s views are those of the 1920s and 1930s and may differ from current scholarship. The source text is a century old and may differ from current scholarship.
