Tokugawa Nariaki’s Campaign to Eliminate the Villains ―― Eight Years of Mito Domain Politics, from Kōka 1 to Kaei 5

A letter was delivered from the Mito domain’s lower residence to the senior councilor Abe Masahiro.OriginalOriginal

It was dated the sixteenth day of the eleventh month of Kaei 2 (1849).Original
The title read: “Matters heard concerning Okitsu Kurōdo, Naitō Tōichirō, and Imamura Kizaemon.”OriginalOriginal

This meant various matters heard concerning these three men: the chief retainer Okitsu Kurōdo, the junior councilor Naitō Tōichirō, and the personal steward Imamura Kizaemon.Original
Its contents enumerated, one by one, each man’s private misconduct.OriginalOriginal

The sender was Tokugawa Nariaki.Original
He was the former lord of Mito domain, who had been reprimanded by the shogunate in the fifth month of Kōka 1 (1844), forced into retirement, and kept away from domain affairs.OriginalOriginal

Regarding this letter, Sohō writes that, whether or not the facts were true, “it was by no means the means by which Nariaki achieved greatness.”Original
This is a judgment that it was not conduct that made him appear great in stature.Original

Domain government remained in the hands of the opposing faction

Nariaki began exchanging letters with the senior councilor Abe Masahiro from the seventh month of Kōka 2.Original
After that, he continued to appeal about domain government almost without interruption.Original
At times he brought his appeals to Abe’s fellow senior councilors as well.OriginalOriginal

In the third month of Kaei 2, an order came down from the shogun lifting the ban on his involvement in domain government.OriginalOriginal

Even so, domain government remained in the hands of the opposing faction.OriginalOriginal

Sohō gives two reasons for this.Original
First, the current domain lord, Tokugawa Yoshiatsu, was in fact the opposite of Nariaki, trusting the current Mito domain officials who belonged to Nariaki’s opposing faction.Original
Second, to the shogunate’s senior councilors as well, maintaining the status quo appeared relatively safe and relatively moderate.OriginalOriginal

To begin with, the lifting of the ban on Nariaki’s political involvement had been conditional.Original
Attached to it was a directive stating that those who had carried out the Tenpō reforms in Mito, such as Toda and Fujita, must not be reappointed.Original
Sohō believes that letting Nariaki exercise his abilities freely was not truly what either the shogun or the senior councilors wanted.OriginalOriginal

Nariaki’s lack of magnanimity

Sohō writes that the factional strife in Mito itself was not something Nariaki had created.Original
It was, he says, a legacy handed down from the previous generation.OriginalOriginal

But even if Nariaki alone cannot be blamed for enlarging this legacy, Sohō holds that his having encouraged it was “a fact utterly impossible to explain away.”Original
Sohō adds that even Fujita Tōko, whom Nariaki trusted closely, corroborates this.OriginalOriginal

Yet he was extremely severe in condemning the past misdeeds of others.Original
Whether it was his own child or his own retainer, he tended to regard anyone as an enemy the moment they failed to follow his opinion.Original
Furthermore, he often devised scheming plots against those who opposed him.OriginalOriginal

Those plots were far too blatant.OriginalOriginal

The magnanimity to swallow even what was impure, the capacity to turn enemies into allies—though he was a man of many arts, many abilities, many talents, and much strength, these qualities were scarce among his possessions, Sohō says.Original
His habitual petty tactics rather drove those who were not already close even further away, and pushed those who were distant further still.Original
Thus, during Nariaki’s lifetime, the factional strife in Mito is said to have progressed from a bad state to the worst possible state.OriginalOriginal

Though the writing is harsh, one might also read it as saying that having much talent and being able to accept others are two different things.

Nariaki’s letters and the shogunate’s response

In Nariaki’s letters there is a passage enumerating the favors that had been bestowed upon him.Original
First, it is noted that he was pardoned from his confinement, and that the whole domain was put at ease.Original
In the winter of Kōka 3, two or three of his retainers—Toda, Imai, and Fujita—were pardoned.Original
In the third month of Kaei 2 he was granted permission to serve as guardian; in the seventh month there was an informal indication as well; and in the ninth month, after a long interval, he was granted an audience.Original
On top of that, Nariaki writes.Original
The officials’ reasoning was that Nariaki had received these favors precisely because, over the past six years, they had completely altered and managed his governance.Original
They impressed this upon Yoshiatsu day and night, believing it to be the way of filial duty to reject Nariaki’s wishes all the more from now on and to carry through with the six years’ management, Nariaki writes.Original
He then continued, quoting, “The months and years flow like a stream, and this year too draws to a close”—meaning that time passes like flowing water, and little of the year remained.Original
If the year were allowed to pass like this, corrupt practices would grow worse and the number of offenders would increase, so he urged that a decision be handed down before the year’s end.Original
Sohō views that Nariaki’s insistence on troubling the shogunal government in order to remove his retainers was likely the reason the factional strife grew even larger in later days.OriginalOriginal

The shogunate’s hesitation and fears of poisoning

The shogunate hesitated to comply with this demand to “eliminate the villains.”Original
Sohō writes that this was because it feared that granting Nariaki’s demands might provoke new turmoil within the domain.Original
He adds, too, that it is not easy to say outright, even now, whether this fear was entirely groundless.Original
Nariaki, trying various approaches, brought this demand before Abe Masahiro and the other senior councilors.Original
To the shogunate’s response that a transfer of one or two men might be carried out at his own discretion, but that a larger number required patient deliberation, Nariaki countered as follows.Original
If he had retired without incident, it would be easy for father and son to consult and deal with one or two retainers, but as one who had received punishment, and since the officials served under shogunate orders to assist his son, their authority was strong.Original
He appealed that they believed acting against Nariaki’s wishes reflected better on their standing with the shogunate, and that this, rather, fulfilled his son’s filial duty.Original
Nariaki also explained to the senior councilors his reasons for taking precautions with his food.Original
Sohō comments that suspecting one’s retainers to this degree could hardly be called placing one’s sincere heart within another’s breast.Original
Nariaki also explained that his visits to his mother Hōjuin—his adoptive mother and the wife of his late elder brother Tokugawa Narinobu—had become infrequent, and that opportunities to meet Yoshiatsu were few.Original
As long as one or two villains were driving father and son apart, meeting face to face remained only superficial, with no true communication of heart.Original
Once the villains were removed and matters became clear, the way of filial piety and parental affection would be fully realized, he said.Original
Sohō writes that the shogunate’s leaders of the time must have been thoroughly troubled in dealing with Nariaki.Original
The senior councilors gave no response at all to the informal petition of the eleventh month of Kaei 2, until the third month of Kaei 4.Original
During that time, the rivalry between the two factions grew even more severe, and the Tokugawa Yoshinobu-kō den records that suspicions of assassination and poisoning even damaged the bonds between parent and child, and between friends.Original
Nariaki repeatedly urged a decision, and at times went so far as to declare vehemently that he had no choice but to abandon all household affairs.OriginalOriginal

The shogunate’s conciliatory measures and Nariaki’s victory

The shogunate’s councilors finally moved.Original
Whether they had grown weary of Nariaki’s ceaseless demands, or had come to recognize the reason in his arguments, or had judged that placating Nariaki and keeping his goodwill was necessary for the Tokugawa shogunal house at this juncture, is unclear.Original
Sohō lays out these three possibilities.Original
The shogunate’s councilors told Nariaki that, because Nakayama Bingo no kami was displeased, the matter had been discussed with Okitsu Noto no kami, and then wrote as follows.Original
You say there are wicked men in the upper residence, but “as I have already stated, matters involving many people cannot easily be dealt with.”Original
This meant that, as had been said before, dealing with many people all at once was not simple, but that once suitable successors for the two men were found, things would gradually be set right.Original
And then they drove home a warning.Original
From now on, he should not consult the senior councilors lightly, but should handle all matters in consultation with Yoshiatsu and the chief retainers.Original
Sohō supposes that this was meant to close the matter, and to forestall, in advance, any future attempt to reform Mito’s internal affairs with the help of the shogunate.Original
The document handed down from the senior councilors to the Mito chief retainer Okitsu Noto no kami instructed that Okitsu Kurōdo and Naitō Tōichirō be transferred to posts unrelated to household administration, that successors be chosen, and that this be conveyed to Yoshiatsu so that the appointment could be made in consultation with Nariaki as well.Original
It was also added, however, that this was not an official directive but merely something that had come to be rumored, and that it should be dealt with promptly, entirely at Mito’s own discretion.Original
It was not an order but an admonition.Original
Even so, Sohō writes, it must be called a great victory for Nariaki.OriginalOriginal

The thirteenth day of the eleventh month of Kaei 5 (1852): a return to the castle after ten years

Nariaki argued that this would elevate Naitō’s family status and conflict with precedent, but the decision had already been settled.Original
It was painful, he said, that every single personnel change led to an argument between father and son, naturally destroying their harmony.Original
The tide turned in the first month of Kaei 5 (1852).Original
The Edo chief retainer Ōta Tanba no kami was ordered down to Mito for a six-month posting, and Okada Shintarō came up to Edo in his place.Original
Sohō notes that the former was not of Nariaki’s faction, while the latter was.Original
Nariaki wrote that as soon as Ōta’s transfer down to Mito was announced, word came that the retainers had begun to devote themselves more to both scholarship and military training.Original
Naitō too, who had been transferred to guard captain and stationed permanently in Edo, was sent down to Mito by the end of the second month.Original
On the nineteenth day of the intercalary second month, the confinement imposed on Toda Ginjirō and Fujita Toranosuke, who had been punished together with Nariaki in the fifth month of Kōka 1 (1844), was lifted.Original
However, since an order had been given that they must not be reemployed, they still spent their days in idleness.Original
Sohō supposes that this was not achieved through harmony between father and son, but rather that Nariaki had forced it through with high-handed pressure.Original
On the thirteenth day of the intercalary second month, when his mother Yoshiko visited the Koishikawa residence, Yoshiatsu poured out his true feelings.Original
If he followed his father’s wishes, it was inconvenient for the shogunate; if he followed the words of the shogunate and the chief retainers, he went against his father’s wishes.Original
He said there was nothing left but to stop attending the castle altogether and to request retirement.Original
Then, on the thirteenth day of the eleventh month, Abe Masahiro summoned the chief retainer Nakayama Bingo no kami and conveyed the order for Nariaki to attend the castle.Original
It had been ten years, counting from both ends, since his last attendance at the castle on the eighteenth day of the fifth month of Tenpō 14 (1843).Original
A postscript to Nariaki’s letter read as follows.Original
Regarding the matter of the black ships briefly discussed in the castle: whether they would request trade and territory, or make their request by exploiting some cunning scheme of the Dutch barbarians, if the matter were settled with mere stopgap thinking, later trouble would surely follow — this, he said, was for the sake of the realm.Original
On the fifteenth day of the twelfth month, Princess Itonomiya of Arisugawa no Miya was married into the Koishikawa residence.Original
Sohō writes that the shogunate’s censure of the fifth month of Kōka 1 (1844) was, by the twelfth month of Kaei 5 (1852), completely and fully restored.OriginalOriginal

This article is a reading of Kinsei Nihon kokuminshi, The Situation before Perry’s Arrival. 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.