To Shimazu Nariakira, who was in Edo, two completely opposite reports arrived from Satsuma with the same date and the same addressee. On the 2nd day of the 2nd month of Kaei 4 (1851), Nariakira succeeded to the family headship at age 42. Behind this lay a weakness in the report submitted by his father, Shimazu Narioki, concerning Ryūkyū.
Earlier in Satsuma, a disturbance called the Takasaki Purge had occurred, in which Kondō, Takasaki, and Yamada had lost their lives. Sohō gives four reasons why the side opposing Nariakira failed to make use of this opportunity. Nariakira’s own strength, the efforts of relatives and close friends, and the sympathy of Abe Masahiro, who was at the center of the shogunate. And the weakness in Narioki’s handling of the Ryūkyū affair.
Narioki submitted a report to the shogunate on the 28th day of the 6th month of Kaei 3. Its content was that the French had withdrawn, and although the British remained, the people’s hearts were settled. In fact, on the 7th day of the 11th month of Kaei 2, a British ship had come to Ryūkyū and demanded the opening of trade. The Satsuma authorities kept this concealed until the summer of Kaei 3, continuing to report only that things were peaceful.
If they told the truth, it would contradict the father’s report; if they stayed silent, they themselves would also be deceiving. On the 23rd day of the 8th month of Kaei 3, Nariakira wrote a long letter to Date Munenari, the lord of Uwajima Castle, revealing his troubled state of mind. He wrote that this was more serious than the padded report of Kōka 1. Munenari conveyed this to the shogunate side, and Abe Masahiro replied that although there would be no formal punishment for the time being, the facts should be quietly reported. On top of that, he stated that Narioki must now retire.
On the 13th day of the 11th month, Tsutsui Masanori, who was also Nariakira’s teacher in scholarship, summoned the chief retainer Shimazu Shōsō and the guard captain Yoshitoshi Naka. He told them that the wish for tea utensils would not be granted, and that there was no choice but to report quickly and have him retire, even handing over a copy in his own hand. On the 1st day of the 12th month, Narioki requested retirement, citing his age and chronic illness. The shogunate approved this on the 7th day of the 12th month, and ordered that the remaining British be made to leave quickly. Even so, those around him added that Narioki would continue to direct matters concerning the foreigners even after his retirement.
Nariakira endured this and succeeded to the family headship. On the 5th day of the 3rd month of Kaei 4, he had Date Munenari confirm Abe Masahiro’s thinking once again. Abe’s answer was that if the matter were settled by the time of the next attendance at the shogunate, it would be to Nariakira’s credit. The administrators who had tried to corner Nariakira during the Takasaki Purge found themselves, in a reversal, held in check by the Ryūkyū affair. While unable to say for certain whether this was Nariakira’s own design or simply how things turned out, Sohō writes that the child rose to power without wounding the father.
Contradictory Reports from Satsuma
Two reports arrived from Satsuma to Shimazu Nariakira in Edo.Original
One was addressed by Shimazu Shōsō to Shimazu Iwami.Original
Its gist was that Ryūkyū was peaceful and there was nothing to worry about.Original
The other was a confidential report from Shimazu Bungo and Suekawa Ōmi, addressed to the same Shimazu Iwami.Original
Its content was the exact opposite.Original
It said that Ryūkyū was unsettled and the matter was not simple.Original
The same date.Original
The same addressee.Original
And completely opposite content.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes, “Thus Nariakira received, at exactly the same date and time, reports that were opposite in content: on the surface, peaceful and uneventful; behind the scenes, troubled and unsettled.”Original
He then goes on to ask this.Original
How did Nariakira intend to deal with this?OriginalOriginal
右者伺越相成候而も、表立指圖は相成兼候事にて、兼而御委任も有之義、且此間御暇之節被相達候通り、何れ之道被遊御安心候樣取計方肝要にて候得者、唐國え爲懸合候得共、はかどり兼候はゞ、時宜次第內密薩摩守相談所存之通り、重々念入琉人を以、在留英人え爲懸合候而不苦。尤不伺越臨機之取計有之候とも、聊後日薩摩守不念には不相成事に而、萬端厚被致熟慮、後患無之樣精々念入被取計、取締等は彌嚴重に被相心得候樣、明年參府迄に落著候はゞ、別而手柄之義と存候
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe Man Who Escaped the Whirlpool of the Takasaki Purge
This was the so-called Takasaki Purge.Original
Men such as Kondō, Takasaki, and Yamada lost their lives.Original
That he narrowly managed to escape from the midst of it cannot be called mere coincidence.Original
The disturbance was exactly the opportunity Nariakira’s opposing faction should have seized.Original
Why did Nariakira’s opposing faction let this perfect opportunity slip away?Original
Sohō gives four reasons.Original
First, Nariakira himself was too powerful to be easily attacked.Original
Second, relatives and close friends such as Kuroda, Date, Nanbu, and Okudaira worked to protect him.Original
Third, Abe Masahiro, the central figure in the shogunate’s council, was an acquaintance and sympathizer of Nariakira.Original
And fourth was what Sohō calls the “most powerful reason of all” ―― that Shimazu Narioki’s handling of the Ryūkyū affair had a very serious weakness.Original
If the shogunate were to investigate this openly and thoroughly, it would become a grave matter for the Shimazu house.Original
Sohō sees it this way: because Nariakira’s faction held this weakness in their grasp, the opposition could in no way let the splashes of the Takasaki Purge reach Nariakira.Original
It was rather Nariakira’s side that held this weakness.OriginalOriginal
Please consult the original page images for this source.
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe Report That Read “Withdrawn Without Incident”
The report Narioki submitted to the shogunate was dated the twenty-eighth day of the sixth month of Kaei 3 (1850).OriginalOriginal
It stated, “The French withdrew without incident; the English have not yet left, but the sentiment of the people throughout the domain has returned to normal, and there is nothing to cause concern.”Original
This meant that the French had withdrawn without trouble, the English were still staying on, but the hearts of the people throughout the domain had returned to normal, and there was no cause for concern.OriginalOriginal
Furthermore, it said, the English who remained were “behaving in an entirely peaceable manner,” and upon seeing the sick or the blind would offer to treat them, sometimes giving them ointment or sweets.Original
They urged the Satsuma people to learn Western medicine, but since Chinese medical arts had long been studied and were sufficient, they responded to this suitably ―― the report continued in this tone.OriginalOriginal
But the reality behind this was entirely different.OriginalOriginal
On the seventh day of the eleventh month of Kaei 2 (1849), an English ship had come to Ryūkyū, submitted a letter from the minister of state for military affairs, and demanded the opening of trade.Original
The situation was, Sohō writes, “an extremely grave state of affairs.”OriginalOriginal
嘉永二年十一月七日、英國船琉球に來舶し、軍機大臣の書面を提出し、交易開始を要求し、事體頗る容易ならざる情勢であつた
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryUntil the summer of Kaei 3 (1850), the Satsuma authorities had concealed this fact and continued to report only that all was peaceful and uneventful.OriginalOriginal
To Be Loyal Is to Fail in Filial Duty
Nariakira was at a loss.OriginalOriginal
If he told the shogunate the facts as they were, it would expose his father Narioki’s error.Original
If he silently let his father’s report stand, it would amount to falsifying the facts.OriginalOriginal
So he confided his distress to his close friend Date Munenari.Original
Munenari was the lord of Uwajima Castle, the son of the shogunate bannerman Yamaguchi Naokatsu, who had become the adopted son of Date Munetada, and was at the time known as “one of the wise daimyo.”OriginalOriginal
That letter, dated the twenty-third day of the eighth month of Kaei 3 (1850), is long.OriginalOriginal
Nariakira raises three points from it.Original
The matter of the English ship coming and proposing trade, the matter of negotiations with China, and the matter of their demand for Japan’s submission ―― “these three matters were not reported, and to have kept them secret is by no means acceptable.”Original
This means that keeping these three matters secret without reporting them cannot possibly be excused.OriginalOriginal
He compares the present state of Ryūkyū to an illness.Original
“It has already become a condition affecting the heart and lungs, so it is far too late, and a complete recovery cannot be counted on.”Original
It was already in a state as if the heart and lungs were diseased, too late to treat, and a full recovery was unlikely.OriginalOriginal
And of his father, he writes this.
In Kōka 1 (1844), when a French ship came to Ryūkyū, there had been an incident in which, although only a little over one hundred fifty guards were sent, the shogunate was told that over seven hundred had been dispatched.Original
That had arisen from Zusho Shōzaemon’s “ill scheming,” and since the matter was minor and would also serve as a basis for later correction, he had privately consulted with Kuroda Nagahiro and others and confidentially reported the truth to the throne.Original
But this time, Nariakira writes, the matter is more serious than that, and discrepancies with the facts have piled up repeatedly.OriginalOriginal
先年人數相違之節者(弘化元年佛船琉球に來航の時、守衞兵百五十人餘を派遣し、幕府え七百餘人と屆出たる事實を斥す)笑左衞門(調所)惡智より事起り、其上事柄も從此節者輕く、又者以後改正之爲にも可相成哉と、美濃守(黑田長溥)等え及內談、事實及內奏候得共
Open the original page at the National Diet Library“Given the circumstances you are aware of, it is very difficult to bring about, and I am extremely at a loss.”Original
This means that, given the circumstances he was aware of, things did not go as he wished, and he was truly at a loss.OriginalOriginal
In this one phrase, Sohō says, one can imagine the various circumstances that lay coiled between the father and son, Narioki and Nariakira.OriginalOriginal
“Ōsumi Too Must Now Retire”
Having received the letter, Date Munenari took action.Original
On the twenty-fifth, the rusui was summoned.Original
Munenari’s memorandum survives.Original
Munenari conveyed Nariakira’s distress and asked whether he should report the matter privately to the shogun or remain silent.Original
He said that if the private report led to some official ruling, Nariakira would bear the name of an unfilial son, harm would come to Narioki as well, and it would in turn cause internal confusion that would hinder handling the foreign threat.Original
“Well, well, this is outrageous conduct, though not begun today” — meaning that such improper handling was nothing new.Original
He then added a conjecture.Original
Perhaps Narioki, fully aware of the details, had covered things up out of concern that it might affect the course of his own promotion.Original
At the time Narioki held the rank of Senior Fourth Rank Upper Grade and the title of councilor, and he hoped to be promoted to Junior Third Rank on the occasion of the Ryūkyū prince’s visit to Edo.Original
Sohō suggests that what Abe meant by “the course of his own promotion” was probably this.Original
Munenari defended Narioki, saying that it was Narioki who did not know the circumstances, that the chief retainer Ikariyama Shōsō and others had probably not explained matters to him in detail, and that in the end it was the fault of Shōsō and his like.Original
Abe replied.Original
He said that ordinarily a public ruling would be natural, but disturbance within a great house was not something the shogunate desired; knowing the facts would also help in deliberation, so Munenari should understand that for the time being there would be no formal ruling, and should make the private report accordingly.Original
After Munenari expressed his thanks, a remark came from Abe’s mouth.Original
“Well, I believe Ōsumi must now retire.”Original
That is, Narioki must now retire.Original
“This is the one great point — a thousand ravines and ten thousand streams all converge into this single conclusion.”Original
All currents, he meant, converged on this single point.Original
Everyone, he added, had been waiting for this very remark to come from the councilor’s mouth.Original
Munenari responded at once.Original
He said that the matter of Narioki’s retirement had already come up in discussion the other day, and it appeared that Kuroda Nagahiro and other close relatives had come to an understanding on it.Original
He nonetheless pressed the point that there should be “no formal ruling” — that is, no punishment should be handed down.Original
Outwardly, documents concealing the matter were issued in Narioki’s name, while behind the scenes, documents stating the plain facts were sent in Nariakira’s name, passing through Munenari’s hands, until they reached Abe Masahiro.OriginalOriginal
及內內奏時に相成、修理如懸念、萬々一何等御沙汰筋御座候而は、不孝の名をおひ、又大隅身分にかゝり候のみならず、却而內輪混亂を引起し、中山(琉球)之處置も不行屆、內患彌增候計にて、外患の手當にも差障可申と相考候間
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryA Chief Retainer on the Verge of Tears
Narioki had hoped for promotion to Junior Third Rank, but this was refused for lack of precedent, and he had privately petitioned instead to receive a tea utensil as a gift.Original
About half a month before this, on the morning of the thirteenth day of the eleventh month.Original
Tsutsui Masanori, senior rusui of the Western Enceinte, summoned the Satsuma domain chief retainer Shimazu Shōsō and the guard captain Yoshitoshi Naka.Original
Tsutsui Masanori was Nariakira’s teacher in scholarship, and also one of the capable shogunate officials trusted by Abe Masahiro.Original
Kuroda Nagahiro, Nanbu Nobuyuki, Okudaira Masataka, and other close relatives, together with Date Munenari, had consulted and were planning to urge Narioki to retire on the occasion of the tea utensil grant.Original
The summons on this day was made in accordance with that intention.Original
Tsutsui said the following.Original
He had already put in the private petition to Abe Masahiro, but since Abe’s manner in responding seemed suspicious, he pressed him further, whereupon Abe said that if the reward were forced through and some trouble arose, it would render worthless the whole of Narioki’s lifetime of service.Original
Having gone to the castle yesterday to inquire, this was how matters stood.Original
At this point, since there was “no other course left to take,” he said there was nothing to do but explain matters thoroughly and have Narioki resolve to retire.Original
The two men, perhaps having anticipated this to some degree, showed no particular surprise, only a look of embarrassment.Original
Tsutsui wrote out a draft of his statement in his own hand and gave it to them.Original
He said that showing this would make it easier to report the matter, and that it would forestall any suspicion on Narioki’s part.Original
The two men were greatly pleased.Original
Tsutsui went on to press the point further.Original
He told them to consult with Nanbu Nobuyuki and submit the matter as soon as possible.Original
Otherwise, he said, if some ruling were to come down in the near future, it would be an outrageous affair.Original
At this, the two men agreed without offering a single word of excuse.Original
Tsutsui remarked with sympathy that Narioki, being “an utterly honest and cautious man,” would surely be shocked, and according to the memorandum, Shōsō in particular looked “on the verge of tears, all but weeping.”Original
Sohō comments on this passage as follows.Original
“One can see how Tsutsui Masanori, carrying out the intent of Councilor Abe, sternly ordered the ruling urging retirement while wrapping his iron fist in a velvet glove.”Original
Inside the soft wrapping was an iron fist.OriginalOriginal
尤是は段々申聞候內、大隅守樣(齊興)御性質は、至而御正直にて、御小心なる御方に候得ば、嘸々御驚も可被成と、氣之毒にも存上、又御案事も申候へ共。各方より不及是非所之譯柄能々御納得被成、御自身より御決心被成候趣、可被申上などゝ、段々主從之情合を察し候而、申聞候故にも可有之と存候へば實人心之誠難止所
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryCiting Hemorrhoids as the Reason
On the first day of the twelfth month of Kaei 3 (1850), Narioki submitted a private petition for retirement.Original
This was about one year after the Takasaki Purge.OriginalOriginal
The petition stated that he had received private instructions concerning the return of the Englishmen staying in Ryūkyū and had made every effort in the matter, but that, in his own words, “I have reached over sixty years of age, and when my chronic hemorrhoid ailment flares up, I suffer great difficulty,” and since his heir Shuri no daibu had now reached a suitable age, he wished to hand over the family headship and retire.OriginalOriginal
Sohō declares that this was not something Narioki submitted of his own free will, but entirely the result of being compelled by the shogunate authorities — that is, admonished by Abe Masahiro, the very authority in question.OriginalOriginal
On the seventh day of the twelfth month, the shogunate approved the retirement petition without objection, and at the same time ordered that, regarding Ryūkyū, the departure of the remaining Englishmen be arranged “as soon as possible.”OriginalOriginal
Yet those around Narioki still resorted to petty tricks.Original
In the directive to the King of Ryūkyū, they added that even after Narioki’s retirement, “regarding the matter of the foreigners, it is requested that instructions continue to be given as before, and this is indeed the intention.”Original
That is, the matter of the foreigners would continue to be directed by Narioki even after his retirement, just as before.OriginalOriginal
Sohō calls this “an outrageous statement, beyond words.”Original
He asks how such senseless treatment could be, when it was precisely the Ryūkyū problem that made it all the more necessary for Nariakira to succeed to the domain.OriginalOriginal
畢竟琉球問題があればこそ、齊彬をして襲封せしむる必要は、殊更ら加はりつゝあるに、異國人一條を是迄通り隱居となる齊興が指揮することは、何たる非常識なる仕打であらう
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryEven so, Nariakira endured it in silence.OriginalOriginal
On the second day of the second month of Kaei 4 (1851), Nariakira succeeded to the domain at the age of forty-two.Original
He held the ranks of Junior Fourth Rank Upper Grade, Middle Captain of the Left Division of the Inner Palace Guards, and Governor of Satsuma.OriginalOriginal
One Who Turned to the Offensive
On the fifth day of the third month of Kaei 4 (1851), Nariakira once again entrusted Date Munenari with the task of confirming Abe Masahiro’s true intentions.OriginalOriginal
Abe answered.Original
If the matter was settled by the time of the daimyo’s attendance at Edo the following year, it would be “a matter of especial merit,” he said.OriginalOriginal
In September 1845 he left England by sailing ship, and on the second day of May the following year — the sixth day of the fourth month of Kōka 3 (1846) — he landed in Ryūkyū, staying about nine years at Gokokuji in Naminoue, Naha.Original
Though it was called a stay, it was tantamount to imprisonment; enduring every kind of persecution, he never once neglected dispensing medicine, giving examinations, and treating patients, and he also carried out smallpox vaccinations and translated the Bible into the Ryūkyū language.OriginalOriginal
A person of this sort was not something for the shogunate or Satsuma to worry much about; there was something else that could not be so easily dismissed.OriginalOriginal
The Satsuma administrators who had tried to use the Takasaki Purge as leverage to place Nariakira in a disadvantageous position now had their fate placed in Nariakira’s hands because of the Ryūkyū incident.Original
The attacking side and the defending side had switched places.Original
Was this the result of Nariakira’s deliberate scheming, or was it a case of “when water arrives, the channel forms itself” — a natural course of events that led there on its own?Original
Sohō writes, “That is not something to be asserted definitively here,” withholding judgment.OriginalOriginal
The one certain thing is that the child rose to prominence without harming the father.
A man who wasted neither of the two letters that arrived on the same date, but made full use of both.OriginalOriginal
是を以被仰上候得ば、少しは被仰上候にも被成宜、且大隅守樣御疑念も出申間敷と存候間、則是を進候と申、兼而之演舌案、相渡候所、大に悅び、兩人より段々御心入之御儀、難有と申書面を一覽致候
Open the original page at the National Diet Library| Source text | Kinsei Nihon kokuminshi, The Situation before Perry’s Arrival (1929). National Diet Library Digital Collections (PDM). PID 3431221 |
| Checked against | Ishin shiryō kōyō, vol. 1 (1937). PID 1046665 |
| Dates and names | All 9 dates in the text exist in the calendar for their year, and the Western years given alongside them agree. Of the 6 people named in the text, 6 also appear in Ishin shiryō kōyō, vol. 1. |
| English gates | 131 of 131 sentences passed the checks on the English text. |
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.
