Manabe Akikatsu, a senior councilor (a key office of the shogunate). On the 30th day of the 12th month of Ansei 5 (1859), Manabe went to the palace and requested an audience with the emperor. At his first visit on the 24th day of the 10th month, the audience ended only with the bestowal of a cup, on the grounds of the emperor’s poor health.
On this day he had an audience at the Kogosho, received garments at the Jōgosho, and was bestowed 5 bolts of silk. Regarding the gifts presented from the Kantō, a document written by a court lady was also issued. Tokutomi Sohō writes that Manabe wanted to return as quickly as possible. Edo wanted to keep him in Kyoto and have him clear away not only those around the emperor but also men of resolve from various regions. Tokutomi Sohō sees it that, on the other hand, the emperor too wished for Manabe, a symbol of military pressure, to leave Kyoto quickly.
There is a document of instruction that was handed to Manabe at this time. It opens by stating that peaceful trade with foreign countries is a wound to the nation and a stain on the divine land. It then states that it was reassuring to hear that the shogunate, from the shogun down, was united in intending to return to the old policy of national seclusion. It continues that the court and the shogunate should join hands and quickly turn to good measures, and that unavoidable circumstances should for now be waited out. Tokutomi Sohō concludes that this assurance was entirely an empty promise, and that Manabe achieved his aim by making a false claim.
In the records of Regent Kujō, 4 draft texts leading up to this document survive. The first draft sought to have at least the single port of Hyōgo excluded, or at least to stop trade at Osaka. For the other ports it set a time limit of 3 or 5 years, demanded that they be surely taken back within that period, and even required a written pledge from the shogunate side along with a covering note from the shogun. Tokutomi Sohō comments that this was too clear and too precise for the shogunate. With each revision the draft grew weaker, and the figures of the single port of Hyōgo and the 3- or 5-year limit disappeared.
The circumstances behind this appear in the letters between Nagano Shuzen, Ii Naosuke’s agent in Kyoto, and the steward Utsugi Rokunojō. A reply letter of the 6th of the 12th month reports that the interrogation of the captured Kobayashi and Ukai was proceeding favorably, and that for the first time since spring things were going well. A letter of the 14th of the 12th month stated that ordering a daimyo’s execution would become a source of trouble. Tokutomi Sohō reads this as showing that, for anyone other than a daimyo, they were resolved to carry out even the harshest punishment without hesitation. The interrogation extended to Umeda Genjirō as well, and it is also written that there was a move to poison Kobayashi.
The prisoners were sent to Edo in bamboo palanquins. At Zeze, 100 foot soldiers cut their matchlock fuses, and unit commanders and a senior inspector provided guard. Tokutomi Sohō writes that not a single person remained among the common people advocating that foreigners should be driven out, and that Kyoto had become Nagano Shuzen’s stage alone. Even after Manabe was granted leave at the end of the year, he still remained in Kyoto for 50 days.
How the assurance of a return to national seclusion was crafted can be followed through the 4 draft texts preserved in Regent Kujō’s records, the exchange of letters between Nagano Shuzen and Utsugi Rokunojō, and the account in the Nagahashi no Tsubone-ki.
The Thirtieth Day of the Twelfth Month, the Kogosho
The thirtieth day of the twelfth month of Ansei 5 (1858).Original
At his first audience at court on the twenty-fourth day of the tenth month, he was merely granted an imperial cup, on the grounds that the emperor had a “slight indisposition.”Original
This time was different.OriginalOriginal
The record states, “We beg that you will graciously grant him an audience.”Original
It was a request that the emperor please agree to meet him.Original
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Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe Nagahashi no Tsubone-ki records the events of that day.Original
They met at the Kogosho, robes were bestowed at the Jōgosho, and a courtier privately brought a sword.Original
It is said that five bolts of silk were bestowed.Original
A nyōbō hōsho was issued concerning the gifts presented from the Kantō, and in the waiting room the Grand Wet-Nurse came out to receive him.OriginalOriginal
Tokutomi Sohō writes that Manabe’s longing to return home was “like an arrow.”Original
Edo expected him to remain in Kyoto and sweep away everyone from the emperor’s entourage to the various men of resolve.Original
The emperor, on the other hand, wished that Manabe himself, the symbol of military coercion, would leave Kyoto as soon as possible.Original
Kyoto was like a muddy paddy field; the longer one stayed, the deeper one’s feet sank.Original
Tokutomi Sohō’s reading is that Manabe, thinking this, disliked staying long, and the emperor, for the same reason, wished for his departure from the capital.OriginalOriginal
Returning to the Good Law of National Seclusion
At this time a proclamation was given to Manabe.Original
It opens by stating that peace and trade with the barbarians were “a flaw in the imperial realm, a defilement of the divine land,” and that this had troubled the imperial mind since the reign of the previous emperor.Original
This means a wound to the nation and a defilement of the divine land.OriginalOriginal
It then states that, according to what Manabe and Sakai reported upon coming up to the capital, it was heard that the shogun and, below him, the great elder and senior councilors were all of one mind that they should be brought back to the good law of national seclusion, which was truly a matter for relief.Original
It says that, having heard that the shogunate was united in its intention to return to the old law of national seclusion, this was truly a relief.Original
Beyond that, with the union of court and shogunate, a good policy should be turned to quickly, and as for unavoidable circumstances, “having fully understood and resolved the matter, for the present, it shall be a matter of forbearance.”Original
It continues, saying that since this was well understood, for now there would be forbearance.Original
It concludes by saying that, regarding the Jingū and the seas near the capital, as conveyed the other day, the sacred regalia transmitted through the realm should be honored, and the matter should be carefully considered.OriginalOriginal
In other words, Manabe gave assurance that the old law of national seclusion would eventually be restored.Original
Tokutomi Sohō declares that it goes without saying that this assurance was “a completely worthless promise.”Original
To put it precisely, Manabe made a false declaration and thereby achieved all or part of his aim.OriginalOriginal
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Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryEven after Manabe was granted leave at the end of the year, he still remained in Kyoto for fifty more days.Original
Why was that?
And as for the phrase “truly a matter for relief,” he raises the question of whether that was really so.OriginalOriginal
Hyōgo Alone, for Three Years or Five Years?
In the records of Regent Kujō there are four drafts leading up to the proclamation.Original
All of these are drafts negotiated between Kujō and Manabe, showing that the proclamation was settled only after repeated negotiation and consultation.OriginalOriginal
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Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe first draft was specific.Original
It asked whether, at the very least, Hyōgo alone could be excluded, or whether at least trade in Osaka could be halted.Original
For the other ports, “a grace period of three or five years” would be granted, and within that term they must without fail restore the old order.Original
Moreover, it demanded that a written pledge from the great elder and senior councilors and a covering letter from the shogun be issued.OriginalOriginal
Tokutomi Sohō assesses this draft as “too explicit and too precise” for the shogunate.Original
It was too explicit, too precise, to be kept.Original
It is no wonder, he says, that Manabe hesitated to accept it.Original
Tokutomi Sohō sees this description as matching the first draft.OriginalOriginal
The second draft was much the same but slightly relaxed; the condition remained that, even within the term, the mixed residence of barbarians in Osaka was to be strictly prohibited.Original
The third draft relaxed matters further.Original
The fourth draft stated that there was no other thought beyond the imperial reply of the twentieth day of the third month, that military preparations should be made with all effort to achieve swift restoration, and that, since trade and mixed residence in Osaka were close to the imperial capital, this should be carefully considered and repeatedly forestalled; in meaning and in tone this was almost identical to the final proclamation.Original
Tokutomi Sohō surmises that with each successive round it was relaxed further, until at last it became that proclamation.Original
The concrete figures of Hyōgo alone, and of three or five years, thus vanished.OriginalOriginal
Mito Must Have Done Something Serious
Tokutomi Sohō says that what best tells of the hidden developments behind this passage is the correspondence between Nagano Shuzen, Ii Naosuke’s representative in Kyoto, and Utsugi Rokunojō, Ii Naosuke’s steward.OriginalOriginal
A reply letter from Utsugi to Nagano, dated the sixth day of the twelfth month.Original
It states that the matter of Kobayashi and Ukai was proceeding favorably, with Kanō Shigesaburō and Watanabe Kinzaburō, constables attached to the Kyoto city magistrate, in charge and conducting a severe investigation.Original
In a letter seized from the Mito residence there was the phrase “the secret matter is to burst open,” said to be a code term meaning to cut in with desperate resolve.Original
Utsugi writes that this is an utterly wicked plot.OriginalOriginal
“Mito appears to have done something quite serious.”Original
It is saying that Mito appears to have done something quite serious.Original
“Since spring, for the first time, such an auspicious tone has come forth, it is said.”Original
Utsugi rejoices that, for the first time since spring, such an auspicious tone had emerged.OriginalOriginal
Was this truly the emperor’s own words? And even if it was, was it his true wish?Original
Tokutomi Sohō cautions that, since the other party was Regent Kujō, who might be called the leader of the opposing faction, it is not hard to surmise that there was some degree of maneuvering in the exchange.Original
Still, he admits that Manabe’s false accusations against Mito and the Righteous Faction were not entirely without effect.OriginalOriginal
The letter contains one more small scene.Original
Utsugi guesses it was likely the result of fear caused by the strict words sent from the Kantō, and writes, “I am greatly relieved.”Original
He says he was greatly relieved.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that one can read, even from this single box of sweets, that the Kantō had finally begun to act strictly.OriginalOriginal
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Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryMeasures of Leniency and Severity
The reply letter dated the fourteenth day of the twelfth month further reveals the inner circumstances.Original
It says the investigation has proceeded properly, but if it should come to ordering a death sentence among the daimyo, that would be the source of disturbance — “the measures of leniency and severity are a matter of the gravest importance.”Original
This means that distinguishing between lenient and severe measures was a matter of the utmost gravity.Original
Sohō does not overlook this point.Original
He writes that one must conclude that what they sought to avoid was only the death sentence for a daimyo, and that they were prepared to carry out, without hesitation, whatever severe punishment against anyone other than a daimyo.OriginalOriginal
彼等は唯だ大名を死罪に處するは騒動の基として、せんとしてゐる。其他は則ち知る可きのみ。如何なる嚴刑酷罰も、無違慮にドシドシ決行する覺悟であつたものと見ねばな
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe copy of the document taken from Kobayashi was submitted for Ii Naosuke’s inspection.Original
Sohō reads that Nagano and the others submitted the depositions of Kobayashi and the others to the emperor as well, aiming less to clear suspicion toward the Ii side than to destroy belief in Mito and the other members of the Righteous Faction.Original
He adds that there is no guarantee whether these depositions were honest confessions or confessions fabricated by the interrogators.OriginalOriginal
The prisoners in Kyoto were sent down to Edo in bamboo palanquins.Original
Sakai had hidden these documents, it seems, because he feared that Nagano and the others would apply “rough treatment” and bring about a serious incident.Original
But pressure from those around him eventually forced Sakai to reveal the secret.OriginalOriginal
The order of the plan was also written down.Original
In Kyoto, starting from the statements of Kobayashi and Ukai, confessions were to be extracted reaching as far as Konoe, the father and child of Takatsukasa, Nijō, Madenokōji, and Ōhara Sanmi.Original
From the Kantō, as soon as the documents arrived, it was to be conveyed to Kyoto for consultation that, since court nobles were complicit in the rebellion, “there is no telling when disorder in the realm might arise.”Original
It says there is no telling when disorder in the realm might occur.Original
First the charges were to be left undetermined and the accused kept under restraint; once the matter of the treaty was settled, the censure would be pronounced, and afterward it would depend on the manner of coordination.Original
Sohō points out that this was their scheme.OriginalOriginal
The same letter also reports that some quarter had attempted to poison Kobayashi.Original
It is said this was a plot to destroy evidence through poisoning.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that whether or not this is true, one should recognize how hostile the atmosphere in Kyoto was at the time.OriginalOriginal
Nagano Yoshikoto’s One-Man Stage
The investigation spread.Original
Umeda Genjirō too was one of that group.Original
There is a complaint attacking the laxness regarding Naitō Masatsuna, the Fushimi magistrate in charge of policing the imperial court, saying no one knew what he was investigating.OriginalOriginal
On the seventh day, an imperial edict again brought up the matter that Sakai had promised Konoe that, once the regent returned to Kujō, there would be no investigation in Kyoto regarding the Ichijō matter of Mito.Original
It is said that the regent Kujō was “greatly troubled,” utterly at a loss.Original
Sohō says that Sakai’s flattering words had created this trouble.OriginalOriginal
What emerges here is the phrase “cut off completely all the evil and treachery within.”Original
It means to eliminate every trace of internal evil and treachery.Original
Sohō regards this as likely the very thing that Nagano and Utsugi, acting in concert between east and west, had whispered into Ii’s ear, with Ii in turn spurring on Manabe, and Manabe spurring on Sakai and Naitō.Original
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the greater part of Manabe’s activity was the execution of a scheme that Nagano and Utsugi had drawn up through Ii, he writes.OriginalOriginal
It is said that the court nobles too split into two factions.Original
Sohō says that in either case, the scheme targeted Mito, but whether it was actually true is highly doubtful.Original
The journey of the bamboo palanquins was under heavy guard; at Zeze, a hundred foot soldiers stood ready with matchlocks lit, and unit commanders and senior inspectors provided escort.Original
In Edo, because Kusakabe Isaji and Ukai Kōkichi were blaming each other for the crime, it became necessary to summon Kōkichi down to Edo.Original
Because of the affair of the political merchant Suzuki Tōkichirō as well, Ii was at the interrogation court every night, so much so that even when Utsugi came to visit, he could not easily meet him.OriginalOriginal
Not a single person who could be called a member of the Righteous Faction remained among the commoners; all had been seized, and those not seized had gone into hiding; the retainers who should have served as advisers to the court nobles had also been seized by shogunal officials, leaving only the Prince of Shōren-in and a handful of court nobles such as Konoe, Takatsukasa, and Sanjō.Original
If one were forced to seek out someone who stood against Nagano Yoshikoto without yielding, there was no choice but to summon Hashimoto Sanai up from Edo, but Sanai too had now come to share the same fate as Kobayashi and Ukai.Original
Thus, at that time, Kyoto was “Nagano Yoshikoto’s one-man stage,” he writes.OriginalOriginal
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Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe senior councilor and the shoshidai, who received five bolts of silk before the emperor.Original
In their hands was a single proclamation stating a return to national seclusion.Original
On that same day, the bamboo palanquins went down the Tōkaidō toward Edo, while at Zeze a hundred foot soldiers kept their matchlocks lit.Original
A paper on which was written “relief,” and the smell of burning matchlock cord.Original
Might one ask which of the two was the true face of Kyoto that winter?Original
| Source text | Kinsei Nihon kokuminshi, vol. 41: The Ansei Purge, part 2 (1940). National Diet Library Digital Collections (PDM). PID 1228553 |
| Checked against | Ishin shiryō kōyō, vol. 3. PID 1041909 |
| Dates and names | All 5 dates in the text exist in the calendar for their year, and the Western years given alongside them agree. Of the 7 people named in the text, 7 also appear in Ishin shiryō kōyō, vol. 3. |
| English gates | 108 of 108 sentences passed the checks on the English text. |
This article is a reading of Kinsei Nihon kokuminshi, vol. 41: The Ansei Purge, part 2. 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.
