The Unscheduled Castle Visit of Owari, Mito, and Echizen ―― From the Second Month to the Twelfth Month of Ansei 5

A messenger from Mito came to Nakane Yukie, a retainer of Matsudaira Yoshinaga.Original
The message was that they wished Yoshinaga to go to the castle as well and join the consultation.OriginalOriginal

When Nakane hastened to relay this, Yoshinaga was in the middle of preparing to visit the great elder Ii Naosuke.Original
Sending his attendants away and thinking it over for a while, he replied that being invited by the men of the three branch houses to attend the castle for the sake of the state was “a matter of true honor to my house and to myself.”Original
However, he added, since it would be after he had visited the great elder, he might be a little late.
The messenger went home delighted, saying “he must surely be pleased.”Original
This meant that Mito would surely be satisfied.OriginalOriginal

Tokutomi Sohō writes that Yoshinaga was invited on the very morning of the castle visit.Original
There was thus almost no time to prepare.OriginalOriginal

The Hem of the Hakama

First, the matter of the treaty.Original
Yoshinaga argued that signing the treaty without consulting the lords and reporting it by formal document was “truly a violation of the imperial command,” and that if the shogun defied the imperial command, the lords in turn would not obey the shogunate’s orders either.Original
Ii only repeated, “on this matter, I must ask to be entirely excused.”Original
He meant that on this one point alone, he begged for leniency.Original
When asked how, then, he intended to atone for this offense, Ii answered that since the senior councilors would not be adequate to the task, he himself would go up to Kyoto and offer an explanation.Original
When would he depart?
He said that, unlike a person of low rank, he had preparations to make, and that he would decide after going to the castle and consulting with the senior councilors.OriginalOriginal

Tokutomi Sohō observes that Ii seems to have seriously considered going up to Kyoto himself.Original
He suggests that, having connections with the Kujō house and confidence in his familiarity with the situation in Kyoto, Ii must have flattered himself that once he bestirred himself, the idle arguments of the court nobles would at once subside.Original
But Sohō also writes that Ii had probably not yet fully grasped how greatly the general mood in Kyoto was changing.OriginalOriginal

Tokutomi Sohō writes that although the ostensible purpose of Yoshinaga’s visit was the matter of the provisional treaty’s signing, his true intent probably lay rather in the question of the shogunal successor.Original
Ii replied that since the inquiry had already been made, an announcement should come as early as tomorrow.Original
Was it an inquiry naming a specific candidate?Original
No, precedent was that the inquiry was made “only as to the successor,” that is, only asking that a successor be established.Original
What was the wish of Kyoto?Original
“It is regarded as a joyous matter,” came the answer.OriginalOriginal

Here Yoshinaga urged postponement.Original
Moreover, the matter of the successor was a celebratory event for the house.Original
If the celebratory announcement were made together with the treaty signing at a time when the imperial wrath could not be gauged, it would only further defy heaven’s will, and matters that might otherwise be settled would fail to be settled.Original
Therefore, he argued, it would be fitting in both reason and circumstance to hold the celebration only after the treaty matter had been settled and accepted.Original
Tokutomi Sohō observes that this last hope of the Hitotsubashi faction was probably to delay even just the announcement, and in that interval to find some expedient.OriginalOriginal

Ii was extremely displeased.Original
He insisted forcefully that nothing could now be done since tomorrow had already been decided, and asked what harm there could be in Kyoto if the lord of Kishū were put forward.Original
At that moment an attendant announced the hour for the castle audience.Original
Ii said, “today ends here,” and tried to rise from his seat.Original
Yoshinaga “seized without ceremony” the hem of Ii’s hakama and held him down.Original
He pressed Ii, saying that if this day passed nothing would be gained, and that if his request were not granted here, he himself would go to the castle and press the argument before the shogun.Original
The above is from Yoshinaga’s side’s record, which Tokutomi Sohō describes as “a truly unseemly state of affairs.”OriginalOriginal

In Ii’s side’s Kōyōkata Hiroku, only the treaty question is recorded, and the matter of the successor does not appear.Original
As for the castle visit, it states that Ii flatly refused, calling it “a thing that can by no means be permitted.”Original
It is also recorded that as Yoshinaga left, he was “in a state of extraordinary anger,” and that at the inner gate he handed something like a letter to the head of his escort, which someone saw carried by fast horse to Mito.Original
Comparing the two accounts, Tokutomi Sohō writes that one can imagine this was no ordinary meeting, but one charged with an unsettled atmosphere.OriginalOriginal

Inside the Screen

When Yoshinaga went to the castle following the great elder, Nariaki and his son, along with Yoshikumi, were already within the castle.OriginalOriginal

Yoshinaga met Nariaki in the upper chamber and heard the plan for the day.Original
First, they would press the charge of the offense of signing in violation of the imperial command.Original
Next, they would raise the proposal of “recommending the worthy,” that is, recommending Yoshinaga to assist in the great affairs of state.Original
Then they would move to the matter of the succession, and depending on how things went, even the removal of the great elder; if the matter was not settled at that meeting, they would ask for it to be resolved before the shogun himself.OriginalOriginal

It was said, “there is business before the shogun.”Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that once it was said to be the shogun’s business, even the three branch houses could do nothing about it.Original
Later it was learned that, in a secluded place unknown to others, a screen had been set up, and behind it they had shut themselves in, discussing “trying this and trying that.”Original
Sakai Tadaaki, who had been secretly appointed shoshidai, went in and out from behind the screen from time to time.Original
Tokutomi Sohō observes that since Tadaaki’s role as the great elder’s representative in Kyoto had already been decided, he was probably serving as a spy on this occasion.OriginalOriginal

Though the Mito side repeatedly pressed for word, past noon there was still no response.Original
Tadaaki came out and made idle conversation that amounted to nothing.Original
The same happened with Yoshinaga.Original
He had gone to the castle around the half hour of the Dragon, and it was not until nearly the half hour of the Sheep (around three in the afternoon) that the meeting finally took place.Original
Tokutomi Sohō writes that this single fact alone shows that they let the morning spirit slip away and waited for the evening mood, avoiding the sharp energy and aiming instead for weariness.OriginalOriginal

There is also the matter of the midday meal.Original
According to Fukuchi Gen’ichirō’s Bakumatsu Seijika, the inspector Komai Sakyō, seeing that the three lords had still not eaten past noon, asked whether a midday meal should be brought from the kitchen, whereupon Ii answered sharply that since they had come to the castle uninvited, they must surely have brought their own boxed meals, and that there was no need to offer them a midday meal.Original
Surely he had brought his own box lunch, Ii said, so there was no need for rice in hot water.Original
The same memoir adds that Naitō was in such a state that he could not even answer without first hearing Ii’s wishes.OriginalOriginal

*Bakumatsu Seijika* further records an account said to have been heard from elders of the former shogunate.Original
According to this, the various senior councilors said they should turn the visitors away by claiming the shogun was indisposed, but Ii would not yield, saying that he himself would present their petition and arrange an audience, withdraw from the room, and let them state their views fully in a direct audience, and that if he were reprimanded for this he would resign his post without complaint; the argument went back and forth until three in the afternoon.OriginalOriginal

Sohō dismisses this as “an account that makes Ii look far too good.”Original
Ii had met with Yoshinobu the previous day and with Yoshinaga that very morning, so he could well guess that Nariaki and the others were not about to make some sudden, unplanned direct appeal.Original
On one hand there was probably genuine deliberation of various kinds, but on the other, might he not also have deliberately let the time pass at leisure?
Sohō observes that, as can be seen from his favoring of his retainer Nagano Shuzen and his close attendant Utsugi Rokunojō, Ii was a man who used stratagems and liked to use them.OriginalOriginal

Yoshinaga’s Exclusion from the Audience and the Deadlock in the Argument

Once the meeting began, an unexpected derailment occurred.Original
Nariaki said that since Echizen had also come along at their invitation, he wished to speak together with him, and asked that he be called in.Original
Ii and Ōta responded, “that would indeed be proper,” and Naitō rose to go call Yoshinaga.Original
First they would hear the wishes of the three houses, and see Yoshinaga separately afterward.Original
The senior councilor Wakisaka Yasuori rose and stopped Yoshinaga, who had been about to come forward.OriginalOriginal

Sohō writes that this was an utterly unexpected blow to Nariaki and the others.Original
Nariaki was fifty-nine years old, hard of hearing, and found debate difficult.Original
Yoshinaga was thirty-one, full of vigor, and was regarded as the spearhead of this group and the representative in charge of practical matters.Original
Being unable to have him present, it is said, was “like having one’s lawyer taken away in court.”OriginalOriginal

The argument proceeded on three points.Original
On the matter of the violation of the imperial order, they fiercely pressed Ii, demanding that the great elder or the senior councilors go up to Kyoto at once.Original
Ii and the others accepted this and answered, “that is entirely reasonable,” saying they too thought so and intended, after consultation, to go up to Kyoto.Original
There was no further way to press the point.Original
They said that the announcement of the adopted heir was ill-timed given the circumstances, and that if it was claimed Owari was too young, then Gyōbukyō should be put forward instead.Original
Ii answered that the matter had already been submitted for approval, and that orders had already been given earlier to the officials in charge, so any further delay now could not be arranged.Original
Last came the matter of “recommending the worthy.”Original
When Nariaki said that Yoshinaga, being foremost in both talent and virtue and in public regard, should be placed above the great elder and allowed to consult with the shogun, for the good of the realm, Ii fell silent.OriginalOriginal

The whole party withdrew from the presence at around the hour of the monkey (four in the afternoon).Original
After being kept waiting five or six hours, the interview itself lasted only about an hour.Original
The matter of the violated order was accepted, the matter of the adopted heir was cut off with the claim that it was already settled, and the matter of recommending the worthy was deferred for later consultation.Original
Sohō records that nothing of substance was achieved at all.OriginalOriginal

Loud Laughter

That day, to learn the rumors circulating within the castle, Yoshinaga sent his retainer Hashimoto Sanai to see Iwase Tadanari.Original
Sanai’s report back was as follows.Original
He had expected that after the negotiations ended, the inner chambers would be somber, but contrary to expectation, the great elder and the senior councilors were roaring with laughter.Original
Ōkubo Tadahiro, later known as Ichiō, could not bear it, and using the pretext of asking about the Kyoto matter, met with the great elder and asked what business had brought the three houses to the castle so unexpectedly that day; the great elder, laughing, said that various things had been said but nothing of much consequence, and that the old lord who had been spoken of as fearsome as a demon god turned out to be nothing much after all.OriginalOriginal

Sohō writes that Iwase may have exaggerated somewhat to make Yoshinaga look good, but that this was probably in fact close to the truth.Original
Sanai also reported that Sakai Tadaaki’s audience with the three houses had been “a spy for the senior councilors,” sent by them to probe and confirm that the matter was not as serious as it seemed.OriginalOriginal

According to what Komai Yamashiro no kami had heard, the great elder had countered on the matter of the treaty signing by invoking his own authority of office, and on the matter of the adopted heir had shown Nariaki the document already submitted to Kyoto, so that the matter was settled.OriginalOriginal

That night, Iwase sent a letter to Yoshinaga.Original
He had thought carefully about a renewed effort, he said, but by the next morning the situation would be “utterly beyond recovery.”Original
In that case, should they not leave the matter of the adopted heir to the realm at large, and focus the argument instead on recommending the worthy?Original
If Yoshinobu were moved to the Nishinomaru and placed in a position of assistance, would this not “capture the hearts of the heroes of the realm”?Original
Sohō observes that even Iwase, a decisive man of Edo, had a considerable attachment to the Hitotsubashi question.OriginalOriginal

Come to Nothing

Sohō counts four failures on the part of Nariaki and the others.Original
They had not prepared sufficiently or studied the points at issue.Original
Their anger and indignation let their opponents seize on their openings.Original
They had not foreseen that neither Ii nor Manabe was a simple opponent, but crafty men with their own designs and maneuvers.Original
Though they had intended to send Yoshinaga forward as their spearhead, they had not realized that, given the difference in castle rank between the collateral houses and the three houses, he could not be present together with them.OriginalOriginal

Sohō does not say that the unscheduled visit to the castle itself was wrong.Original
But since it was a matter of decisive, all-or-nothing importance, it should have been undertaken only after resolve, determination, and preparation, and since they had rushed out on a moment’s indignation, it could not be helped that the outcome was so wretched; Sohō declares flatly that this was “their own doing.”OriginalOriginal

Sanai finally reported this as well.Original
Not only had nothing been achieved that day, but “the old lord’s fame of many years has, on this day, come to nothing,” and the disappointment of the various men of resolve knew no bounds.OriginalOriginal

Five hours within the screens, five hours without.Original
On one side they asked whether a box lunch had been brought; on the other, they waited without even being offered rice in hot water.Original
What remained afterward was, perhaps, nothing but the sound of laughter.Original

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.