On July 3, Kaei 6 (1853), a message from the shogunate arrived at the Mito residence. It was a directive to Tokugawa Nariaki, the former middle counselor of Mito, who had withdrawn from the domain’s politics. It requested that he come to Edo Castle every other day, saying there was need for coastal defense preparations. Chief retainer Nakayama Bingo no kami was summoned and received the instructions of senior councilor Abe Masahiro directly.
Two days later, on July 5, the 54-year-old Tokugawa Nariaki went up to the castle. He could not meet Shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi and was told it was due to illness, but in fact Ieyoshi had already died. The one Nariaki was able to meet was the heir apparent, with whom he discussed the matter of the foreign ships together with the senior councilors. That day, Nariaki wrote a letter to Matsudaira Yoshinaga, saying he was surprised to be summoned before the mourning period had ended. He also added that he had no good ideas of his own that would be of use.
Sohō holds that Nariaki knew Yoshinaga had strongly recommended his appointment, and sees that the letter also carried a mixture of gratitude. In the record Sohō cites, Tokugawa Ieyoshi, the day before his illness grew severe, said not to neglect matters concerning foreign countries. It is said he ordered that after his death Nariaki be summoned and consulted on the matter of foreign countries. Shimazu Nariakira too, on June 10, wrote to Owari Yoshikatsu that for now there was no choice but to leave things to Nariaki. On July 10, he wrote to Nariaki that if the matter of the foreign ships were concealed too much, people would instead grow suspicious.
On July 9, Nariaki presented Abe with a written opinion on defense. He listed 10 articles on reasons not to be friendly, and 5 articles on defense measures. He made it an urgent task first to decide on peace or war and not waver. He also stated that rejecting trade as well, and exchanging useful metals for useless textiles, caused great harm. He said to have the Dutch supply warships, steamships, shipwrights, and navigators, and to make fishermen into soldiers.
Sohō praises highly only the one article that sought large ships, cannons, and engineers from the Dutch. He regards it as having become the foundation of the later navy. In that long written opinion, a line of a different nature had been inserted, held in place with a paper marker. “Seal away the single character for peace” — meaning he wished the idea of peace not be shown openly. Only those in charge of defense would hold it privately, while outwardly he pushed through with expulsion.
Sohō writes that the weakness lay in the fact that, knowing there was no prospect of winning if it came to war, he separated the open stance from the hidden one. Katsu Kaishū also remarked that anyone who took the open theory as Nariaki’s true intention did not know Nariaki. On August 15, Yokoi Shōnan wrote from Kumamoto to Fujita Tōko that Nariaki’s taking on this support was a great opportunity. Nariaki never in the end opened the character he had sealed away. From this account one can see the gap between the true feelings written on a single paper marker and the public face the world looked up to.
A summary made from the body of this article. Names and dates are checked against the body. The text below follows the source text; every sentence can be traced to its source.
On the third day of the seventh month of Kaei 6 (1853), a notice came down to the Mito residence.Original
There was business concerning coastal defense, it said, and he was asked to attend the castle every other day for a while.Original
Since he was a retired lord, he need not use the main entrance; he was to enter by Hirakawa Gate and pass to his waiting chamber by way of the bathhouse gate.Original
Mito’s chief retainer, Nakayama Bingo no kami, was summoned and received these instructions directly from senior councilor Abe Masahiro.OriginalOriginal
水戶前中納言殿、海岸防禦筋之儀に付、此節御用も有之候間、以來暫之內、隔日程にも御登城可被成候
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe former middle counselor of Mito, Tokugawa Nariaki.Original
Fifty-four years old.Original
A man who had withdrawn from domain government was called back to serve the shogunate’s coastal defense.OriginalOriginal
“I Was Astonished”
Two days later, on the fifth day of the seventh month, Nariaki attended the castle.Original
He was not able to meet with shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi.Original
He was told this was due to illness.Original
In fact, Ieyoshi had already died.Original
The one who granted Nariaki an audience was the heir apparent, Iesada.OriginalOriginal
That same day, Nariaki wrote a reply to Matsudaira Yoshinaga.Original
“On the third day, I was informed that my period of mourning would be excused and that I was ordered to attend the castle; I was astonished.”Original
He was saying that he had been summoned before the mourning period had ended, and that this had astonished him.
He went on to say that he had had an audience with Iesada at the Gozanoma and discussed the matter of the foreign ships with all the senior councilors together, and added the following.Original
“Lacking in talent, I have no good ideas that could be of any use.”OriginalOriginal
則今日登城仕候處、於御座之間、右大將君へ(家定)御目見へ被仰付、其後閣老一同、異船之儀に付對談有之
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryTokutomi Sohō reads this letter as an expression of Nariaki’s satisfaction.Original
Nariaki knew that Yoshinaga had strongly recommended him to Abe when he was appointed.Original
Even while taking the form of merely reporting the news, there was surely also gratitude mixed in, Sohō writes.OriginalOriginal
Named from the Deathbed
Why was it Nariaki?Original
Sohō cites Katsu Kaishū’s compiled work, Kaikoku Kigen.OriginalOriginal
The day before his illness grew grave, Ieyoshi ordered a close attendant to place a ceremonial vest over him as he lay ill, and said, “Call Ise.”Original
Matters concerning foreign countries must never be treated lightly.Original
He himself had fallen ill and could not see this affair through to its end.Original
The former middle counselor of Mito had devoted his attention to this matter for many years.Original
After his own death, Nariaki should be summoned to the castle, and together with him plans should be made concerning foreign affairs.OriginalOriginal
Whether this is fact or rumor is unclear, Sohō states, adding, “at any rate, it does seem to have been something like this.”OriginalOriginal
The hopes of the realm, too, had gathered upon him.Original
On the tenth day of the sixth month, Shimazu Nariakira wrote to Owari Yoshikatsu that the senior councilors too seemed greatly astonished this time, and that under the present circumstances there was no choice but to entrust matters to the old lord of Mito.Original
Tanabe Taichi’s Bakumatsu Gaikō Dan also writes that, while it is no exaggeration to call Abe Masahiro one of the finest chief ministers the shogunate ever had, it is regrettable that at this moment he lacked the courage to cut decisively through the matter.OriginalOriginal
齊彬は、六月十日附(嘉永六年)にて、尾張慶勝に書を與へて曰く、今度は老中も大仰天之樣子此後又々渡來は無疑、當時の處にては、乍恐水老公へ御委任の外は有間敷と奉存候
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThe Harm of Excessive Secrecy
In a letter Nariakira sent from Kagoshima to Nariaki, dated the tenth day of the seventh month, there is a passage sharply critical of the shogunate.Original
He had heard that the matter of the foreign ships was somehow being kept secret.Original
The senior councilors were probably afraid of unrest among the people.Original
But if things are kept too secret, people instead grow suspicious and spread even trivial matters as if they were grave ones.OriginalOriginal
“Since there is not a single person born in Japan who wishes ill upon the Imperial Land.”Original
There was no need to keep this matter secret, Nariakira writes.Original
It should be conveyed in detail to the Gosanke, the Gosankyō, and the daimyo who hold provinces, and their opinions sought before a decision is reached.Original
That, he says, would form the basis of unity among the people.OriginalOriginal
御三家方、御三卿方は勿論、國持諸大名へも委敷被仰聞、存寄之御尋等も御座候而、御評決に相成候へば、人心一和之基ひにも可相成
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryOn top of this, he coldly observes that if those in charge have no settled views and simply leave everything to general deliberation, no resolution will ever be reached.Original
He also writes that it is quite dangerous to seek knowledge of foreign countries from Nariaki.Original
Nariaki regarded foreign countries entirely as barbarians, he says, and was, as far as the state of the world went, nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.Original
In a land of the blind, even a one-eyed man is king.OriginalOriginal
Ten Articles and Five Matters
On the ninth day of the seventh month, Nariaki presented his humble views on coastal defense to Abe.Original
There were ten articles on why peace should not be made, and five on the means of coastal defense.OriginalOriginal
The most urgent task, he wrote, was to settle firmly on peace or war and, once decided, never waver from it.Original
The American ships had sailed into Uraga, put out a white flag, presented a petition, and moreover had sailed into the inner bay, fired blank shots, and even carried out surveys as they pleased.Original
“This may truly be called a national disgrace unmatched since the beginning of the world.”OriginalOriginal
然に此度渡來之アメリカ夷、重き御制禁を心得ながら、浦賀へ乘入、和睦合圖の白旗差出し、推て願書を奉り、剰內海え乘込、空砲打鳴し、我儘に測量迄致し、其驕傲無禮之始末言語同斷にて、實に開闢以來の國恥とも可申候
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryTrade, too, should be rejected.Original
To exchange useful goods such as gold, silver, copper, and iron for useless items such as woolen cloth and satin brings great harm and little benefit.Original
It would even be well to halt trade with the Dutch, Nariaki writes.OriginalOriginal
The section on means is concrete.Original
The Dutch should be ordered to assemble warships and steamships, shipwrights and navigators, and present them as tribute.Original
Adopting the strengths of foreign countries is in keeping with the vastness of the Divine Land; ancient history records cases where craftsmen, beginning with the Five Classics scholars, were presented as tribute from the Three Han states.Original
Garrisons should be placed at strategic points along the coast, and fishermen organized into local militia.Original
They are strong of bone and sinew, and tempered by the sea.Original
They should be trained thoroughly in the two arts of the spear and the sword.Original
Unless the barbarian bandits land, they cannot fully indulge their greed.OriginalOriginal
Of all this, Sohō gives high praise only to the one article calling for great ships, heavy guns, shipbuilding engineers, and navigators to be sought from the Dutch.Original
It was not carried out at once, but it became the foundation on which the shogunate’s navy of later days, and in turn the Japanese Imperial Navy, would be built, he says.OriginalOriginal
The Sealed Character
Within that long document, a single line of a different character is inserted.Original
It was written on an attached slip of paper.OriginalOriginal
“Should my humble policy be adopted, I wish that the character for peace be sealed away, and that it be entrusted solely to the coastal defense officers.”OriginalOriginal
If his policy were to be used, he wanted the single character for peace sealed off, kept in the hands of the coastal defense officers alone.Original
Outwardly, the policy of expelling the foreign ships would be pushed through.Original
Peace existed, but it was not to be shown outwardly.Original
Sohō does not overlook this point.Original
While publicly and boldly advocating expulsion, behind the scenes he knew there was no prospect of victory given the present state of affairs and was contriving expedients—here, Sohō writes, lies the true weakness of the arguments of Nariaki and the Mito faction.Original
Katsu Kaishū too, in Magaki no Ibara, remarked that Lord Keizan’s theory had one face shown outwardly and another kept hidden, and that anyone who took the outward theory as the lord’s true intent could hardly be said to understand him.OriginalOriginal
勝海舟は、其著『籬の茨』に於て、按ずるに景山公の御說、其表に押立つる所あり、また其裏にする處あり。智者は必よく其說の表裏を伺ひ奉らむ。當時士氣の衰弱萎靡を撓めむには、其表に說き給ふ處、所謂頭上の一大針ならめ。若是を察せず、其表說を以て、公の御本意とせば、恐らくは公を知る者にあらず
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryAbe wrote an afterword to this memorial and gave it the title “Mioya no Mitama.”OriginalOriginal
Only the Surface Was Seen
What the realm saw was only that single outward character.OriginalOriginal
On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, Yokoi Shōnan wrote from Kumamoto to Fujita Tōko in Edo.Original
That the old lord would serve as guardian, he wrote, was a great opportunity for the revival of the realm; Edo should be resolved to be a battlefield to the death, and the barbarian bandits ground to dust.Original
Yokoi Shōnan was known as one of the great forerunners of the argument for opening the country, standing alongside Sakuma Shōzan.Original
And yet his tone here was entirely that of an expeller of barbarians, Sohō points out.OriginalOriginal
天命人心、尊藩に屬し、老公樣、御後見眞に以て天下中興之大機會到來仕り、何の悅か之に過ぎず。此時に於て列藩總て老公樣(齊昭)の尊意を奉じ、二百年太平因循の弊政を一時に挽囘し、鼓動作新、大に士氣を振興し、江戶を必死の戰場と定め、夷賊を韲粉に致し、我が神州之正氣を天地の間に明に示さずんばあるべからず
Open the original page at the National Diet LibraryThat sealed character was never opened by Nariaki himself, to the very end.Original
This was because he never took down, of his own accord, his sign as a champion of expelling the barbarians.OriginalOriginal
Sohō’s judgment is harsh.Original
Nariaki was, among hereditary daimyo, one of the most outstanding, but he was not the man the realm had hoped him to be.Original
He had views, but he was minutely attentive to details while neglecting the larger picture.Original
He had both cunning and skill, but they showed through all too plainly.Original
Those who placed their hopes in a man unworthy of such hopes ought rather to be ashamed of their own lack of discernment—so far does Sohō go.OriginalOriginal
There was the true intention written on a single slip of paper, and there was the sign that the realm looked up to.Original
Was it not by exactly that gap that expectation would later be betrayed?Original
| Source text | Kinsei Nihon kokuminshi, Perry’s Arrival and Its Time (1929). National Diet Library Digital Collections (PDM). PID 3431222 |
| Checked against | Ishin shiryō kōyō, vol. 1 (1940). PID 1046665 |
| Dates and names | 7 dates and 9 names in the text were compared with 3,726 entries in the Ishin shiryō kōyō. |
| English gates | 90 of 90 sentences passed the checks on the English text. |
| Summary | 29 sentences checked against the body. |
This article is a reading of Kinsei Nihon kokuminshi, Perry’s Arrival and Its Time. 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.
