“I shall withdraw,” Oguri wrote ―― Five letters from Oguri Tadamasa, who returned from Tsushima in the seventh month of Bunkyū 1 (1861)

The business of the letter was one thing: “the matter of suddenly withdrawing today.”OriginalOriginal

“Withdrawal” meant retiring to one’s residence on the pretext of illness and not reporting for duty.Original
A magistrate who had returned from Tsushima only a short time before announced this in a private letter to his superior.Original
At this time Oguri was in his mid-thirties.Original
About a year after returning from the United States, he was the shogunate’s foremost man of new knowledge.OriginalOriginal

Because it was a private letter, “without artifice, Oguri Kōzuke no suke’s true feelings are instead revealed nakedly” — that is, with no ornament, his real intentions appear just as they were — this is Ninagawa Arata’s assessment.Original
Below, I would like to trace these five letters.OriginalOriginal

The English warship at Shimonoseki, the fifth day of the fifth month

Let us turn the story back two months.Original
In Bunkyū 1 (1861), a Russian warship occupied Tsushima and showed no sign of moving.Original
The ship that left Shinagawa was delayed day after day by headwinds, developed damage to its machinery, anchored here and there for repairs, and finally entered Shimonoseki on the fifth day of the fifth month.OriginalOriginal

At Shimonoseki, one British warship lay at anchor.Original
That man came to the Kanrin Maru to make inquiry, but there was no interpreter at all; although the full particulars were difficult to grasp, Bungo no kami managed to catch as much as he could in English.Original
The meaning is that the man had come to inquire, but since there was no interpreter and the details were unclear, Oguri listened as much as he could in English.OriginalOriginal

What he gathered was that five ships had been fitted out from Shanghai to escort the minister, that they had called at Tsushima from Nagasaki, and had come here.Original
Ninagawa writes that Oguri understood English and was able to hear the circumstances from the English officer.Original
Ninagawa’s conjecture is that Oguri had originally been a scholar of Dutch learning, and had probably learned English in the United States.Original
Ninagawa adds that among the political authorities of the time, there were not many men of this caliber.OriginalOriginal

Having arrived at Tsushima, Oguri spoke with the Russian ship’s captain.Original
“There is no prospect whatsoever of departure” — there was no prospect at all that the Russian ship would leave.Original
Here Oguri made a decision, had all his subordinates withdraw, and returned to Edo.OriginalOriginal

A commissioner of foreign affairs with five hundred koku

Tanabe’s *Kyūbaku gaikō dan* begins: “When one leaf falls, one may know that autumn has come.”Original
Tanabe writes that from the advance or retreat of a single man one may know the rise and fall of the times, and he felt this upon Mizuno’s resignation.OriginalOriginal

Mizuno’s stipend was five hundred koku.Original
Tanabe records that after Iwase and others had died or been charged with crimes, Mizuno alone came to bear the burden of foreign affairs.OriginalOriginal

Tanabe sees this as proof of how greatly Mizuno was feared by those in power.OriginalOriginal

Taking up Tanabe’s assessment that called Mizuno “one of the three outstanding men of the shogunate’s final years,” Ninagawa writes, placing Iwase, Mizuno, and Oguri side by side, that they were “men of excellence who adorn the history of the shogunate’s final years.”Original
Oguri was, with this Mizuno, “an acquaintance and also connected by a distant family relation.”OriginalOriginal

“What face could I show?”

Let us return to the letter of the first day of the seventh month.Original
Oguri had suddenly been ordered to Hakodate on official duty.Original
But he writes, “It is quite impossible for me to set out immediately” — he could not possibly depart at once.OriginalOriginal

The reason lay in Tsushima.Original
When he had met Mizuno the day before yesterday, word had come that there was no small concern over the fact that everyone had withdrawn from Tsushima without leaving a single person behind.Original
Oguri, “having reflected on this again and again,” humbly acknowledges that his handling of affairs there had been inadequate and had instead increased the concern.Original
To be ordered on a second mission with such exceptional leniency was a matter of gratitude.Original
But.Original

“Since the instructions differ from my own judgment, I have no prospect of settling the matter, and moreover, since at the time of withdrawing from that place I had already told certain things to the Tsushima retainers, to go out again in this same form — what face could I show, that I could hardly face the senior officials.”Original
He means that, with instructions differing from his own judgment, there was no prospect of settling matters, and since he had already told certain things to the Tsushima retainers when withdrawing, if he were to go again in this same form, he would have no face to show the senior officials of Tsushima.Original
So, “I have first made up my mind” — he had first reached his decision.Original
He closes by saying that his chest felt oppressed, dizziness had set in, and the physician said he would not recover quickly.OriginalOriginal

On the third day of the seventh month came a second letter.Original
While expressing his thanks for this, Oguri repeated, “From today I wish to withdraw and recuperate” — that he wished to retire from today and recuperate.Original
On the same day came a “second reply.”Original
“Originally I did not return to the capital intending it to be a temporary return; I arranged matters on the understanding that my duty was, for the time being, concluded.”Original
He states clearly that he had not returned to Edo intending it as a temporary return, but with the understanding that his official duty was concluded.OriginalOriginal

Among those under his supervision there were also some who made the same argument and asked to be excused from a second mission.Original
But he also writes that if his own judgment were adopted and proper measures taken, then “I shall do as may be required” — he would act in whatever way was needed.Original
Here Ninagawa reads Oguri’s argument.Original
It was the judgment that, unless Tsushima were made a territory under the shogunate’s direct control and negotiations with the Russians conducted on that basis, no favorable conclusion could be reached.OriginalOriginal

Not a single point adopted

On the fourth day of the seventh month, a fourth letter.Original
Here Oguri lists things he had not said until then.OriginalOriginal

Since being appointed inspector the year before last, he had voiced objection to the raising of the exchange rate of the Hoji koban, but it had not been adopted.Original
After returning from the United States last year, he had again raised the matter of gold and silver coinage, and although it was generally acknowledged as reasonable, even now no measure had been taken.Original
He had also voiced objection regarding the return of the various foreign ministers to the capital, but this too was not adopted.Original
“Besides this, I have submitted various views of my own, but not a single one has been adopted.”Original
He means that none of the various other views he had submitted had been adopted either.OriginalOriginal

And he continues.
“If I submit a great memorial and then withdraw, it would be only to keep my own honor clean, and would rather bring disgrace upon my superiors, would it not?”Original
To submit a great memorial and then withdraw would only clear one’s own honor, and would rather bring disgrace upon one’s superiors, he wrote.OriginalOriginal

Ninagawa Arata writes that in this passage he sees Oguri “bearing all responsibility alone, unconcerned with others’ praise or blame,” and comments that “such discipline is not that of an ordinary man.”Original
At the end of the letter there is a mention of his aged mother.Original
In truth, he had told his aged mother as well, and she too was resolved, he wrote.Original
Even so, he wrote, “your repeated admonitions are truly deeply appreciated,” and asked for one day’s grace, saying he would report by the next morning whether he had reached a decision.OriginalOriginal

The “reply” of the following day opens by noting that though the morning had been clear, it had turned to rain again.Original
He wrote that though he had deliberated again and again, it was “a matter of bewilderment only,” nothing but confusion, and he had truly been at a loss.OriginalOriginal

And then he revealed the conflict at Tsushima.Original
Hanzaemon of the administrative staff had “stated that he did not agree” to the withdrawal of everyone, voicing his strong disagreement.Original
Oguri’s view was different.Original
He complained that being stationed in the territory of the lord caused nothing but inconvenience in every matter, and that since the Russians had until now been dealt with by Tsushima’s retainers, it would be more convenient to bring them into direct contact, so the negotiations had not been settled.Original
He had not taken Hanzaemon’s view, and had even declared that if his own view were not adopted and he were ordered to be dispatched again, he would resign rather than go.OriginalOriginal

On top of that, Oguri turned his pen, saying this matter could now be set aside.Original
Since there was no prospect of being of particular use while remaining in his post, “to drift along, letting the months pass, heedless of my own unworthiness, and sully a great charge, is truly a matter of the deepest shame.”Original
To let the days and months pass irresolutely, disregarding his own unworthiness and sullying a great charge, was a matter of the deepest shame, he wrote.Original
There is also a line reading, “even for the government, if one minister fewer remained, it would to that extent be more convenient”—that is, if the authorities had one fewer minister, it would be that much to their advantage.OriginalOriginal

At the end it reads as follows.Original
“In any case, in my own view, Tsushima and the like are the merest trifle, and I am truly pained wondering from what quarter unforeseen harm may arise before long; if that is so, there may well be a prospect that to withdraw would rather constitute true loyalty.”Original
Tsushima and the like were merely trifling matters, he wrote; he was pained over when and from where unforeseen harm might arise, and if so, there was a prospect that withdrawal would rather be true loyalty.Original
And he closed by writing, “after you have read this, I ask that it be committed to the fire”—that is, he asked that it be burned once read.Original
Mizuno did not burn it.OriginalOriginal

From a Corner to the Center

Ninagawa reads the text of the fifth letter as “confessing the urgency of being at the center and carrying out great affairs, rather than spending years in a corner of Japan.”Original
That, he says, was Oguri’s state of mind.Original
It was, Ninagawa says, a choice to devote himself to the central affairs of the state at a necessary moment, rather than uselessly bearing a post far from the center.OriginalOriginal

That “state of mind,” Ninagawa continues, appears in the directive that Nonomura Tango no kami, who crossed to Tsushima as his successor, issued to the Sō clan, lords of Tsushima province.Original
It reads, “since there is also the matter of a private petition made this time, a detailed inspection tour of the province will be carried out.”Original
That is, because there was also a matter of private petition this time, the whole island was to be inspected in detail.Original
It can also be thought that the direct control Oguri had envisioned began to take shape after he had left.Original

This was the beginning of the reform of shogunal government under Matsudaira Yoshinaga, the chief of political affairs.Original
Tanabe sees this as a personnel move meant not to employ Oguri but to keep him at a distance.Original
Mizuno submitted a memorial stating that the national policy of opening the country should be fixed as the first priority, and argued so fiercely that the chief minister avoided meeting him; on the third day of the ninth month he retired and took the name Chiun.OriginalOriginal

In the first month of Keiō 4 (1868), Mizuno Chiun, though retired, was summoned to Edo Castle.Original
On the thirteenth day he went to the castle, was summoned before the lord, and withdrew past nine-thirty at night.Original
On the fourteenth day it was seven in the morning, on the fifteenth nine at night, on the sixteenth six in the morning, on the seventeenth eight in the morning, and on the eighteenth half past six at night.Original
On the twenty-first he went to the castle after noon and withdrew at eight in the morning.Original
This is the record of a conference that continued for a week.Original
It was “at this time,” Ninagawa writes, that Oguri seized Tokugawa Yoshinobu’s sleeve and argued for war.OriginalOriginal

In the first month of Keiō 4, the great undertaking he had tried to carry out at the center was rejected, and Oguri withdrew to his fief in Jōshū.Original
It can also be read that over those seven years, the “center” had adopted not a single one of his proposals.Original
Even so, did the man who wrote “to withdraw would rather be true loyalty” really fail to “keep his own honor clean”?Original
What would Oguri think of the fact that the letter he had asked to be burned survived?OriginalOriginal

This article is a reading of Ishin zengo no seisō to Oguri Kōzuke no shi, Continued. Ninagawa Arata’s books (1928-31) are written from the standpoint of the shogunate’s retainers. The source text is a century old and may differ from current scholarship.