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The Three Characters “Violation of the Imperial Command” ―― Tokugawa Nariaki’s Petition and Ii Naosuke’s Reply, Sixth Month of Ansei 5 (1858)
At the Mito domain residence in Edo, Tokugawa Nariaki was making corrections to an inquiry document. It was a reply. -
Opening and closing Hakone ―― The strategy of Oguri Kōzuke no suke as recorded by Ninagawa Arata, and the sixty years that followed
It was in Keiō 4 (1868), after the fighting against the Shōgitai at Ueno had ended. -
The Person at Umoregi no ya Was Waiting ―― In the Fourth Month of Ansei 5 (1858), Hotta Masayoshi’s Return to Edo and Two Difficult Problems
There, an envoy of Matsudaira Yoshinaga, the leader of the Hitotsubashi faction, caught up with him. Tokutomi Sohō writes that Yoshinaga, unable to wait for Hotta's return to Edo, had deliberately… -
The Chancellor of the Spring Breeze ―― Abe Masahiro and the Forecast of the Eleventh Month of Kaei 5
The second day of the eleventh month of Kaei 5 (1852). At the Satsuma domain residence in Edo, Shimazu Nariakira took up his brush. The letter was addressed to his younger brother Hisamitsu, who was… -
“The tyranny truly caused lamentation” ―― In the fifth month of Ansei 6 (1859), the imperial letter and gifts bestowed after the four lords’ tonsure
A cut sheet of formal paper, wrapped in Mino paper. A note states that it conveys a private command. -
Footsteps in an Empty Valley ―― In Kaei 6, the Daimyo’s Opinions on America and Takashima Kihei’s Argument for Opening the Country
The tenth month of Kaei 6 (1853). Takashima Kihei. He had once called himself Shirōdayū Shūhan, and was the man who introduced Western artillery techniques to Japan. -
The Character for Peace, Sealed Away ―― The Seventh Month of Kaei 6, and the Trump Card Named Tokugawa Nariaki
On the third day of the seventh month of Kaei 6 (1853), a notice came down to the Mito residence. Since there was business concerning coastal defense, he was to attend the castle roughly every other… -
The riverbed of the Karasu River, two swords ―― How Ninagawa Arata accused the death of Oguri Tadamasa
The first day of the fourth month of Keiō 4 (1868). Tōzenji, at the foot of Mount Haruna, in Gonda, Jōshū. About eight hundred troops from the three domains of Takasaki, Annaka, and Obata approached…
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