Shinagawa Narita-san and Ii Naosuke
Narita-san Isshin-ji is a smal temple in Shinagawa, which was the first post town heading from Edo to Kyoto along the old Tōkaidō road. This is a branch of the Narita-san temple near Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture. This little temple was established in 1855 by Ii Naosuke, who was the daimyo of the domain of Hikone and the senior elder (tairō) of the Tokugawa shogunate who ruled with an iron fist at a time of great crisis in Japan.
Naosuke signed the treaty of Amity and Friendship with the United States in 1858 that opened more ports to foreign trade and granted Americans extraterritorial rights among other things. This treaty, often known as the Harris Treaty, was extremely unpopular with the pro-imperial/anti-foreigner crowd. To quell opposition and strengthen Tokugawa power during the crisis, Naosuke rounded up those who were deemed a political threat and had them arrested and in some extreme cases, executed. This further agitated anti-shogunate militant samurai and Naosuke was assassinated in front of the Sakuradamon gate of Edo Castle on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month in 1860.
The Meiji government that replaced the Tokugawa shogunate was quick to vilify Ii Naosuke and paint him as one of the most despicable Tokugawa officials, as he had ordered the arrest and execution of one of the early pro-imperial activists, Yoshida Shōin. Shōin was a teacher to many of the militant anti-shogunate samurai from the domain of Chōshū who became government officials after the 1868 Meiji coup. Shōin had started advocating assassination and violence as a means of of political change, and that did not go down well with the holder of the reigns of Tokugawa power.
As Japan's shackles to its 19th and 20th century imperial past rust away and break, Naosuke's political legacy as well as his cultural contributions (he was a renowned tea master) have been re-evaluated, restoring some credit to this powerful Bakumatsu period statesman's reputation.
Shinagawa Narita-san and Ii Naosuke
Narita-san Isshin-ji is a smal temple in Shinagawa, which was the first post town heading from Edo to Kyoto along the old Tōkaidō road. This is a branch of the Narita-san temple near Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture. This little temple was established in 1855 by Ii Naosuke, who was the daimyo of the domain of Hikone and the senior elder (tairō) of the Tokugawa shogunate who ruled with an iron fist at a time of great crisis in Japan.
Naosuke signed the treaty of Amity and Friendship with the United States in 1858 that opened more ports to foreign trade and granted Americans extraterritorial rights among other things. This treaty, often known as the Harris Treaty, was extremely unpopular with the pro-imperial/anti-foreigner crowd. To quell opposition and strengthen Tokugawa power during the crisis, Naosuke rounded up those who were deemed a political threat and had them arrested and in some extreme cases, executed. This further agitated anti-shogunate militant samurai and Naosuke was assassinated in front of the Sakuradamon gate of Edo Castle on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month in 1860.
The Meiji government that replaced the Tokugawa shogunate was quick to vilify Ii Naosuke and paint him as one of the most despicable Tokugawa officials, as he had ordered the arrest and execution of one of the early pro-imperial activists, Yoshida Shōin. Shōin was a teacher to many of the militant anti-shogunate samurai from the domain of Chōshū who became government officials after the 1868 Meiji coup. Shōin had started advocating assassination and violence as a means of of political change, and that did not go down well with the holder of the reigns of Tokugawa power.
As Japan's shackles to its 19th and 20th century imperial past rust away and break, Naosuke's political legacy as well as his cultural contributions (he was a renowned tea master) have been re-evaluated, restoring some credit to this powerful Bakumatsu period statesman's reputation.