Kaishu Katsu
A late Edo and Meiji period statesman who successfully negotiated the bloodless surrender of Edo castle
1823–1899
A statesman during the final years of the Edo period and the early Meiji period, Kaishu was born in the Honjo Kamezawa-machi district (present-day Ryogoku, Sumida City) of Edo. His birth name was Yoshikuni. He later became known as Rintaro and then assumed the nickname Kaishu. When he later became gunkan-bugyo (commissioner in the Tokugawa navy), he assumed the title Awano-kami, but in the Meiji era, he changed his name again to Yasuyoshi. Kaishu was the eldest son of Kokichi Katsu, a retainer of the Shogunate. After studying Jikishinkage swordsmanship under Toranosuke Shimada, he aspired to Dutch and Western military studies and entered the Nagasaki Naval Academy. In 1860 he sailed across the Pacific as captain of the warship Kanrin-maru and observed American culture. In 1863 Kaishu was granted permission to establish Kobe Naval School, which educated clan retainers, as well as Ryoma Sakamoto and other master-less samurai. He became gunkan-bugyo the following year, but was dismissed the same year. In 1866 he regained his post and led negotiations to end the difficult battle between the Shogunate and Choshu domain. After the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, Kaishu met as the Shogun’s army minister with Takamori Saigo, officer of the eastward moving Imperial army, and realized the bloodless surrender of Edo castle. After the Meiji Restoration, Kaishu worked to transfer duties from the old administration to the new one and advise the new administration, and he became Vice Minister of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1872. He later became sangi (associate counselor), Navy Lord, and member of the Genroin (Chamber of Elders). He resigned in 1875 and for over 10 years worked to provide relief to struggling former retainers of the Shogunate. In 1877 Kaishu was elevated to the title of hakushaku (count), and the next year became a sumitsu komonkan (member of the Privy Council) and again began to actively provide statements of opinion.
Kaishu was always opposed to hostilities against the Qing dynasty and the dispatch of troops to Korea. Yukichi Fukuzawa’s criticism of Kaishu in his “Yase gaman no setsu” (Spirit of Manly Defiance) and Kaishu’s response are both famous. Kaishu wrote Kaigun rekishi (History of the Navy), Rikugun rekishi (History of the Army), Suijinroku (Historical Record of Economics in the Edo Period), Kaikoku kigen (Records of Domestic and Foreign Affairs in the Late Edo Period), and other compilations of Shogunate records, as well as written commentaries such as his Hikawa seiwa and Kaishu zadan (Dialogue with Kaishu). Along with Tesshu Yamaoka and Deishu Takahashi, Kaishu is remembered as one of the bakumatsu sanshu (three “lords” of the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate). He is buried near the site of his retirement home Senzokuken, on the shores of Senzoku Pond in present-day Ota City, Tokyo.
Related People, Things and Events
Books
Books by Kaishu
Related Works
勝海舟の自筆
勝海舟宛の書簡
Videos
地図で探す
Past Exhibitions
| Title | shusai | Place | open | close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
External Links
東京都大田区蒲田に所在。国登録有形文化財である旧清明文庫を活用し、令和元年(2019)9月に開館しました(大田区HPより)。
国立国会図書館リサーチナビより。勝海舟関係文書のおもな内容は海舟記念会館旧蔵資料で、勝海舟著作稿本(『陸軍歴史』『吹塵録』など)および書簡類、勝海舟旧蔵書(幕末史編纂用および勝家所蔵本)、蘭文写本類(兵学関係、辞書類)、海舟日記(抄)などが含まれている。勝海舟関係文書目録が作成されており、全点が国立国会図書館デジタルコレクションに掲載されている。
国立国会図書館電子展示会。勝海舟のほか、同時代に活躍した有名人の書簡や葉書等の直筆資料を紹介している。
国立国会図書館電子展示会。海舟の三種類の蔵書印を見ることができる。
国立国会図書館電子展示会「近代日本人の肖像」より。
東京都大田区HPより。勝海舟とゆかりのある大田区について紹介している。
港区立図書館・港区立郷土歴史館が運営するサイト「港区ゆかりの人物データベース」より。
NHK for School「歴史にドキリ」より。
国土地理院が運営するサイト「古地図コレクション」より。大日本沿海略図は慶応3年(1867)に木版印刷で刊行された日本図で、作者は勝海舟。
島根県HPより。
高知県立坂本龍馬記念館HPより。「龍馬について」の「脱藩」の章で「勝海舟との出会い」と「勝の片腕としての躍動」について解説がなされている。
東京都神社庁HPより。東京都港区に所在する赤坂氷川神社は、勝海舟・高橋泥舟・山岡鉄舟の「三舟」がそれぞれ「氷川神社」と記した掛け軸を所蔵している。
References
- サンプルページ「勝海舟」の項
- 石井孝 著,吉川弘文館
- 大口勇次郎 著,山川出版社
- 目録に載る史料が、すべて国立国会図書館デジタルコレクションに掲載されている。
- 東京都江戸東京博物館都市歴史研究室 編,東京都歴史文化財団
- 歴史学研究会 編,岩波書店
- 対外関係史総合年表編集委員会 編,吉川弘文館