英語訳
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being entirely of the scholarly type, so I think he had almost no involvement in political matters. Also, at that time, the son of the aforementioned Ota Kinjo, named Seiken, was likewise a domain scholar, but this person too was devoted entirely to learning and I believe was not an advisor on domain administration. Though this person was in Edo at the time.
Now, what I would like to discuss is the well-known Kojima Kanso. This person's name was Yoshikazu, his common name was Shichigoro, and he was also a retainer of Yoshida Domain, the eldest son of a man named Kojima Rokusuke Tadahiro. Born in August of Bunsei 11 (1828), he initially entered the school of Ogino Ryokuya in Edo and was promoted to head of the academy, being renowned for his exceptional intelligence and strong memory, earning high praise as a student surpassing his teacher. Later, with his lord's permission, he studied at Shoheiko for several years, where he was classmates with Shigeno Yasutsugu of Satsuma Domain, Nanma Tsunanori of Aizu Domain, Miura Yasushi of Saijo Domain, and others, studying under great scholars such as Koga Seikei and Sato Issai. At that time, Shigeno was the head student among his classmates, but he appears to have been most intimate with Kanso.
Later, in January of Kaei 6 (1853), Kanso obtained further permission from his lord to travel through various domains including Mito, Aizu, and Yonezawa. Among these, he associated particularly with Fujita Toko, Aizawa Seishisai, and Naito Chiso of Mito, maintaining friendship with Naito until his later years. For these reasons, in November of Kaei 6, Lord Nobuhisa summoned Kanso to serve as an attendant, soon transferring him to close retainer status. He truly served at his lord's side as an advisor, assisting in domain administration. However, Kanso was still only twenty-six years old at that time, so it is questionable whether his opinions were fully implemented from the beginning. In any case, Yoshida Domain, as you know, was a hereditary retainer house of the Tokugawa, and being particularly a small domain, was filled with the spirit of unwavering loyalty to the shogunate. Therefore, at that time they would not oppose the shogunate's policies in any case, but rather were enthusiastic about demonstrating their loyalty to it. This can be inferred from the actual accounts of elderly people and from the records I intend to gradually introduce.
Now, as I mentioned in the previous chapter, the shogunate finally began consulting with the daimyo regarding future measures concerning the arrival of American ships.
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**Proposals from Daimyo and Retainers**
The daimyo then established what were called domain policies and gradually began making proposals. However, most of them naturally could not easily break from old conventions, and submitted isolationist opinions meaning that ancestral laws should not be easily changed. Only Hikone lord Ii Kamon-no-kami Naosuke presented the inevitable reasons for opening the country. The proposal of Uraga magistrate Toda Izu-no-kami was also almost identical to Naosuke's position. Particularly, people like Katsu Rintaro (Awa) who held a minor construction post at the time, the gunnery expert Takashima Kihei of Nagasaki (originally Shirōdayū, later Shūhan), Nirayama magistrate Egawa Tarōzaemon, and Sendai retainer Otsuki Bankei, who were most familiar with foreign affairs through their study of Dutch books, all submitted memorials advocating opening the country.
Particularly among these, Takashima Shūhan's proposal was considered the foremost insight of the time and is still praised today. In this situation, one or two daimyo and five or six scholars and patriots enthusiastically advocated opening the country, but the general tendency still adhered to old customs, unable to escape isolationist thinking, and there were also enthusiastic advocates of expelling foreigners.
Regarding what Yoshida Domain proposed at this time, regrettably this is not clear now, but based on the spirit I described earlier, I imagine it was probably an isolationist position within the bounds of not opposing the shogunate's measures.
**The Arrival of Russian Envoys**
However, barely a month after the American ships left Uraga, the Russian envoy Putyatin also came to Nagasaki. At that time, according to Dutch reports, the Russian envoy was said to be monitoring the American envoy's actions, but as you know, Russia was already extending its influence into our northern territories, so it is undoubtable that they wanted to gain some benefit from our country if the opportunity arose. Therefore, this visit was clearly also for that purpose. However, when the Russian ships entered Nagasaki port, they took an extremely peaceful attitude, which was greatly different from the American ships, so the shogunate appears to have been quite satisfied with this and took somewhat lenient measures.
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