英語訳
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The lords of Owari and Echizen domains were forced into retirement, the Mito father and son were placed under house arrest, Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu was forbidden from entering the castle, and on June 25th, Kii Chancellor Yoshitomi (then thirteen years old) was installed as shogun. This was the fourteenth Tokugawa shogun, Iemochi. At this point, voices calling for the overthrow of the shogunate became reactively even more intense, loyalist conspiracies spread like a web across east and west, and the old man also forgot himself in his frantic efforts, with days proving insufficient for his activities. Sometimes he met with comrades, sometimes he presented memorials to those in important positions, sometimes he worked to persuade domain lord Matsudaira Izu-no-kami Nobutomo to join the loyalist and anti-foreign cause, making great efforts including submitting proposals to the imperial court through Regent Nijō Nariyuki and Chamberlain Abe (lord of Fukuyama Castle in Bingo with 110,000 koku, Junior Fourth Rank Abe Ise-no-kami Masahiro), among others.
When a friend privately warned the old man of his danger and reproached him for speaking carelessly without choosing his audience, the old man replied: "Now domestic and foreign circumstances are pressing, people's hearts are anxious, and matters concerning the nation's safety or peril are grave. How could there be time to make such choices? Having foreign enemies threatening the nation is like having one's parents suffer from a serious illness. If one seeks to find a way to save them, trivial crimes and reprimands are not worth considering." He showed no sign of yielding. When he happened to see an edict from the shogunate instructing the various domains, the old man was moved to indignation for several days. Nakajima Chōzō from Nihonmatsu (styled Kōzan), a fellow loyalist, returned to Edo from Uraga and shared drinks with the old man while discussing current affairs. Together they sang sorrowful songs and spoke with passionate intensity, eventually moving to tears.
Loyalists including Ukai Kichizaemon and his son from Mito, and Kusakabe Isaji from Satsuma entered Kyoto and conspired with Yanagawa Seigan, Umeda Unpin, and others. To achieve the goal of imperial loyalty and expelling foreigners, they advanced a movement to dismiss Tairō Ii and have a secret imperial edict sent to Mito. Ukai Kōkichi carried this to Edo. Imperial edicts were issued to both Mito and twelve other domains as well as to the shogunate, but the edict granted to Mito and other domains appeared to support court-military cooperation while actually calling for the rejection of the shogunate. The shogunate was greatly alarmed and, strengthening their resolve to arrest anti-shogunate party members, sent Senior Councilor Manabe Akikatsu to Kyoto on September 3rd. According to the letter Akikatsu sent to Tairō Ii when departing for Kyoto:
"(Omitting the beginning) I consider this matter to be service at a decisive moment for the realm and am prepared to stake my life on this work. Should the old lord of Mito (Nariaki) be released from confinement and enter the castle, I am resolved that there would be no choice but to arrest or kill him in the palace. This may not be appropriate, but... (omitting the rest)"
From this, it is not difficult to surmise how resolutely the shogunate confronted the Mito party. Manabe Shimōsa-no-kami Akikatsu (original name Akiyoshi, called Kamenoshin, styled Shōdō, lord of Sabae Castle in Echizen Province with 50,000 koku, actually the third son of kinsman Akihiro, who inherited the domain of lord Akimasa) carried this great mission to Kyoto at the vigorous age of fifty-six. When Akikatsu passed through on the Tōkaidō, perhaps our lord of Yoshida (Toyohashi) domain, Matsudaira Izu-no-kami Nobutomo, being his second son, thought to take a look at the castle town. Despite this being a tumultuous era when loyalist and pro-shogunate parties were in conflict, he alighted from his palanquin at Kawara-machi at the eastern end of the post station, walked on foot to Funa-machi at the western end, and then leisurely re-entered his palanquin, showing how rich he was in courage. Akikatsu resigned his position in October of Ansei 6, in Bunkyū 2 the shogunate reduced his domain by 20,000 koku by imperial command, and he died on November 28, Meiji 17 at the age of eighty-three. Matsudaira Nobutomo (original name Risaburō, born as Akikatsu's second son at Sabae Castle on April 23rd, Bunsei 12 [1829], entered Yoshida domain and inherited the domain at age twenty-two on November 15, Kaei 3 [1850]. He was appointed Osaka castle keeper on the last day of June, Bunkyū 2, changed to Gyōbu-Taifu in Genji 1, transferred to Tamari-no-ma duty in February of the same year to participate in shogunate administration, returned his domain registers in June Meiji 2, returned to his original surname Ōkōchi by government order and became Toyohashi domain governor, received commendation from the court for his restoration achievements, was enrolled among the nobility with domain abolition in November year 4, moved to his private residence in Shimotani Shimizu-chō, Tokyo, and died on November 25, Meiji 21 at age sixty.)
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