英語訳
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[Annotation: When Watanabe Kazan was imprisoned in Edo for writing his "Cautious Opportunity Theory," during the house search, fortunately the head jailer Nakajima Kaemon was a disciple of Kazan's artist friend Takaku Aigai, so he secretly sent advance warning through someone. Therefore, when Kaemon arrived during the time when student Kenshirō and Yamamoto Kintani were disposing of documents, he questioned them, suspicious that something might be hidden because the room was in such disarray. Kenshirō replied that he knew nothing other than studying painting, and fortunately offered to show his calligraphy. He skillfully painted bamboo on a full sheet and presented it to Kaemon on the spot. Kaemon was impressed and took it home. In later years when Kenshirō became swordsmanship instructor for Mito domain, he visited Kaemon accompanied by Aigai and had a pleasant conversation about old times. In Mito, Kōun-sai supervised the Kōdōkan, and together with Fujita Tōko and Aizawa Seishi-sai, frequently visited Yakurō's dōjō. In later years during the domain's internal strife, Yakurō and Kenshirō secretly worked together on matters such as supporting Nariaki and promoting Yoshinobu.]
Kenshirō taught at the Mito domain dōjō called Hyakuren-kan at Funagawara Bridge in Koishikawa (later the site of the Artillery Arsenal). Because he received Kōun-sai's patronage, he changed the character "bu" (武) in his name Bushirō to "ken" (健) out of deference to Takeda. The seven-article wall regulations of the dōjō were written in Tōko's calligraphy and were magnificent. At that time in the capital, Momoi Shunzō of Kyōshin-ryū, Chiba Shūsaku of Hokushin Ittō-ryū, and Saitō Yakurō of Shintō Munen-ryū formed a triumvirate of schools. Yakurō's second son Kin-no-suke was called "Demon Kin," and Kenshirō conspired with Kogorō (Takayoshi) to send him as an instructor to Chōshū domain's Meirinkan. Kogorō was skilled enough to fight Kin-no-suke on equal terms.
In a letter that Kazan sent from his confinement to Maki Sadamae, the Edo representative of Tahara domain, he wrote: "If Kaneko could take advantage of this opportunity and receive patronage from Mito domain, there would be nothing more to be desired. Whether to restrict him from later training would be entirely at your discretion." Upon hearing that Kenshirō was finally hired by Mito, he joyfully wrote: "I have heard from Den that Kaneko Bushirō has been hired by Mito, so I am also informing Yohei and Heigoro of Yoshida (Toyohashi)." As the bakufu's suspicions about Kazan's person grew increasingly severe, Kenshirō, together with Tsubakiyama and Hankō, devoted themselves to petitioning for his pardon in every way possible, and Kazan was secretly moved to tears. One day when Kazan was having a small drink with Kenshirō, he quickly took up his brush and wrote a hanging scroll as a gift. As mentioned above, it read "Those who conquer others must first conquer themselves—written during drinks with Mr. Kaneko on a spring day in the year Teiyū, Noboru." Teiyū was the ninth year of Tenpō, when Kazan was forty-five and Kenshirō twenty-six years old. This scroll is now in the collection of Mr. Satō Zenroku of Uo-machi, Toyohashi City.
Iba Gunbei, who worked as an assistant magistrate under Edo town magistrate Ikeda Harima-no-kami, and Mito domain retainer Ubukata Tora-no-suke both skillfully used Hokushin Ittō-ryū, but when Kenshirō was hired by Mito, they suffered crushing defeats in formal matches before the domain lord. Moreover, Kenshirō supported the imperial cause while the two were pro-bakufu, creating ideological differences and particular resentment. On New Year's Day of Ansei 2, Kenshirō, accompanied by his loyal servant Kakujirō, went to pay New Year's greetings to Fukuda Hankō, a disciple of Kazan. At the New Year's sake gathering, he played go with Ubukata Teisai, Tora-no-suke's father and a bakufu scribe, and when Kenshirō won, he was thoroughly insulted by Teisai. He endured it well and left with a laugh, but his loyal servant Kakujirō, overcome with righteous indignation, ambushed and cut down Teisai on the road, causing both Kenshirō and Hankō to be arrested. Kakujirō had taken refuge with an acquaintance called Sanshūya, a tabi sock merchant in Fujisawa on the Tōkaidō, but Kenshirō's disciples—Seki Tetsu-no-suke, Hasuda Ichigoro, and Sano Take-no-suke, who later became martyrs in the Sakuradamon Incident—found him and made him surrender. The magistrate's office should have immediately released both Kenshirō and Hankō, but instead, Kakujirō died suddenly on the third day, which seemed clearly to be the scheme of villains trying to entrap Kenshirō in crime, apparently by poisoning. At this point, Kōun-sai, Hashimoto Sanai, and others moved to save Kenshirō. Domain lord Nariaki sent a letter to the bakufu, and Fujita Tōko visited Senior Councilor Abe (Ise-no-kami) to beg for pardon. Taking advantage of the opportunity when Edo fell into great confusion due to the Great Ansei Earthquake, Kenshirō disappeared from view, officially received permanent leave from Mito, and with the protection of chivalrous figures like Shinmon Tatsugoro, remained in hiding between the Tōkaidō and Nakasendō roads for a while. Later he went to Kyoto and was temporarily under the protection of Chamberlain Abe (Ise-no-kami). Since most of the Mito loyalists who ambushed Senior Councilor Ii at Sakuradamon were Kenshirō's disciples, there is a theory that Kenshirō served as the mastermind behind that incident and provided various support. One of the martyrs, Hasuda Ichigoro
[Right page inscription]
Those who conquer others
Must first conquer themselves
[Annotation: Written during drinks with Mr. Kaneko on a spring day in Teiyū - Noboru (seal)]
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