, also known as Kutsuki Oki-no kami Minamoto-no Masatsuna, was a hereditary Japanese ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of

Oki Oki or Ōki may refer to: Places *Oki District, Shimane, a district in Shimane Prefecture, Japan *Oki Islands, an archipelago in the Sea of Japan *Oki Province, a former province of Japan *Ōki, Fukuoka, a town in southern Japan *Oki Airport, the ...

and Ōmi with holdings in Tanba and

Fukuchiyama 250px, Fukuchiyama Castle 250px, Fukuchiyama city center is a city in northern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 76,037 in 36412 households and a population density of 140 persons per km². The total area of t ...

.Titsingh, Issac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 420.
/ref> His warrior clan was amongst the hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa family (the '' fudai'') in the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

. His childhood name was Tomojiro (斧次郎). Masatsuna was a

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

and a keen student of whatever information was available at that time concerning the West. Since most printed material was only available in the Dutch language, such studies were commonly called "Dutch learning" (''

rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Wester ...

'').Fleming, William
Book review: ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''"
''Southeast Review of Asian Studies'', Annual, 2006. Dutch Japanologist

Isaac Titsingh Isaac Titsingh FRS ( January 1745 – 2 February 1812) was a Dutch diplomat, historian, Japanologist, and merchant.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Isaak Titsingh" in . During a long career in East Asia, Titsingh was a senior official of the ...

considered Masatsuna to have been his closest friend while he was in Japan, and their correspondence continued after Titsingh last left

Dejima , in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, it ...

for the last time. The oldest surviving letter from Masatsuna to Titsingh dates from 1789; and this letter mentions mutual friends such as

Shimazu Shigehide Shimazu is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Esther Shimazu (born 1957), American/Hawaiian sculptor * Saeko Shimazu (born 1959), Japanese voice actress * Shimazu clan, ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han * Shimazu Hisamits ...

(the father-in-law of the eleventh shōgun,

Tokugawa Ienari Tokugawa Ienari ( ja, 徳川家斉, November 18, 1773 – March 22, 1841) was the eleventh and longest-serving ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office from 1787 to 1837.Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1991) ''Early Modern J ...

) and

Kuze Hirotami (1737–1800), also known as , was a Japanese politician during late 18th-century ''Nagasaki bugyō'' or governor of Nagasaki port, located on southwestern shore of Kyūshū island in the Japanese archipelago.Screech, Timon. (2006). ''Secret Mem ...

(''

Nagasaki bugyō were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually '' fudai'' ''daimyōs'', but this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not ''daimyōs''.Beasley, Wi ...

'' or governor of Nagasaki port). Masatsuna and Titsingh shared an interest in

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

. After Titsingh was reassigned from Japan in 1784, he sent packages of coins from India—Dutch coppers, as well as coins from India, Russia, Turkey, and Africa. Titsingh in turn received Japanese and Chinese coins as gifts. Masatsuna was an author of several treatises on numismatics. He was the first in Japan to circulate a book about non-Japanese coins with impressions taken from actual coins which had been obtained from Western traders. Masatsuna's collection of coins was brought to the UK in the 19th century, and is now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

Family

* Father: Kutsuki Tsunasada (1713-1788) * Foster Father: Kutsuki Nobutsuna (1731-1787) * Wives: ** Ikumanhime, Matsudaira Munenobu’s daughter ** Honda Sukemitsu‘s daughter ** Ito Nagatoshi’s daughter * Children: ** Yuunosuke ** Kutsuki Tsunakata (1787-1838), adopted by Tomotsuna ** Yonekura Masanaga ** Fukuju Taro * Adopted Son: Katsuki Tomotsuna (1767-1803)

Events of the ''daimyō''s life

* 1781 (''

Tenmei is a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', literally "years name") for the years between the An'ei Era and before the Kansei Era, from April 1781 through January 1789. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1781 : The new era name of Tenme ...

1''): This numismatist scholar's book, ''Shinzen zenpu'' ("Newly selected manual of numismatics"), was published.Screech, p. 67. * 1782 (''Tenmei 2''): This numismatist scholar's analysis of copper currency in China and Japan ''"Shinzen zenpu"'' was presented to the emperor. * 1785 (''Tenmei 5''): This numismatist scholar's book, ''Kaisei kōhō zukan'' ("Corrected Illustrated mirror of coinage"), was published.Screech, p. 34. * 1785 (''Tenmei 5''): Masatsuna inherited his father's position and titles.Screech, p. 36. * 1787 (''Tenmei 7''): This rangaku/numismatist scholar's book, ''Seiyō senpu'' (''Notes on Western Coinage''), with plates showing European and colonial currency, was completed.Screech, p. 33. -- see online image of 2 adjacent pages from library collection of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and Kyoto Junior College of Foreign Languages
* 1789 (''

Kansei was a after ''Tenmei'' and before ''Kyōwa''. This period spanned the years from January 1789 through February 1801. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1789 : The new era name of '' Kansei'' (meaning "Tolerant Government" or "Broad-min ...

1''): This rangaku/geographer scholar's book, ''Taisei yochi zusetsu'' ("Illustrated explanation of Western geography"), was published. * 1800 (''Kansei 11''): Masatsuna retires, handing over his position and titles to his son, Mototsuna. * 1801 (''Kansei 12''): Mototsuna predeceased his father, and Masatsuna's grandson, Tsunagata becomes ''daimyō''.Screech, p. 38. * 1802 (''Kansei 13''): Masatsuna dies. * 1807 (''

Bunka was a after '' Kyōwa'' and before '' Bunsei''. The period spanned the years from January 1804 to April 1818. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * February 11, 1804 (): The new era name of ''Bunka'' ( meaning "Culture" or "Civili ...

4''): Isaac Titsingh sends his last letter to Masatsuna from Europe, not knowing that his old friend had died some years earlier. Titsingh's decided to dedicate his translation of

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the ''American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

to Masatsuna.

Selected work

Kutsuki's published writings encompass 8 works in 12 publications in 1 language and 25 library holdings. * 1781 -- * 1785 -- ; note that only one copy known to exist. * 1787 -- , also

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

as ''Seiyō senpu'' * 1789 -- . * 1790 —

Notes

References

* Lequin, Frank, ed. (1990). ''The Private Correspondence of Isaac Titsingh'', aponica neerlandica, IVAmsterdam: J. C. Gieben. * Screech, Timon. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''. London:

RoutledgeCurzon Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

. * Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''
(''

''). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691

Family

Events of the ''daimyō''s life

Selected work

Notes

References

Further reading