Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, best known by his nickname , was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the

late Tokugawa shogunate was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. ...

and early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku ) by

Sakuma Shōzan sometimes called Sakuma Zōzan, was a Japanese politician and scholar of the Edo period. Biography Born Sakuma Kunitada, he was the son of a samurai and scholar and his wife , and a native of (or Shinano Province) in present day's Nagano Pref ...

. He went through a series of

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

s throughout his life; his childhood name was . He was often called from his title during the late Tokugawa shogunate and later changed his name to Yasuyoshi after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. Katsu Kaishū eventually rose to occupy the position of commissioner ''(Gunkan-bugyō)'' in the Tokugawa navy. He is particularly known for his role in the surrender of Edo.

Early life

Born Katsu Yoshikuni on March 12, 1823, in Edo to a low-ranking retainer of the Tokugawa ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

''. His father,

Katsu Kokichi was born Otani Kokichi in Edo. He was a low-ranking samurai who was adopted by the Katsu family in order to marry the only Katsu daughter, Nobuko. Kokichi's father, Otani Heizo, was a minor official in the shogunate. His half brother, Otani Hik ...

, the subject of the autobiography, '' Musui's Story'', was the ill-behaved head of a minor ''samurai'' family. As a youth whose given childhood name as Katsu Rintarō (Kaishu was a pseudonym), he studied

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and European military science, and was eventually appointed translator by the government when European powers attempted to open contact with Japan. Katsu developed the reputation as an expert in western military technology. Under the advice of Dutch naval officers, Katsu served as head naval cadet at the Nagasaki Naval Academy between 1855 and 1859. Kaishu Katsu 2

Military service

In 1860, Katsu served as captain of the warship ''

Kanrin-maru ''Kanrin Maru'' was Japan's first sail and screw-driven steam corvette (the first steam-driven Japanese warship, ''Kankō Maru'', was a side-wheeler). She was ordered in 1853 from the Netherlands, the only Western country with which Japan ha ...

'' (with assistance from US naval officer Lt. John M. Brooke), to escort the first Japanese delegation to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, en route to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, for the formal ratification of the

Harris Treaty Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...

. The ''Kanrin Maru'', built by the

, was the first Japanese vessel to sail to the Western world. Kaishū remained in San Francisco for nearly two months, observing American society, culture and technology. Following his return to Japan, Katsu held a series of high-ranking posts in the Tokugawa navy, arguing before government councils in favor of a unified Japanese naval force led by professionally trained officers in disregard of promotion and assignment due to hereditary status. During his command as director of the Kobe Naval School, the institute would become a major source of activity for progressive thinking and reformists between 1863 and 1864. In 1866, Katsu was appointed negotiator between the ''bakufu'' forces and the anti-shogunal domain of Chōshū, and later served as chief negotiator for the

Tokugawa bakufu The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, ensuring a relatively peaceful and orderly transition of power in the

. Although sympathetic to the anti-Tokugawa cause, Katsu remained loyal to the Tokugawa ''bakufu'' during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

. After the collapse of the Tokugawa forces in late 1867, Katsu negotiated the surrender of Edo castle to

Saigō Takamori was a Japanese samurai and nobleman. He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Living during the late Edo and early Meiji periods, he later led the Satsum ...

on 11 April 1868.

Later years

Katsu relocated to Shizuoka after the new Imperial government took control of the shogun's former capital, which was renamed Tokyo ("Eastern Capital"). He returned briefly to government service as Vice Minister of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

in 1872, followed by first Minister of the Navy from 1873 until 1878. As Katsu Yasuyoshi, he was the most prominent of the former Tokugawa retainers who found employment within the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

, and was between 1869 and 1885 who did not come from one of the four paramount domains. Although his influence within the navy was minimal, as the Navy was largely dominated by a core of Satsuma officers, Katsu served in a senior advisory capacity on national policy. During the next two decades, Katsu served on the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and wrote extensively on naval issues. He also made efforts to restore the honor of

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

and

. In 1887, he was elevated to the title of ''hakushaku'' (count) in the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' peerage system. Katsu recorded his memoirs in the book ''Hikawa Seiwa''.

Death

In 1891, through a connection of

Tsuda Sen was a politician, educator and writer in Meiji period Japan. He was one of the founders of Aoyama Gakuin university, and the father of noted author Tsuda Umeko. Biography Tsuda was born as the fourth son of a low ranking ''samurai'' of Sakura ...

, the father of

Tsuda Ume was a Japanese educator and a pioneer in education for women in Meiji period Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Tsuda Umeko" in . Originally named Tsuda Ume, with ''ume'' referring to the Japanese plum, she went by the name Ume Tsuda ...

, Katsu Yasuyoshi purchased a plot of land at , and built his retirement home there. Following his death in 1899, he was buried with his wife Tami near the site of their home, on the shores of Senzoku Pond, in what is today in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Honours

''Translated from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia'' *Count (9 May 1887) * JPN Zuiho-sho (WW2) 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

(December 1889) * JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR

Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

(26 February 1898)

Order of precedence

*Fourth rank (15 June 1872) *Senior fourth rank (18 February 1874) *Third rank (December 1887) *Senior third rank (October 1888) *Junior Second rank (30 June 1894) *

Senior second rank The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japanese as ''ikai'' (位階), are indications of an individual's court rank in Japan based on the system of the state. ''Ikai'' as a system was originally used in the Ritsuryo system, which was the polit ...

(20 January 1899; posthumous)

Notes

References

*Hillsborough, Romulus. ''Samurai Revolution: The Dawn of Modern Japan Through the Eyes of the Shogun's Last Samurai.'' Tuttle, 2013. * Jansen, Marius B. (1961). ''Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration.'' Princeton: Princeton University Press
OCLC 413111
*Katsu, Kokichi; translated by Teruko Craig. ''Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai'' University of Arizona Press, 1988. * Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

.
OCLC 58053128

External links

(this link doesn't function) {{DEFAULTSORT:Katsu, Kaishu Japanese swordfighters 1823 births 1899 deaths Boshin War Hatamoto Imperial Japanese Navy officers Japanese military leaders Meiji Restoration People from Tokyo Samurai Japanese politicians Kazoku People of Meiji-period Japan Wakadoshiyori People of the Boshin War Members of the Japanese Embassy to the United States