(born Yokoi Tokiari; September 22, 1809 – February 15, 1869) was a

Bakumatsu were the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate Meiji Restoration, ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a Feudali ...

and early

Meiji period The was 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 colonizatio ...

scholar and political reformer in Japan, influential around the fall of the Tokugawa bakufu.

Life and career

Yokoi was a ''samurai'' born in Kumamoto, Higo Province (present-day

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

), and a distant descendant of Hōjō Takatoki. Yokoi married Yajima Tsuseko and had two children with her, Miyako and Tokio. He was sent by the domain to Edo in 1839 for studies, and developed contacts with pro-reform members of the Mito domain. After his return to Kumamoto, he started a group to promote the reform of domain administration along Neo-Confucianism lines, opening a domain school called ''Shōnan-do''. In 1857, he was invited by the ''

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 no ...

'' of Echizen, Matsudaira Yoshinaga to become his political advisor. While in Fukui, Yokoi wrote "Kokuze Sanron" (the Three Major Discussion of State Policy). One of the topics covered in Yokoi’s treatise was on state religion, in which Yokoi commented that although Japan had

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

, and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

, it lacked a true national religion in the manner of western nations, and that this lack was a weakness in the Japanese '' kokutai'', which placed Japan at a disadvantage to the western powers. This concept provided one rationale underpinning the formation of

State Shinto was Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...

in the later

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

. In the same treatise, he also stressed the importance of a strong navy for the defense of Japan. He has been labelled "pro-Western" by contemporary historians, but was nevertheless harshly critical of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

as both false and heretical compared to Japanese Buddhism. In 1862, Matsudaira was unexpectedly made acting prime minister of the Tokugawa administration (''seiji sōsai'') in a move calculated to obtain imperial approval for the ''Shōgun's'' actions in signing unequal treaties (similar to those signed by Qing dynasty China) with the western powers in 1858, ending the national seclusion policy which was supported by the Imperial Court, and Yokoi accompanied him to Edo. Yokoi called for a complete reform of the Tokugawa government, including reconciliation between the Shogunate and the Imperial Court. He also called for the complete opening of Japan to foreign trade, economic reform, and establishment of a modern military along western lines. After reading Chinese scholar and reformer Wei Yuan's '' Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms'', Yokoi became convinced that Japan should embark on a "cautious, gradual and realistic opening of its borders to the Western world" and thereby avoid the mistake China had made in engaging in the First Opium War. He also called for a

national assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

of the major domains, with the Shōgun evolving into something that resembled a

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. Outraged and astounded by these radical ideas, conservatives within the government quickly stripped Yokoi of his posts, and even his ''samurai'' status, and placed him under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

in Kumamoto. However, while in exile, Yokoi continued to maintain contact with Katsu Kaishū and other reform-minded members of government. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, Yokoi was freed by 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 ...

, and honored with the title of ''san'yo'' (councilor). However, Yokoi was assassinated in 1869 by conservative ''samurai'' who suspected him of being a Christian, and of harboring secret republican sentiments.

References

Citations

General and cited references

* Beasley, W. G. ''The Meiji Restoration''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972. * Hodge, Carl Cavanagh (2008). ''Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800-1914''. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. . * * Wakabayashi, Bob Tadashi (1991). ''Anti-foreignism and Western Learning in Early-modern Japan: The New Theses of 1825''. Harvard University Asia Center. .

External links

National Diet Library Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yokoi, Shonan 1809 births 1869 deaths People from Kumamoto Assassinated Japanese politicians Samurai Meiji Restoration People of the Meiji era People murdered in Japan People murdered in 1869 Politicians assassinated in the 1860s