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, commonly named , was one of Japan's most distinguished intellectuals in the late years of the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
. He devoted himself to nurturing many '' ishin shishi'' who in turn made major contributions to 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 ...
.


Early life

Born Sugi Toranosuke in Hagi in the Chōshū region of Japan, he was the second son of Sugi Yurinosuke (1804–1865), a modest rank Samurai and his wife Kodama Taki (1807–1890). Yurinosuke had two younger brothers, Yoshida Daisuke and Tamaki Bunnoshin. Sugi Toranosuke's eldest brother was Sugi Umetarō (1828–1910), his four younger sisters were Sugi Yoshiko (later Kodama Yoshiko) (1832–1924), Sugi Hisa (later Odamura Hisa) (1839–1881), Sugi Tsuya (1841–1843), and Sugi Fumi (later Katori Miwako) (1843–1921), his youngest brother was Sugi Toshisaburō (1845–1876). Sugi Toranosuke was later adopted at the age of four by Yoshida Daisuke and was renamed to Yoshida Shōin. The process of adopting younger sons from the Sugi house was established generations before Shoin's birth. To avoid financial insolvency, the Sugi house controlled two additional samurai lineages-the Tamaki and the Yoshida lineages. The oldest male became the Sugi heir and the younger Sugi sons were adopted by the Tamaki and Yoshida lines as their heirs-to ensure the Sugi succession was protected, this required the head of the house in the Yoshida line and most generations the Tamaki line to remain unmarried. Daisuke, already in ill health, died one year later at the age of 28, leaving Yoshida Shoin as the heir of the Yoshida lineage at five years of age.Huber, T. (1981). ''Revolutionary Origins of Modern Japan''. Stanford, Ca: Stanford University Press His house was also the instructor to 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 ...
'' in military studies. Due to Shōin's young age, four men were appointed to represent the Yoshida house as instructors. Shōin's younger uncle, Tamaki, set about accelerating Shōin's education to prepare the boy for his eventual duties to be trained as a Yamaga instructor. In 1839 at the age of 9, he was taught by a military art instructor at Meirinkan. At the age of 11, his talent was recognized for his excellent performance for his lecture to the ''daimyō'' Mōri Takachika. At the age of 13, he led the Chōshū forces to conducted a Western fleet extermination exercise. In 1845, he received a lecture on the Naganuma Military Arts by Yusuke Yamada. In 1851, he went to
Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
and studied the Western military science under Sakuma Shōzan and Asaka Gonsai. In 1851, he studied under Miyabe Teizō and Yamaga Sosui from the Higo Domain. This period of intense study suggests a formative experience that shaped Shōin into an educator and activist that helped spur the Meiji Restoration.


Rewards of Punishment

At the end of 1851, Yoshida left for a four-month trip across Northeastern Japan. He had been granted verbal permission from the Chōshū government but left before receiving his written permission in an act of defiance. This act of defiance was a serious offense known as dappan or "fleeing the han". He returned to Hagi in 1852. His punishment from the ''daimyō'' was costly but sweet for Shōin. He was stripped of his samurai status and his stipend of 57 ''koku'' with it. His father, Sugi Yurinosuke, was appointed as his guardian. Shōin was then granted 10 years of leisure in which he could study in any part of Japan that he chose. On January16, 1853, Yoshida Shōin was granted permission to return to Edo to continue his studies. His timing for his return to Edo turned out to coincide with
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994– ...
’s arrival in Japan.


Attempt to escape and imprisonment

Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994– ...
visited Japan in 1853 and 1854. Several months after Perry's arrival at Uraga, Sakuma Shōzan petitioned the Bakufu to allow promising candidates to go to the United States to study the ways of the West. The petition was denied but Sakuma and Shoin resolved that Shoin would stow away onboard Perry's ship to visit the west for study. Shortly before Perry left, Yoshida and a friend went to Shimoda where Perry's
Black Ships The Black Ships (in , Edo period term) were the names given to both Portuguese merchant ships and American warships arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries respectively. In 1543, Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a ...
were anchored, and tried to gain admittance. They first presented a letter asking to be let aboard one of his ships. Then, in the dead of night Yoshida tried to secretly climb aboard the ship . Perry's troops noticed them, and they were refused. Shortly thereafter, they were caged by
Tokugawa bakufu The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
troops. Even in a cage, they managed to smuggle a written message to Perry. Yoshida Shōin was sent to a jail in Edo, then to one in Hagi where he was sentenced to
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 ...
. Yoshida had never introduced himself to Perry, who never learned his name. While in jail, he ran a school. After his release, he took over his uncle's tiny private school, Shōka Sonjuku to teach the youth military arts and politics. Since he was forbidden from travelling, he had his students travel Japan as investigators. By 1858, Ii Naosuke, the
bakufu , officially , was the title of the military rulers 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, except during parts of the Kamak ...
Tairō who signed treaties with the Western powers, began to round up
sonnō jōi was a '' yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s, during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sou ...
rebels in Kyōto,
Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
, and eventually the provinces. Many of Yoshida Shoin's followers were caught up in the dragnet. That year, Yoshida Shōin put down the brush and took up the sword. When Ii Naosuke sent a servant to (unsuccessfully) ask the emperor to support one of his treaties with the foreigners, Yoshida Shōin led a revolt, calling on ''
rōnin In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185–1868), a ''rōnin'' ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a ''rō ...
'' to aid him, but received very little support. Nonetheless, he and a small band of students attacked and attempted to kill Ii's servant in Kyoto. The revolt failed, and Yoshida Shoin was again imprisoned in Chōshū.


Death

In 1859, Chōshū was ordered to send its most dangerous insurgents to Edo's prisons. Once there, Yoshida Shōin confessed the assassination plot, and, from jail, continued to plot the rebellion. He did not expect to be executed until the Tokugawa executed three of his friends. In October 15, he asked for a piece of tissue paper to clear his nasal passage, then recited his final death poem: 'Parental love exceeds one's love for his parents. How will they take the tidings of today?'. Two days later in October 17, he was informed of his death sentence. When it was Yoshida's turn in November 21, he was brought to an open courtyard adjacent to the prison, and led to the scaffold. With perfect composure he kneeled atop a straw mat, beyond which was a rectangular hole dug in the rich, dark earth to absorb the blood. Upon his death by
decapitation Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...
, his executioner Yamada Asaemon said that he died a noble death. He was 29 years old. After his execution, he was first buried by
Itō Hirobumi Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...
and his Chōshū comrades near the execution site. In 1863, he was later reburied by his supporters at Wakabayashi, Edo.


Posthumous influence

At least five of his students, Takasugi Shinsaku, Katsura Kogorō, Inoue Kaoru,
Itō Hirobumi Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...
and
Yamagata Aritomo Prince was a Japanese politician and general who served as prime minister of Japan from 1889 to 1891, and from 1898 to 1900. He was also a leading member of the '' genrō'', a group of senior courtiers and statesmen who dominated the politics ...
later became widely known, and virtually all of the survivors of the Sonjuku group became officers in the Meiji Restoration. Takasugi led rifle companies against the ''shōgun''s army when it failed to conquer Chōshū in 1864, rapidly leading to the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate. Itō Hirobumi became Japan's first prime minister.


Legacy

In 1882, Yoshida Shōin was enshrined at Shōin shrine in Wakabayashi,
Setagaya-ku is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the Habenaria radi ...
(35-1), in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, and the current shrine's main building was built in 1927, as well as in his birthplace Hagi,
Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...
(山口県萩市椿東1537). In 1888 Yoshida was enshrined into the
Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...
and was posthumously awarded Senior Fourth Rank by 1889. Shoin University was named after him. There are two other universities whose names include Shoin in Japan, but they are unrelated to him. Shoin University websit
建学の精神
Retrieved December 2, 2015
'' Hana Moyu'' is a 2015
Japanese television drama , also called or J-drama, are television programs that are a staple of Television in Japan, Japanese television and are broadcast daily. Format All major Television networks, TV networks in Japan produce a variety of Drama (genre), drama serie ...
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
Taiga drama is the name NHK gives to the annual year-long historical drama television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white ''Hana no Shōgai'', starring kabuki actor Onoe Shoroku II and Awashima Chikage, the network regul ...
series that premiered on January 4, 2015, and ended on December 13, 2015. The series starred
Mao Inoue Mao Inoue (井上 真央, ''Inoue Mao'', born January 9, 1987), is a Japanese actress. She is best known to Japanese television drama audiences as Makino Tsukushi in the '' Boys Over Flowers'' series and as Sugi Fumi ( ja) in the 54th taiga dr ...
who portrayed Sugi Fumi, a younger sister of Yoshida Shōin. The role of Yoshida Shōin was played by actor
Yūsuke Iseya is a Japanese actor, director, artist, and businessman. Career Iseya co-starred with Arata Iura, Yui Natsukawa, and Susumu Terajima in Hirokazu Koreeda's ''Distance (2001 film), Distance''. He appeared in Takashi Miike's ''13 Assassins (2010 fi ...
.


References

* National Geographic Magazine (June, 1984). Article Readers (1) Prof. Albert Craig; Harvard Yenching Institute, (2) Prof. History Dept., Kyoto University, (3) Prof. Thomas Huber, Duke University.


External links

* *
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
on Yoshida Shōin (Yoshida Torajirō) – se


Yoshida Shoin
– Daily quotes in English and Japanese
yoshida-shoin.com
– About Yoshida Shoin (Japanese) * http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/CivilizationUnknown/id/1277 * http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/91.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida, Shoin 1830 births 1859 deaths People from Hagi, Yamaguchi People of Bakumatsu Meiji Restoration People executed by Japan by decapitation 19th-century executions by Japan Executed Japanese people Politicians from Yamaguchi Prefecture People from Chōshū Domain 19th-century Japanese philosophers 19th-century Japanese educators Deified Japanese men Japanese scholars of Yangming