Speaking of opening a country, there is an image of succumbing to Perry's diplomatic pressure, but it seems that there was a person who appealed for the need to open a country even in Japan during the Edo period and under the isolation system.
That is a person named Toshiaki Honda.
This visionary " Honda Toshiaki I would like to approach what the person said.
Toshiaki Honda, an economic commentator from the Edo period
Toshiaki Honda Is 1743 Born in Kanbara-gun, Echigo, he went to Edo and studied Wasan, astronomy, rekigaku, and Dutch navigation. 1766 When he was 24 years old, he opened a private school for mathematics and astronomy in Edo, and after that he was educated for a lifetime and wrote several books.
Meanwhile, he decided to travel to Tohoku in 1787. As he witnessed the devastation suffering from the famine of Tenmei, Toshiaki's interest turned to economic theory.
Threat from the north (relationship with Russia)
- Europeanization of Japan (appealing the need for colonial policy, changing the pseudonym to the alphabet, etc.)
- Development of Ezo and advance into Kamchatka
- Form diplomatic relations with Russia and trade
I also had the idea of surviving with. He's a little ... rather radical.
In the era of culture and bunsei (early 1800s) when Toshiaki Honda was active, he had an idea of emphasizing exchanges with foreign countries, so it was not used heavily in the shogunate, but in 1809 it became the Kaga domain for about a year. I am serving.
Speaking of the Kaga domain, it is a very wealthy domain that is also called "Kaga 1 million stones". "Omotedaka (Kokudaka)" itself, which can be said to indicate the rank of a daimyo, was originally very high, but in reality, "Uchidaka", which is said to correspond to the GDP of the clan, is also the Kaga clan. It seems that it was at the standard.
The cultural bunsei period when Toshiaki Honda was active was the time when the tradesman culture of Edo prospered. On the other hand, the shogunate and other clan were suffering from financial difficulties, and the contradiction of the bakuhan system became more serious, and foreign ships came to visit frequently, and the external pressure gradually increased. The Kaga domain was in financial difficulty as usual.
He is
Quote:Economic Reform in Japanese History-Japanese Wisdom Not in History Textbooks-
Was my theory. Of course, there were sea merchants in Japan at that time who were trying to interact with Ezo, so the first half of the quoted part was not a concept peculiar to Toshiaki Honda, but it was politically raised by raising the clan to exchange overseas. The point of trying to do it was different from others.
Why did you make such a proposal? Speaking of which,
While the politics at that time preached "Politics of Jin" based on "Confucianism", Toshiaki Honda preached "Politics of Jin" based on the attitude of "focusing on reality". rice field. The basic posture was different in the first place.
What do you mean ...
Confucianism in Japan, especially in the Edo period, is the idea for a feudal society by the shogunate . It was also used as.
The reason why Confucianism was useful in the Edo period is
You can see it by looking at the part. (Looking only at the part related to the shogunate) It is important for the monarch to be the monarch and the vassal to be the vassal. It means that. Considering that before the Edo period, it was during the Warring States period and Gekokujo was also for the time being, it may be natural that this idea was emphasized.
On top of that, "Politics of Jin" Do
That seems to be the opinion of most scholars. Even against the shogunate ...
With such a background, Toshiaki Honda Advocates the importance of the Sea of Japan. Exchange between the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Japan Honda Toshiaki called (Wealth Policy by Trade Promotion, Mercantilism) The proposal was appealing to the Kaga domain, which was in financial difficulty, but it was also too dangerous to implement.
Still, I can't replace my stomach on my back. Eimi Okumura , the chief retainer of the Maeda clan of the Kaga domain Confesses to the shogunate a secret smuggling plan to Zeniya Gohei, a sea merchant in Kanazawa, who has always been intimate with him.
As a result, Gobei traded in a wide area such as Russia in Ezo and Etorofu Island, Britain in the southern archipelago of Kagoshima, and Tasmania Island in North America and Australia. The track record was so good that it was ridiculed.
The Kaga domain will also benefit from it, but the reform will end halfway because there were many enemies and many opponents, such as the adhesion between Emi Okumura and a large merchant such as Senya.
* It is said that Eimi Okumura gave preferential treatment only to specific merchants and was restrained by other merchants. If anything, he seemed to tend to focus on agriculture.
After Okumura's death, it was a party called the Kurobaori Party that came to power. They were also the ones who pointed out the collusion with the big merchants in the previous administration. Zeniya Gohei fell into a delicate position after Okumura's death, and was accused of insufficient evidence for fear of smuggling being revealed to the shogunate and died in prison. He has confiscated a huge fortune of 3 million cars in the Kaga domain.
* 1 car =40,000 to 60,000 yen in terms of rice price in the middle of the Edo period (Bank of Japan Currency Museum-FAQ on the history of money (answer)). This means that 120 billion to 180 billion yen has been confiscated. Since the Senya died just before the end of the Edo period, it seems that the conversion to 40,000 yen is closer. In 1794, about 50 years before the death of the Senya, the shogunate's revenue was about 1 million cars (Kansei Reforms | Social Room | Learning Materials Room), so it can be seen that it was a considerable extra income.
Many of the members of the Kurobaori Party are from the private school, Shiyukan, which was opened by a person named Sakunosuke Ueda.
This Ueda Sakunosuke, to tell the truth, Honda Toshiaki Student. He seems to have been greatly influenced by the mercantilist idea of domestic proliferation and trade, and he recommends industry in the clan, and members of the Kurobaori Party support the idea of Sakunosuke Ueda. was doing.
However, in the end, it was not a situation that could be reformed by the unanimous clan, so it ended halfway.
However, by the time the Kurobaori Party came to power, it had already entered the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. Fortunately, the height of the original stone height and the property of Zeniya Gohei have become a certain amount of inner height, but if you do not make a mistake a little more, it will become a clan that can not be defeated by Satsunaga Dohi. Wasn't it? I think. Well, considering the relationship between the Kaga domain and the shogunate, I feel that it is unavoidable that the Kaga domain does not have a presence at the end of the Edo period ...
For that reason, Toshiaki Honda was too far ahead of the times and was not accepted at all, but it seems that the Kaga domain has been in charge of the domain after incorporating some of his ideas. It wasn't until the Meiji Restoration that his ideas were actually incorporated into politics.
Toshiaki Honda would have been attracting more attention if he lived in a different era, but it may have led to the success of the Meiji Restoration because there was a person like Toshiaki Honda who was familiar with foreign countries as of the 18th century. Hmm.