[LARGELY UNPUBLISHED JAPANESE EDO MANUSCRIPTS RELATING TO THE OPENING OF JAPAN].

開国関係文書 [Kaikoku kankei monjo Documents Relating to the Opening of Japan].

Stock ID #157339

3 manuscript volumes neatly written in black and red ink. Original wrappers with later(?) string ties. Wrappers damaged with a little loss in places. Some worming. Still overall very good. 19 x 13.5cm.

These three volumes are a collection of manuscripts written in the late Edo period (probably the 1860s). Most of the original documents on which the manuscripts were based were written shortly after the arrival of the American delegation led by Commodore Matthew Perry in July 8 1853 (June 3 in Japanese calendar). These documents written in the face of this national crisis were mostly driven by the patriotic fervour of the authors. They show a variety of thoughts about the threat from the foreign powers. None of these were published at the time and only Watanabe Kazan’s Shinki-ron was published in modern times.

Kazan wrote his treatise, inspired not by the arrival of Perry, but by the Edo government’s hostile treatment of the American merchant ship Morrison in 1837.

Titles and short synopses of these works follow:

Volume 1: Chiyoda mondō [Questions and Answers in Chiyoda] 千代田問答 (1853); Momijiyama shinrei-ki紅葉山神靈記 [Message from the Holy Spirit in Momijiyama]

The author of Chiyoda mondō is unknown. The word "Chiyoda" in Chiyoda mondō is the name of the area where the Edo Castle sat and refers to the god in the Tōshōgū Shrine in Momijiyama [next to the western part of the Edo Castle]. This document is difficult to read, but it appears to explain how a group of mysterious people (or possibly divine spirits?) tell stories related to Japan's national affairs in 1853 discussing the country's national defence against foreigners and the situation regarding Christianity.

In Momijiyama shinrei-ki the anonymous author, who was an attendant to the group of the high government officials visiting the Tōshōgū Shrine in Momijiyama, fell asleep and in his dream a Holy Spirit appeared and told him the necessity of enhancing the coastal defence in the face of the American expansion.

Volume 2: Daimyō shoka kengi 大名諸家建議 [Proposals from War Lords and Various People]
　
This manuscript is a collection of proposals and opinions expressed by Daimyō [war lords] and the retainers of the Edo government on the subject of Japan's foreign policy after the arrival of the American delegation led by Commodore Perry which requested trade with Japan. The Daimyō discuss how to deal with the crisis in terms of such issues as trade and coastal defence. Some even proposed possible war with the American fleet. The daimyo, some of whom were high-rank officials of the Edo government, included Shimadu Nariakira島津斉彬 (1809-58), Maeda Nariyasu 前田斉泰 (1811-84), Matsudaira Shungaku 松平春嶽 (1928-90 ), Tokugawa Yoshinobu 徳川慶喜 (1837-1913), Ii Naosuke 井伊直弼 (1815-60), Nabeshima Naomasa 鍋島直正 (1815-71) and the retainers included Inoue Saburōemon 井上三郎右衛門 (?-?) and Katsu Rinsuke 勝麟助 (1823-99). Katsu became a capable mediator when the Edo castle was surrendered peacefully to the new Meiji government in 1868.

Volume 3: 海防備言 [Kaibō bigen Words on Coastal Defence].　Habu Kumagorō 土生熊五郎(?-?), Rifujutsui 嫠不恤緯 [Widow Does Not Worry the Shortage of Weft] the latter a Chinese expression referring to strong patriotism; Watanabe Kazan 渡辺崋山 (1793-1841), Shinki-ron愼機論 [Essay on Attention to an Opportunity] (1838); Hakura Morochika羽倉用九 (1790-1862), Gakaisho 畫灰書 [Drawing in Ash] and Gasuisho畫水書 [Drawing in Water] (1854); Fujimori Kōan 藤森弘庵 (1799-1862), Kaibō biron 海防 備論[Treatise on Coastal Defence] (1853)

Habu Kumagorō was a Confucian scholar in Wakayama. He proposed the developing the land of Ezo 蝦夷 [Hokkaido]. Rifujutsui discusses such topics as the advance of the Russians to Siberia and the necessity of developing Hokkaido as well as the art of war.

Watanabe Kazan was a chief retainer of the Tahara Domain (eastern part of present Aichi Prefecture), Confucian scholar, and also famous as a painter. Shinki-ron criticises the xenophobic foreign policy of the Edo government.

Hakura Morochika was a Confucian scholar in Osaka. After the arrival of Perry, he discussed the measures against foreign enemies. In Gakaisho, a collection of historical essays, Hakura objected to trade with America in the form of an answer to the sovereign message from America seeking trade with Japan. He also wrote an answer to the sovereign message from Russia, but he was more sympathetic to the Russians because they sought trade through the official channel in Nagasaki, while the American delegate in the military fleet came to Uraga in a threatening manner. In Gasuisho also Hakura mentions the harmful effects of Christianity.

Fujimori Kōan was a Confucian scholar of the Ono Domain (in present Ono City, Hyogo Prefecture). In his later life he opened a private school in Edo and wrote the comprehensive treatise on Japanese coastal defence, Kaibō biron, after the arrival of Perry.

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