Genzui Kusaka

Japanese: 久坂玄瑞 - くさか・げんずい

Year of death: 19th July 1864 (20th August 1864)
Year of birth: Tempo 11 (1840)
A samurai of the Choshu (Hagi) domain during the late Edo period and a Sonn-joi (revere the expulsion of sons and expulsion of citizens) patriot. The second son of the domain's doctor, Kusaka Ryoteki. After the deaths of his elder brother Genki and his father Ryoteki, he inherited the family headship in 1854. In the same year, he traveled to Kyushu to study, and at the urging of Getsusei and Miyabe Teizo, he became a disciple of Yoshida Shoin in May. Shoin described Kusaka Genzui as "the foremost young man in Bungo and Choshu (Choshu domain)." The following year, he married Shoin's younger sister, Fumiko. Along with Takasugi Shinsaku, he was one of the two greatest students of the Shoka Sonjuku school. The following year, he went to Edo to further his studies, studying Dutch studies under Murata Zoroku (Omura Masujiro), and returned to the domain in February of the following year, and in May, he escorted Shoin back to Edo. After Shoin was executed in October, he sought to unite the students of the Shoka Sonjuku school. In the following year, 1860, he went to Edo and entered the academy of Hori Tatsunosuke of the Bansho Shirabesho (Investigative Records of Foreign Documents), and in August, together with Takasugi and others, he enshrined the soul of Shoin at the execution grounds of Kozukahara. He deepened ties with patriots from Satsuma, Mito, and Tosa, and then lobbied the domain government to prevent the marriage of Princess Kazunomiya and Nagai Gagaku's movement to unite the Imperial Court and the Shogunate, but failed. He was ordered to return to the domain in October 1861. His thoughts at the time were, "The feudal lords and the nobles cannot be relied upon, and there is no other way than for the grassroots patriots to unite and rise up in righteous deeds." In March of the following year, he joined the domain's soldiers serving as guards in Hyogo and traveled to Kyoto, where he made plans to raise an army to expel foreigners, but this was called off when his comrades in Satsuma were oppressed by Shimazu Hisamitsu (the Teradaya Incident). From then on, he approached Shufu Masanosuke, Maeda Magoemon and other leaders of the domain office, and worked hard to change the domain's stance to sonno joi (revere the emperor, expel the barbarians), which he succeeded in doing. The "Kairan Article Gi" and "Kaian Chigen" he presented at this time established the policy of the Choshu domain's sonno joi (revere the emperor, expel the barbarians) movement. He then went to Edo, where in December he burned down the newly constructed British Embassy in Gotenyama together with Takasugi Shinsaku and others. The following year, he went to Kyoto, where he led the sonno joi (revere the expedition) movement, and was promoted to the rank of samurai and appointed to the rank of Ogumi (large group). He then went to Shimonoseki, where in May he led the bombardment of American ships, and again went to Kyoto with plans to make a visit to Yamato, but these plans were thwarted by the political upheaval of August 18th. In September, he was appointed as a government official and played a key role in domain administration, traveling back and forth between Kyoto and Yamaguchi. At the time, there was a conflict within the domain between those who advocated for armed incursions into Kyoto and those who advocated for a separate base, and under pressure from the former, he led the Choshu domain soldiers who were mobilized in June 1864 and set up camp at Yamazaki in southern Kyoto. He advocated for caution in the armed invasion of Kyoto, but he gave in to the hard-line arguments of Kurushima Matabei and Maki Yasuomi (Izumi) and set out, but was defeated in the Kinmon Incident and committed suicide at Takatsukasa's residence. He was 25 years old. <References> Fukumoto Yoshiaki, "Ichijin of the Matsushita Village School: Kusaka Genzui" (later renamed "Complete Works of Kusaka Genzui")

(Inoue Isao)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：元治1.7.19(1864.8.20)
生年：天保11(1840)
幕末の長州(萩)藩士,尊攘派の志士。藩医久坂良迪の次男。兄玄機,父良迪の死に遭い,安政1(1854)年家督相続。同3年九州を遊学,月性,宮部鼎蔵から勧められ,5月吉田松陰の門下に入る。「久坂玄瑞,防長(長州藩)少年第一流人物」とは松陰の評。翌年松陰の妹文子と結婚。高杉晋作とならび松下村塾の双璧であった。翌5年学業修業のため江戸に出て村田蔵六(大村益次郎)に蘭学を学び翌年2月帰藩,5月江戸へ護送される松陰を送る。10月松陰が処刑されたのち,松下村塾生の結束を図る。翌万延1(1860)年江戸に出て蕃書調所の堀達之助の塾に入り,8月高杉らと共に小塚原の刑場に松陰の霊を祭った。薩摩,水戸,土佐の志士と交流を深め,次いで藩政府に働きかけ和宮降嫁と長井雅楽の公武合体運動の阻止を図るが失敗,命ぜられて文久1(1861)年10月帰藩。「諸侯恃むに足らず,公卿恃むに足らず,草莽志士糾合義挙の外にはとても策これ無し」とはこのときの感慨。翌2年3月兵庫警衛の藩兵に加わり上京,攘夷の挙兵計画を進めるが,薩摩の同志が島津久光に弾圧され(寺田屋事件)て中止。以来,周布政之助,前田孫右衛門ら藩庁首脳部に接近,藩論を尊王攘夷に転換させることに尽力し成功。このときに呈出した「回瀾条議」「解腕痴言」は,長州藩尊王攘夷運動の方針を定めた。次いで江戸へ,12月高杉晋作らと共に御殿山に新築中の英公使館を焼打ちにする。翌3年上洛,尊攘運動を指導,士格を上げられて大組となる。次いで下関に赴き,同5月アメリカ船砲撃を指揮,再び上洛して大和行幸を計画したが8月18日の政変により挫折。9月政務役に任命され藩政の要路に立ち,京と山口の間を往復。折から藩内には武力上洛論と割拠論との対立があり,前者に圧されるまま元治1(1864)年6月出動の長州藩兵を率いて洛南の山崎に布陣。武力入洛には慎重論を唱えたが,来島又兵衛,真木保臣(和泉)らの強硬論に屈し出撃,禁門の変に敗れ鷹司邸に自刃した。25歳。<参考文献>福本義亮『松下村塾偉人久坂玄瑞』(のち『久坂玄瑞全集』と改題)

(井上勲)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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