Shimazu Nariakira

Lord of Satsuma in the late Edo period. The eldest son of Narioki. Born in Edo on September 28, 1812. After a battle for succession with a group supporting his half-brother Hisamitsu (the Oyura Incident), he became lord of the domain in 1851 (Kaei 4) at the age of 43. During that time, influenced by his great-grandfather Shigehide, he became interested in Western studies, met with the Dutch doctor Siebold, had Western scholars such as Kawamoto Komin, Mitsukuri Genpo, Takano Choei, and Sugita Seikei read and translated Western books, and he himself studied Dutch and Western culture. His knowledge was so highly regarded that he was ordered to return to Japan during his time as heir to deal with diplomatic issues such as the arrival of British and French ships in Ryukyu and the residence of missionaries there. After assuming his position as feudal lord, he focused the results of his Western studies on the adoption of Western-style industries. First, he began building a reverberatory furnace, but it was not easy to succeed. When his retainers were hesitant, Nariakira encouraged them by saying, "Westerners are people, Saga people are people, and Satsuma people are all people. Don't get bored, just keep studying." Eventually, he succeeded. At that time, Saga was the only place in Japan where a reverberatory furnace had been built. He also built a drill, a smelting furnace, and other Western-style factories, and in 1857 (Ansei 4), named Shuseikan. Here, large and small cannons, bullets, gunpowder, gunpowder cotton, farm tools, swords, ceramics, and various types of glass were manufactured, as well as papermaking, oil extraction, Western-style vermilion powder, alcohol, gold and silver analysis, plating, various acids such as sulfuric acid, and salt, and it is said that the number of workers and laborers employed exceeded 1,200 on any one day. He also paid special attention to shipbuilding, constructing Western-style ships such as the sailing ship Iroha Maru, the warship Shohei Maru, and the steamship Unko Maru. He also proposed to the shogunate that the ban on building large ships be lifted and that the Hinomaru flag be made the general emblem of Japan, which was adopted.

All of these were due to Nariakira's clear understanding of the international situation surrounding Japan at the time, and he was on friendly terms with leading figures of the time, such as Tokugawa Nariaki, Matsudaira Yoshinaga, Yamauchi Yodo, Date Munenari, and Abe Masahiro, a member of the shogunate. He was in favor of opening the country to foreign affairs, and supported Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu in the issue of the succession to the shogunate. Unfortunately, he died suddenly on July 16, 1858, in Kagoshima. He is enshrined at Terukuni Shrine, and his grave is in the Shimazu family cemetery in Kagoshima City.

[Yoshi Sokusei]

"The Biography of Shimazu Nariakira by Toshihiko Ikeda (1954, Iwasaki Scholarship Foundation)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸末期の薩摩(さつま)藩主。斉興(なりおき)の長男。文化(ぶんか)6年9月28日江戸に生まれる。異母弟久光を推す一派との家督争い（お由良(ゆら)騒動）を経て1851年（嘉永4）43歳で藩主となった。その間曽祖父重豪(そうそふしげひで)の感化もあって洋学に傾倒し、蘭医(らんい)シーボルトに会見、川本幸民(こうみん)、箕作阮甫(みつくりげんぽ)、高野長英(ちょうえい)、杉田成卿(せいけい)その他の洋学者に洋書の講読、翻訳をさせ、自らも蘭語を学び西洋文化の研究を行った。その知見を買われて世子時代、琉球(りゅうきゅう)への英仏船来航、宣教師居住などの外交問題処理のため、帰国を命ぜられた。藩主就任後は洋学研究の成果を洋式産業の採用に結集させた。まず反射炉の建設に着手したが容易に成功せず、それにひるんだ家臣に対し斉彬は「西洋人も人なり、佐賀人も人なり、薩摩人も同じく人なり、退屈せずますます研究すべし」と励まし、ついに成功させたという。日本では当時佐賀だけに反射炉が建設されていた。このほか鑽開台(さんかいだい)、溶鉱炉その他各種の洋式工場をつくり、57年（安政4）集成館と命名した。ここでは大小砲銃をはじめ弾丸、火薬、綿火薬、農具、刀剣、陶磁器、各種ガラスなどを製造、また製紙、搾油、洋式朱粉、アルコール、金銀分析、めっき、硫酸など各種酸類、塩など製造品目は多方面にわたり、従業の職工、人夫は1日に1200人を超えたという。また造船に意を用い、洋式帆船いろは丸、洋式軍艦昇平丸、蒸気船雲行丸など洋式艦船の建造を行い、さらに幕府に大船建造の解禁ならびに日章旗を日本の総船章とすることを建議して採用された。

　これらはいずれも当時日本をめぐる国際情勢について斉彬が明確な認識をもっていたからで、また徳川斉昭(なりあき)や松平慶永(よしなが)、山内容堂(ようどう)、伊達宗城(だてむねなり)や幕閣の阿部正弘(まさひろ)ら当代一流の人物と親交があり、外交問題については開国的意見をもち、将軍継嗣(けいし)問題では一橋慶喜(よしのぶ)を推していた。しかし不運にも、安政(あんせい)5年7月16日鹿児島で急死した。照国(てるくに)神社に祀(まつ)り、墓は鹿児島市島津家墓地にある。

［芳　即正］

『池田俊彦著『島津斉彬公傳』（1954・岩崎育英奨学会）』

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