Shinmon Tatsugoro

Japanese: 新門辰五郎 - しんもん・たつごろう

Year of death: September 19, 1875
Year of birth: 1792
A gangster during the Meiji Restoration period. The head of the Edo town fire brigade. His real name was Machida Tatsugoro. Born in Shitaya as the son of a metalwork craftsman, he was adopted by Machida Niuemon, a monk at Rinnoji Temple in Ueno. He rose from a construction worker to laborer, head of the 10th group of town fire brigades, and also served as a gatekeeper at Sensoji Temple. There were three types of fire brigades in Edo: the official fire brigades of the shogunate, the feudal lord fire brigades, and the town fire brigades hired by wealthy townspeople who pooled their money. The town fire brigades were ranked lower, but Tatsugoro, backed by money from Asakusa's incense makers and street performers, placed bold men in the 10th group, and gained fame for his bravery in a fight against the feudal lord fire brigades of the Yanagawa domain, killing and injuring 18 people. He was banished from Edo for this crime. He was caught returning to his wife and mistress every night, and was arrested. He was tortured, but he did not give in and was sent to the Tsukushima Laborers' Home. When the Hongo-Maruyama Fire of 1846 broke out in Tsukudajima, he led the prisoners together with Koganei Kojiro and others in putting out the fire, and was pardoned. As his daughter was a mistress of the shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, he accompanied 300 subordinates to Kyoto as a guard for the shogun during the Keio era (1865-68). He lived in Kawaramachi in Kyoto and Dojima in Osaka, and, keeping a mistress, he lived a prosperous life as the boss of Edo, employed by the shogun. After losing the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, Yoshinobu fled to Edo on the Kaiyo Maru, and ordered him to retrieve the large golden fan that had been left behind by the horse's banner at Osaka Castle. He took this fan and traveled overland along the Tokaido to Edo with his subordinates. When Yoshinobu was placed under house arrest in Mito, he transported 20,000 ryo of Koshu gold, and accompanied the Tokugawa family on their move to Suruga (Shizuoka Prefecture), maintaining his loyalty as a supporter of the shogunate to the end. He died at his home in Asakusa. <References> Katsu Kaishu, "Hikawa Seiwa"; Shirayagi Shuko, "Boss and Subordinates, Chivalrous Men"

(Masaaki Hiraoka)

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

Japanese:

没年：明治8.9.19(1875)
生年：寛政4(1792)
幕末維新期の侠客。江戸町火消しの元締。本名町田辰五郎。錺職人の子として下谷に生まれ,上野輪王寺の寺僧町田仁右衛門の養子になる。鳶人足から人足頭,町火消十番組の頭になり,浅草寺の門番も勤める。江戸の火消しには幕府の定火消し,大名火消し,裕福な町衆が金を出しあって雇う町火消しの別があり,町火消しは下位に立たされていたが,辰五郎は浅草の香具師,大道芸人などから入る金を背景に勇み肌の男たちを十番組に配し,柳川藩の大名火消し相手の喧嘩で18名を死傷させて勇名をはせ,この罪で江戸所払になる。夜な夜な妻妾のところに戻るのが露見して捕まり,拷問されたが屈せず佃島人足寄場に送られる。弘化3(1846)年の本郷丸山火事で佃島に火が入ると,囚人を小金井小次郎らと指揮して消火に貢献,赦免される。娘が将軍徳川慶喜の妾になっている縁で慶応年間(1865～68),子分300人を連れて将軍警備で京都に行く。京都では河原町,大坂では堂島に居を構え,妾も置いて,将軍お抱えの江戸の親分として羽振りをきかせた。鳥羽伏見の戦に敗れて開陽丸で江戸に敗走する慶喜から,大坂城に忘れてきた馬印の大金扇を取ってくることを命じられ,これを持って子分と共に陸路東海道を江戸に着いた。慶喜が水戸に謹慎になった際,2万両の甲州金を輸送し,徳川家の駿府(静岡県)移住にも付き従い,最後まで佐幕派の義理を守った。浅草の自宅で没。<参考文献>勝海舟『氷川清話』,白柳秀湖『親分子分・侠客編』

(平岡正明)

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