Masanosuke Sufu

Japanese: 周布政之助 - すふ・まさのすけ

Year of death: September 26, 1864 (October 26, 1864)
Year of birth: March 23, 1823 (May 3, 1823)
A leader of the Choshu (Hagi) domain in the late Edo period. In the old days, it was also read as "Sou." His given name was Kanetsugu, his pen name was Kosuke, and his pen name was Kanzan. He changed his name to Asada Kosuke. He was the son of Kanemasa, a member of the Choshu domain's Daigumi (68 koku) and his mother was from the Murata clan. He was mentored by Murata Seifu, a leader of the Tenpo Reforms. After the dismissal of Murata's political rival, Mukashi Tota, he became a senior official in the domain's practical affairs, Uhitsu, in 1853 (Kaei 6), and carried out military reforms and financial reorganization, but was driven out by the Mukashi faction in 1855 (Ansei 2). However, when he was consulted by various domains about the trade treaty, he advocated domain autonomy, rejected the Mukashi faction as vulgar opinion, and once again took real power in the domain's government. He began reforms that placed emphasis on military reform and product policy, and during the Ansei Purge in 1858, he secretly entered the Imperial Court as an envoy of his domain and argued that opening up to the country was inevitable. He pursued a policy of cooperation with the shogunate through a policy of opening up to the country known as the Navigation Strategy, but seeing the limits of the shogunate's reforms, he joined the opposition with Katsura Kogoro (Kido Takayoshi) and others, and was punished. In 1862 (Bunkyu 2), Shimazu Hisamitsu came to Tokyo with his troops, and he was relieved of his punishment. He established the domain's position as revering the Emperor and expelling the barbarians, centralized the domain system by abolishing the government in the domain's Edo residence, oppressed opponents, and began Western-style military reforms. Although he knew that expelling the barbarians was impossible, he was of the opinion that an external crisis should be used to pressure for drastic reform. Due to his tendency to speak his mind and act on it, in 1862 he caused an incident by verbally abusing Yamauchi Toyoshige, and changed his name to Asada Kosuke. After the clan was driven out of Kyoto in the political upheaval of August 18, 1453, he opposed the clan's soldiers going to Kyoto, but was unsuccessful. The clan was defeated in the Kinmon Incident, and the first Choshu expeditionary force arrived. As the popular opinion faction rose to power, he committed suicide without waiting for the justice faction to rise again.

(Katsuo Inoue)

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

Japanese:

没年：元治1.9.26(1864.10.26)
生年：文政6.3.23(1823.5.3)
幕末の長州(萩)藩の指導者。古くは「すう」とも読む。名は兼翼,字は公輔,号は観山など。麻田公輔と改名。長州藩大組(68石余)の兼正の子,母は村田氏。天保改革の指導者,村田清風の薫陶を受けた。村田の政敵,椋梨藤太の罷免後,嘉永6(1853)年藩の実務役人の重鎮,右筆に就き,軍制改革,財政整理を行ったが,安政2(1855)年椋梨派に追われた。しかし,通商条約について諸藩に諮問されるというなかで,藩の自律を唱え,椋梨派を俗論と排斥して,再度,藩政の実権を執った。軍制改革・産物政策を重視する改革を開始し,安政5年の安政の大獄中,藩使として朝廷に密かに入り,開国の止むを得ないことを入説した。航海遠略策という開国策で幕府との協調策を進めたが,幕政改革に限界をみて,桂小五郎(木戸孝允)らと反対派に回り,処分される。文久2(1862)年島津久光の率兵上京の情勢に処分を解かれ,藩論を尊王攘夷に確定し,江戸藩邸の政府を廃止するなど藩制を集権化し,反対派を弾圧し,洋式軍制改革を開始した。攘夷の不可を知っていたが,対外的危機を思い切った改革の圧力に使うという考えであった。直言実行の性格から文久2年山内容堂に暴言を吐くという事件を起こし,麻田公輔と改名した。同3年の8月18日の政変で藩が京都を追われたのち,藩兵の上京に反対したが,ならず,禁門の変で藩は敗れ,第1次長州征討軍が到来。俗論派が興起するなかで,正義派の再起を待たずに自刃した。<参考文献>周布公平監修『周布政之助伝』

(井上勝生)

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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