Takadaya Kahei

Japanese: 高田屋嘉兵衛 - たかだや・かへえ

Year of death: April 5, 1827 (April 30, 1827)
Year of birth: 1769
A shipping businessman involved in the development of Ezo in the late Edo period. He was the eldest son of farmer Yayoshi from Tsushimotomura, Tsuna County, Awaji Province (Goshiki Town, Hyogo Prefecture). His childhood name was Kikuya. In 1790, he went to Hyogo and became a crew member on a barrel ship. In 1791, he settled in Nishidemachi, Hyogo, and worked as a boatman transporting goods to Nagasaki, Shimonoseki, and other areas. In 1792, he became the boatman of Izumiya Ihei's personal boat and went to Sakata, where he began construction of the Tatsuetsu Maru (1,500 koku capacity) in Shonai, completing it the following year and becoming independent as a boatman and boatman. He loaded sake, salt, cotton, etc. in Hyogo and rice in Sakata, and sent the boats to Hakodate. On the way back, he purchased seafood from Ezo and sold it in Osaka, thus starting the Kitamae-bune trade. In the same year, he opened a branch in Hakodate Omachi, with his younger brother Kanebee as manager, and with five private boats he sold produce from Ezo in Shimonoseki and Kamigata, becoming a supplier to the Matsumae Domain. In the 18th year, eastern Ezo came under direct control of the shogunate, and he was engaged in transporting goods for the shogunate and successfully developed the Etorofu route. In the 19th year, he developed 17 fishing grounds on Etorofu Island and was ordered to build five government ships, which he completed in Osaka the following year, 1801, and became a hired boatman in Ezo, taking sole control of both the government ships and the hired ships. In the 3rd year of the Bunka era (1806), he was ordered by the Osaka Town Magistrate's Office to sell produce from Ezo, and in the 7th year of the Bunka era (1806), he contracted for the Etorofu location, in the 11th year of the Bunka era (1807), the Nemuro location, and in the 2nd year of the Bunsei era (1819), he expanded his operations at these locations. During this time, in August 1818, he was captured by a Russian ship on the Kanze Maru while on his way from Etorofu to Hakodate. At that time, he left a letter to his younger brother stating, "I am devoting myself entirely to this matter and will not let you be taken away," and was taken to Kamchatka and interned, but he negotiated with high-ranking Japanese and Russian officials, and the following year he made an effort to resolve the conflict between Japan and Russia, for which he was rewarded. In 1818, he handed over his business to his younger brother Kanebee and recuperated in his hometown of Awaji, where he contributed to the repair of nearby embankments and harbors. He died there. <References> Hakodate City History, General History Vol. 1, Sudo Ryusen, Takadaya Kahei

(Masahiro Uemura)

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

Japanese:

没年：文政10.4.5(1827.4.30)
生年：明和6(1769)
江戸後期の蝦夷地開発の海運業者。淡路国津名郡都志本村(兵庫県五色町)百姓弥吉の長男。幼名菊弥。寛政2(1790)年兵庫に出て,樽廻船の乗組員となる。同4年兵庫西出町に居を構え,船頭として長崎,下関などとの物資輸送に従事。同7年和泉屋伊兵衛の手船の船頭となり酒田へ行き,庄内で辰悦丸(1500石積)の建造に着手,翌年完成し船持船頭として独立。兵庫で酒,塩,木綿など,酒田で米を積み,箱館に回送,帰りは蝦夷地の海産物を買い入れ,大坂で売却し,北前船交易を開始した。同10年箱館大町に支店を設け,弟金兵衛を支配人とし,手船5艘で蝦夷地の産物を下関,上方で売却し,松前藩の用達となる。同11年東蝦夷地が幕府直轄となり,幕府の物資輸送に従事し,択捉航路の開発に成功。同12年には,択捉島の漁場17カ所を開発し,官船5艘の建造を命じられ,翌享和1(1801)年大坂で完成,蝦夷地定雇船頭となり,官船と定雇船を一手に掌握した。文化3(1806)年には大坂町奉行所から蝦夷地産物売捌方を命じられ,同7年には択捉場所,同11年には根室場所,文政2年には幌泉場所を請け負い,場所経営を拡大した。この間,文化9年8月観世丸で択捉場所から箱館に向かう途中,ロシア船に拿捕された。その際,「取みださぬ様,専一之事ニ存候」と弟に手紙を遺し,カムチャツカに連行,抑留されたが,日露の高官と交渉を重ね,翌年日露の紛争解決に尽力し,その功を賞された。文政1(1818)年には弟金兵衛に事業を譲り,郷里の淡路で養生し,近隣の堤や港湾の修築などに貢献した。同地で死去。<参考文献>『函館市史』通史編1巻,須藤隆仙『高田屋嘉兵衛』

(上村雅洋)

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

<<: Yasuma Takada

>>: Minoru Takada