Tanaka Shinbei - Tanaka Shinbei

Japanese: 田中新兵衛 - たなか・しんべえ

Year of death: May 26, 1863 (July 11, 1863)
Year of birth: Tempo 12 (1841)
A samurai of the Satsuma (Kagoshima) domain during the late Edo period. A supporter of the Sonno Joi movement. Said to be either the son of a drug merchant or a boatman. It is said that he was asked to prepare a boat when the Sonno Joi movement formed an alliance to escape the domain in 1859 (Ansei 6), so it is likely the latter. He went to Kyoto in 1862 (Bunkyu 2), and in July of the same year, he killed Shimada Sakon, a retainer of former regent Kujo Naotada. This was the first act of divine punishment in Kyoto. In May of the following year, the assassination of Anenokoji Kintomo took place. He was suspected of this crime and arrested, but before he could be interrogated, he committed seppuku at the Kyoto magistrate's office. The real culprit is still unknown. This incident became one of the subjects of Shiba Ryotaro's novel "Hitokiri" (The Assassin), and when it was made into a film by Gosha Hideo in 1969 (Showa 44), Mishima Yukio played the role of Tanaka Shinbei, and performed the seppuku scene at the magistrate's office. Incidentally, Mishima committed seppuku on November 25th, 1945, the following year.

(Inoue Isao)

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

Japanese:

没年：文久3.5.26(1863.7.11)
生年：天保12(1841)
幕末の薩摩(鹿児島)藩士。尊攘派の志士。薬種商の子とも船頭の子とも。安政6(1859)年の尊攘派の同盟脱藩の時に船の用意を依頼されたというから後者か。文久2(1862)年上洛,同年7月,前関白九条尚忠の臣島田左近を殺害。京における天誅のはじめである。翌3年5月,姉小路公知暗殺事件があった。これの容疑がかけられ逮捕され,審問を受ける前に京都町奉行所内で切腹。真犯人は未だに不明。この事件は司馬遼太郎の小説「人斬り」の素材のひとつになり,昭和44(1969)年五社英雄によって映画化されたとき,三島由紀夫が田中新兵衛役,町奉行所内での切腹のシーンを演じた。ちなみに,三島が切腹自殺したのは翌45年11月25日。

(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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