Torii Yozo

Japanese: 鳥居耀蔵 - とりい・ようぞう

Year of death: October 3, 1873
Year of birth: November 24, 1796 (December 22, 1796)
A shogunate official in the late Edo period. He later went by the name Kai no Kami Tadaaki. He was the seventh son of Hayashi Shosai, who restored the Hayashi family, a Confucian scholar family in the Edo shogunate. His mother was a concubine, Maehara Hachiyo. In 1820 (Bunsei 3), at the age of 25, he was adopted into the hatamoto Torii family (7,500 koku) and inherited the family. He had a deep background in Confucianism and excelled in poetry and prose. He entered the shogunate in early February of the same year and became a Nakaokuban, and later rose through the ranks to become a tutor, Nishimaru metsuke, and Honmaru metsuke. In 1839 (Tenpo 10), he was ordered to be the chief envoy for a survey of Edo Bay to defend it, and traveled around the area with the deputy envoy Egawa Hidetatsu (Tarozaemon). During this time, he was exposed to the Western-style surveying techniques of Egawa's subordinates and became wary of the infiltration of "barbarian learning," and decided that Western learning needed to be suppressed. One of the central themes of the Tenpo Reforms promoted by the senior councilor Mizuno Tadakuni was "restoration of the past and revitalization of the samurai code of honor," and Tadakuni recognized that the "Bansha no Goku" crimes uncovered by Yozo fit the spirit of the reforms, and Yozo became Tadakuni's confidant and participated in the reforms. In December 1839, Yozo attempted to overthrow the magistrate of Edo Minamimachi, Yabe Sadakane, and became his successor. As Tadakuni's chief advisor, Yozo worked to implement the reforms strictly, and was feared within the shogunate as a "monster (Yokai)" and hated by the common people as someone who oppressed people's lives. After Tadakuni's downfall, he was dismissed from his position as magistrate in September 1844 (Koka 1), and the following year he was tried as a criminal and given a heavy sentence of being committed to the Kyogoku family in Marugame, Sanuki. He was held as a prisoner there for the next 23 years, and was finally released in November 1868 (Meiji 1) and returned to Tokyo. Seeing Tokyo rushing to westernize, he arrogantly proclaimed that his prediction from 30 years ago was coming true, and he remained consistent in his anti-foreigner ideology until his death.

(Hideo Matsuoka)

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

Japanese:

没年：明治6.10.3(1873)
生年：寛政8.11.24(1796.12.22)
江戸後期の幕臣。のちに甲斐守忠耀と称した。江戸幕府の儒学の家である林家を再興した林述斎の第7子。母は側室前原八耀。文政3(1820)年,25歳のとき旗本鳥居家(7500石)の養子となり同家を継ぐ。儒学の素養が深く,詩文にひいでた。同6年2月初めに幕府に出仕して中奥番となり,のち徒頭,西丸目付,本丸目付と累進。天保10(1839)年江戸防衛のための江戸湾調査の正使を命ぜられ,副使の江川英竜(太郎左衛門)と共に現地を回った。このとき江川の部下の洋式測量技術に接して「夷狄の学」の侵入に警戒の念を抱き,洋学弾圧の必要を決意した。老中の水野忠邦が進めていた天保の改革の中心テーマのひとつに「復古と士道作興」があったが,耀蔵が摘発した「蛮社の獄」はまさに改革の趣旨に合うものとして忠邦に認められ,以後忠邦の腹心となって改革に参加していった。天保12年12月,江戸南町奉行矢部定謙の失脚を図ってその後任となり,いよいよ忠邦の参謀筆頭として改革の厳格実行にはげみ,幕府内では「妖怪(耀甲斐)」と恐れられ,庶民からは生活弾圧者として憎まれた。忠邦失脚後の弘化1(1844)年9月町奉行を解任され,翌年は罪人として裁かれて讃岐丸亀の京極家にお預けの重刑を受けた。以後23年間囚人として同地に拘禁され,明治1(1868)年11月にようやく解放されて東京に帰る。洋化に走る東京をみて,30年前のわが予言どおりではないかと傲語し,死に至るまで攘夷思想で一貫していた。<参考文献>日本史籍協会『匏庵遺稿』1・2巻,鳥居正博『鳥居甲斐晩年日録』,川崎三郎『幕末三俊』

(松岡英夫)

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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