Phaeton Incident

This was a disturbance caused by a British warship that invaded Nagasaki in 1808 (Bunka 5). The British warship Phaeton (Captain Reynolds Pellew), which was at war with the Netherlands, which had been annexed by France during the Napoleonic Wars, entered Nagasaki harbor on October 14 of that year (August 15 in the Japanese calendar) flying the Dutch flag. Mistaken for a Dutch ship, the Japanese captured two Dutch trading post employees who had gone there with Nagasaki Magistrate's Office officials and interpreters, searched the bay, and assaulted them by forcing them to give them firewood, water, and food. At the time, there were more than 1,000 Saga Domain soldiers in charge of guarding Nagasaki, but there were only about 100 of them, so the Japanese side had no way of dealing with this and allowed the ship to leave on the 17th of that month. That night, Matsudaira Yasuhide, the magistrate of Nagasaki at the time, committed suicide by disembowelment. This incident deeply shocked the leaders of the time, spurring the Shogunate to strengthen its coastal defense policy and later becoming the catalyst for the issuance of the Order to Drive Away Foreign Ships (1825).

[Eiichi Kato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1808年（文化5）長崎に侵入したイギリス軍艦による狼藉(ろうぜき)事件。ナポレオン戦争によりフランスに併合されていたオランダと交戦国の関係にあったイギリスの軍艦フェートン号Phaeton（艦長ペリューReynolds Pellew大佐）が同年10月14日（和暦8月15日）オランダ国旗を掲げて長崎に入港、これを蘭船(らんせん)と誤認して、長崎奉行(ぶぎょう)所役人・通詞(つうじ)らとともに出向いたオランダ商館員2名を捕らえ、湾内を探索したうえ、薪水(しんすい)・食糧を強要して乱暴をはたらいた。当時、長崎警固の任にあった佐賀藩兵は1000余名のところ、実在100余名にすぎず、日本側はこれに施す策もないまま、同月17日に、みすみす同艦を立ち去らせてしまった。その夜、時の長崎奉行松平康英(やすひで)は切腹自殺した。この事件は当時の為政者に深刻な衝撃を与え、幕府の海防政策強化を促し、後の異国船打払令（1825）発布の契機となった。

［加藤榮一］

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