Mamiya Rinzo

Explorer and surveyor of the late Edo period. Discoverer of the Mamiya Straits. Some say he was born in 1775 (An'ei 4). His name was Tomomune. He was born into a farming family in Kamihirayanagi Village, Tsukuba County, Hitachi Province (now Tsukubamirai City, Ibaraki Prefecture). It is said that he had a talent for arithmetic from an early age. He learned kikujutsu (triangulation surveying) from geographer Murakami Shimanojo (1760-1808), and in 1800 (Kansei 12) became an employee of the Ezo government. In the same year, he met Ino Tadataka in Hakodate and studied under him, later learning astronomy (latitude measurement). In 1806 (Bunkaku 3), he surveyed Etorofu, and in 1808, he was dispatched to Karafuto with Matsuda Denjuro (1769-1843), head of the Inspection Bureau, where Denjuro surveyed the west coast and Hayashizo surveyed the east coast. The following year, in 1809, he crossed the straits in an Ainu boat and explored the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, confirming that Karafuto was an island. In 1812, he traveled to Ezo again and surveyed the coast in areas that had not yet been surveyed by Ino Tadataka, and it is said that Hayashizo's survey was used in Tadataka's "Dai Nippon Enkai Yochi Zenzu" (Complete Map of the Coastal Lands of Japan), completed in 1821 (Bunsei 4). In 1822, he returned to Edo and was appointed as a construction worker, and in 1824, he was ordered to be an attendant at the Awa-Kazusa Imperial Reserve Station, where he patrolled the east coast of the Tohoku region, and thereafter engaged in covert activities investigating rumors of foreign ships arriving and smuggling. In 1828, Hayashi's report revealed Siebold's relationship with Takahashi Kageyasu, an astronomer at the shogunate, which marked the beginning of the Siebold Incident, and Siebold's book "Japan" made the Mamiya Straits world famous. From 1834 (Tenpo 5), Hayashi came into contact with the Mito domain over the issue of coastal defense, and became acquainted with Fujita Toko and others, but he died on February 26, 1840. His main works include "Travels in Eastern Tartary" ("Travels in the Eastern Tartary Region") and "Copper Pillar Records."

[Funatsu Isao]

"Mamiya Rinzo" by Hora Tomio (1960/New edition, 1986, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Mamiya Rinzo" by Akabane Eiichi (1974, Shimizu Shoin/Shimizu Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸後期の探検・測量家。間宮海峡の発見者。生年には1775年（安永4）説もある。名は倫宗(ともむね)。常陸(ひたち)国筑波(つくば)郡上平柳(かみひらやなぎ)村（現、茨城県つくばみらい市）の農業・箍屋(たがや)に生まれる。子供のころより算術の才があったといわれる。地理学者村上島之丞(むらかみしまのじょう)（1760―1808）に規矩(きく)術（三角測量）を学び、1800年（寛政12）蝦夷地御用掛雇(えぞちごようがかりやとい)となる。同年箱館(はこだて)で伊能忠敬(いのうただたか)に会い師事、のち天測術（緯度測定法）を学ぶ。1806年（文化3）択捉(えとろふ)を測量、1808年調役下役元締松田伝十郎（1769―1843）と樺太(からふと)に派遣され、伝十郎は西海岸、林蔵は東海岸を調査。翌1809年アイヌの舟で海峡を渡り黒竜江下流地方を探検、樺太が島であることを確認した。1812年再度蝦夷地に渡り、伊能忠敬の未測量地域の海岸を実測、1821年（文政4）完成した忠敬の『大日本沿海輿地(よち)全図』には、林蔵の測量が生かされているといわれる。1822年江戸に帰り普請(ふしん)役、1824年安房(あわ)上総(かずさ)御備場掛手附(おそなえばがかりてつき)を命ぜられ、東北地方の東海岸を巡視、以後、外国船渡来の風聞や密貿易調査の隠密(おんみつ)活動に従事。1828年林蔵の届出により、シーボルトと幕府天文方高橋景保(かげやす)との交流が明らかになり、これがシーボルト事件の発端となるが、シーボルトの著作『日本』により間宮海峡は世界的に有名になる。1834年（天保5）以降、林蔵は海防問題を通じて水戸藩と接触、藤田東湖(とうこ)らと交わったが、弘化(こうか)元年2月26日に没する。おもな著書は『東韃(とうだつ)紀行』（『東韃地方紀行』）、『銅柱余録』など。

［船津　功］

『洞富雄著『間宮林蔵』（1960／新装版・1986・吉川弘文館）』▽『赤羽栄一著『間宮林蔵』（1974・清水書院／清水新書）』

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