Toyo Yoshida

Japanese: 吉田東洋 - よしだ・とうよう

Year of death: Bunkyu 2.4.8 (1862.5.6)
Year of birth: Bunka 13 (1816)
A senior vassal of the Tosa (Kochi) clan during the late Edo period. His childhood name was Ikusuke, later Kanbei and Motoyoshi, and his real name was Masaaki and Toyo. From a young age, he served as a shipping magistrate and a county magistrate, and in 1853, when Perry arrived on Japanese soil, he was appointed as a chief inspector by the lord of the clan, Yamauchi Toyonobu (Yodo). At the end of the same year, he was promoted to councilor (punishment officer), and in the following year, 1854, he accompanied the lord on his visit to Edo, where he became acquainted with Fujita Toko, a senior vassal of the Mito clan, and Confucian scholar Shioya Toin. However, in June of the same year, he acted disrespectfully at a drinking party hosted by Toyonobu, and was dismissed from his post, returned to his home country, had his stipend confiscated, and was banished from the castle town. He retired to Nagahama village, a southern suburb of Kochi castle town. There he ran the Shorinjuku school, where he trained young samurai such as his nephew-in-law Goto Shojiro, Fukuoka Takao, Nonaka Sukeyugi, Kamiyama Gunren, Masaki Soro, and Iwasaki Yataro. In 1892, the issue of the succession to the shogun arose, and Toyonobu was involved in supporting Hitotsubashi (Tokugawa) Yoshinobu, and since Toyo's return was necessary, he was pardoned in January of the following year and reinstated as councilor, assisting Toyonobu. In June, Ii Naosuke of the Kishu faction was appointed chief advisor, and the Hitotsubashi faction was defeated, forcing Toyonobu to retire in February of 1893. With the trust of Yodo, who was residing in seclusion in Edo, Toyo took the reins of the domain's administration, working to restore trust in the shogunate and develop the domain's capabilities. He also worked hard to build the Sumiyoshi camp, improve the domain's laws and system, which resulted in the "Hainan Seigen" and "Hainan Ritsuryo," and promote human resources, reform the education system, implement coastal defense arrangements, and promote industrial development. In 1861, the Tosa Kinno Party was formed, mainly consisting of local samurai such as Takechi Zuizan. They enthusiastically appealed for the need for a pro-imperial movement throughout the domain, but Toyo did not take issue with it. The Takechi faction and the clan leaders who were not happy with Toyo's rapid reforms of the domain's government secretly formed an alliance to expel Toyo. Toyo was killed by the Kinno Party in the midst of actively promoting reforms of the domain's government. <Works> "Yoshida Toyo's Manuscripts" compiled by the Japanese Historical Documents Association

(Atsushi Fukuchi)

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

Japanese:

没年：文久2.4.8(1862.5.6)
生年：文化13(1816)
幕末の土佐(高知)藩重臣。幼名は郁助,のち官兵衛,また元吉,実名は正秋,東洋と号した。若くより船奉行や郡奉行を経歴,嘉永6(1853)年,ペリー来航に際し,藩主山内豊信(容堂)より大監察に起用された。この年の暮れ参政(仕置役)に昇任,翌安政1(1854)年,参勤で江戸出府の藩主に随従,江戸では水戸藩重臣藤田東湖や儒者塩谷宕陰らの知遇を得たが,同年6月豊信主催の酒宴で不敬を演じ,免職帰国,格禄没収,城下外追放の処分を被り,高知城下の南郊長浜村に閉居した。そこで学塾少林塾を営み,義甥の後藤象二郎,福岡孝弟,野中助継,神山郡廉,間崎滄浪,岩崎弥太郎ら青年藩士を訓育。4年将軍継嗣問題が起こり豊信は一橋(徳川)慶喜擁立に関与,東洋の復帰を必要としたため,翌5年1月赦免されて参政に復職,豊信を補佐した。6月紀州派の井伊直弼が大老に就任して一橋党は敗北,豊信は6年2月隠居を余儀なくされた。江戸に閉居する容堂の信任を受けて東洋は藩政指導の衝に当たり,幕府の信頼回復,藩の実力養成に尽力。住吉陣営の構築,「海南政典」「海南律例」へと結実する藩法・藩制整備,さらに人材登用,教育制度の改革,海防配備の実施,殖産興業の展開等に尽力した。文久1(1861)年,武市瑞山ら郷士を主力とした土佐勤王党が成立,熱心に挙藩勤王運動の必要性を訴えたが,東洋は問題にしなかった。東洋の急激な藩政改革を快く思わぬ門閥層勢力と武市派がひそかに東洋排撃で提携。東洋は積極的な藩政改革推進の途次において勤王党の凶刃に倒れた。<著作>日本史籍協会編『吉田東洋遺稿』

(福地惇)

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