Egawa Tarozaemon

Japanese: 江川太郎左衛門 - えがわ・たろうざえもん

Year of death: 16th January 1855 (4th March 1855)
Year of birth: May 13, 1801 (June 23, 1801)
A magistrate and artillery expert in the late Edo period. His given name was Hidetatsu. His pen name was Kuen. He also went by the name Tan'an. The Egawa family had been a distinguished family since the Middle Ages, and was the hereditary magistrate of Nirayama in Izu during the Edo Shogunate. Tarozaemon was the common name given to the head of the Egawa family, and Hidetatsu was the 36th generation. He succeeded the magistrate position after his father Hidetake's death in 1835. His jurisdiction included Musashi, Sagami, Izu, and Suruga, and later the Shogunate's territory of Kai was also included, but the magistrate's salary was small and he lived a simple life. He promoted talented people without being bound by old traditions, and made great efforts in civil administration, earning him the nickname "the Great God of Reform." He was also known for encouraging vaccination. He also paid close attention to coastal defense (coastal defense), and formed a friendship with Watanabe Kazan. Due to the machinations of the inspector Torii Yozo, who hated Dutch studies, Eiryu was suspected of being charged with the Bansha no Goku crime in 1837, but narrowly escaped peril. In 1849, he learned Western-style gunnery from Takashima Shuhan, attaining the Kaiden rank, and the following year he was permitted to become a Western-style gunnery instructor and opened the Nawabukan in Shiba, Edo. Sakuma Shozan, Kawaji Seimo and others also studied here. It was Eiryu who came up with Japanese commands such as "Turn right" to replace the Dutch commands that had been used up until then. In 1841, he also served as the Shogunate's gun maker, but was dismissed from this position in 1844. In 1849, he received permission from the Shogunate to begin construction of a reverberatory furnace, and construction of the famous Nirayama reverberatory furnace began in 1854, but he died of illness before it was completed in 1857. As coke was not available, the pig iron could not be melted in the reverberatory furnace, and so bronze cannons were cast instead. His research into firearms and firearms included creative endeavors such as the practical application of mercury (an explosive) and the development of explosive discharge tubes. During this time, he was promoted to the rank of kanjo ginmiyaku (financial inspector) when Perry arrived in 1853, and was put in charge of the construction of Shinagawa Battery. He also built a warship in Toda Village, Izu to replace the Russian warship Diana, which had been wrecked in 1858. This was Japan's first European-style warship, and marked the beginning of modern shipbuilding. <References> "Complete Works of Egawa Tan'an" edited by Tobayamahan.

(Tokoro Shokichi)

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

Japanese:

没年：安政2.1.16(1855.3.4)
生年：享和1.5.13(1801.6.23)
幕末の代官,砲術家。諱は英竜。字は九淵。坦庵と号した。江川家は中世以来の名家で,江戸幕府の伊豆韮山世襲代官。太郎左衛門は江川家当主の通称で英竜は36代。天保6(1835)年父英毅の死後代官職を継ぐ。所管地は武蔵,相模,伊豆,駿河,のち甲斐の幕領も加わったが,代官の役高はわずかで生活は質素だった。旧例にとらわれずに人材を登用,大いに民政に努め,「世直し大明神」と呼ばれた。種痘奨励でも知られる。一方,海防(沿岸防備)にも意を用い,渡辺崋山と交遊を結ぶ。蘭学嫌いの目付鳥居耀蔵の策動により天保10年蛮社の獄で疑いをうけるが,あやうく難を逃れる。同12年高島秋帆に洋式砲術を学び皆伝を得,翌年洋式砲術師範を許され,江戸芝に縄武館を開く。ここで佐久間象山,川路聖謨らも学んだ。それまでのオランダ語の調練の号令を改めて「まわれ右」などの日本語の号令語を考え出したのも英竜である。天保14年幕府の鉄砲方を兼ねたが,弘化1(1844)年兼帯を解任。嘉永2(1849)年幕府の許可を得て反射炉の建造に着手,著名な韮山反射炉は安政1(1854)年に起工されたが,その完成(1857)を見ずして病没した。コークスが入手できなかったためこの反射炉では銑が溶解できず,青銅製の大砲が鋳造された。銃砲火器に関する研究として雷汞(起爆薬)の実用化や着発信管の工夫などに独創的なものがみられる。この間嘉永6年ペリー来航に際して勘定吟味役格にあげられ,品川台場の築造責任者となる。また安政1年難破したロシアの軍艦ディアナ号の代わりの軍艦を伊豆戸田村において建造したが,これは日本初のヨーロッパ式艦船で,近代造船業の端を開いた。<参考文献>戸羽山瀚編『江川坦庵全集』

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