Katsu Kaishu: The Man Who Saved Edo from the Flames

Metropolis Japan

3 days ago

It was at a bend in the path that he first caught a glimpse of the water, a blue sliver that flashed through a gap in the trees, then vanished behind thick green curtains. The man looked to the path ahead. It was a long way back to Edo Castle, leading his modest retinue through the hills west of the capital to the hilltop temple of Honmonji.
His porters and retainers had carried the necessities of the delegation. Still, the burden that he shouldered had weighed far more on him that day.
The path found a canal for a time, then crested over a hill where still water spread out before them. Trees and clusters of reeds hemmed the pond, with herons stalking the shallows and ducks drifting across the surface.
Across the pond, there was a small temple in the midst of a bamboo grove. The man called a halt, telling his men to wait. He approached the edge of the pond where he noticed a Buddhist monk standing in the water, scrubbing his legs.
'What is this place called?' he asked.
'Senzoku Ike,' replied the monk, beckoning him forward. 'It is said that the great priest Nichiren once washed his feet here hundreds of years ago—that's why it carries this name.'
The man removed his waraji, straw sandals, and tabi socks to step into the pond beside the monk.
As the water cooled his aching feet, he felt the flames that had raged all day through his heart and soul begin to abate at last.
The Samurai Who Rose to Advise the Shogun
Katsu Kaishu lived one of the most remarkable lives of the nineteenth century, but he is little known outside Japan.
Unlike Sakamoto Ryoma or Saigo Takamori, Katsu is not remembered for military victories or defeats, but rather averted what might have been one of the most cataclysmic battles in the country's history.
Katsu had risen from a low-ranking samurai family to become a trusted adviser to the Tokugawa regime. Following the end of sakoku (Japan's isolation period), Katsu was among the first to understand the importance of naval technology. This fascination even led to his nickname Kaishu—formed from the Japanese kanji for 'sea' (海) and 'boat' (舟).
A Voyage Across the Pacific
Having learned Dutch as a young man, Katsu was able to study at the Nagasaki Naval Academy from 1855-59 under Dutch naval officers.
His education there led to a truly remarkable adventure in 1860, when Katsu was selected as captain of the Kanrin Maru.
The Kanrin Maru was a steam-driven warship that would undertake Japan's first-ever embassy to the United States. He shared the ship with American and Japanese sailors as well as the great diplomat, scholar and reformer Fukuzawa Yukichi.
Also onboard was John Manjiro — an Edo-period castaway rescued by an American ship and the embassy's interpreter. John, being unable to return to Japan under sakoku, was taught to speak English in America.
Katsu and his crew arrived in San Francisco just after the end of the Gold Rush. They traveled by train to Washington, D.C., for diplomatic meetings and ratification of the Harris Treaty. Katsu himself spent considerable time in San Francisco gaining first-hand knowledge of American society and advances in modern technology.
He was then given increasingly prominent roles within the Tokugawa shogunate, primarily related to the developing navy, after returning to Japan.
As civil unrest raged across Japan through the 1860s, Katsu found himself increasingly employed as a negotiator. He convinced the rebellious ronin Sakamoto Ryoma not to assassinate him and to embrace Western modernization efforts. This ultimately strengthened Japan and brokered numerous other deals between warring factions.
The Day Edo Stood on the Brink of Destruction
None was more consequential than that fateful day—April 9, 1868—when Katsu and his retinue traveled from central Edo to Honmonji Temple, with Japan embroiled in the Boshin War.
The forces of the Imperial Army, commanded by Saigo Takamori, had surrounded Edo. Supporters of the ailing Tokugawa shogunate holed up in the capital's central castle.
As Katsu stepped into Honmonji's ancient halls, he must have known that his words that day could fan the flames of war that would burn his city to the ground. At one dark moment, he and his advisors even considered torching Edo themselves rather than submitting to the enemy. In the end, he chose peace, dousing the fire with the bittersweet rains of surrender.
While we cannot know what Katsu thought as he passed by Senzoku-Ike, the pond did leave a lasting impression on him. Not only did he retire there in a home built alongside the water, but he and his wife, Tami, are buried there in graves that you can visit to this day. The nearby Katsu Kaishu Memorial Museum also contains many personal items as well as detailed displays on his life.