Egawa Tarōzaemon
| Ebara Soroku 江原素六 |
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|---|---|
Egawa Hidetatsu autoportrait
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| Born |
June 23, 1801 Nirayama, Shizuoka, Japan |
| Died | March 4, 1855 (aged 53) Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | educator, politician |
Egawa Hidetatsu Tarōzaemon (江川英龍太郎左衛門?, June 23, 1801 - March 1, 1855) was a Japanese Bakufu intendant of the 19th century. He was Daikan, in charge of the domains of the Tokugawa shogunate in Izu, Sagami and Kai Provinces during the Bakumatsu period. He took a leading role in the reinforcement of Japanese coastal defenses against Western encroachments in the 19th century.
Due to his holdings on the coast, Egawa Hidetatsu was involved in issues of coastal defences, critical to Japan at that time. He was in relations with the group of Watanabe Kazan, and Takano Chōei.
Egawa Hidetatsu was put in charge of establishing the defense of Edo Bay against Western intrusions in 1839, following the incident of the Morrison under Charles W. King in 1837. In 1841, Egawa permitted the gunnery demonstrations of Takashima Shūhan to the Tokugawa Shogunate.
As early as 1842, Egawa attempted to build a furnace to cast weapons in the village of Nirayama in the Izu Peninsula. After sending a student to study the furnace which had been built in the Saga Domain, a new furnace was built which succeeded in casting cannons in 1858, after the death of Egawa.
Egawa taught Western gunnery and techniques to numerous men who would later have a role in the Meiji Restoration. He also advocated the conscription of farmers into the army.
Egawa also designed and built the battery emplacements at the entrance of Edo harbour at Odaiba in 1853/54, following the 1853 visit of Commodore Perry and his promise to return the following year. The fortifications were built to prevent the intrusion near Tokyo of the foreign ships. Commodore Perry would effectively stop his fleet at Uraga, southward at the entrance of Edo Bay, fully prepared for hostilities if his negotiations with the Japanese failed. His ships were equipped with modern Paixhans shell guns, capable of bringing destruction everywhere a shell landed.
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