Oguri Tadamasa

Oguri Kozukenosuke
Oguri Kozukenosuke

Oguri Kozukenosuke (Oguri Tadamasa, 1827-1868) was a statesman of the Tokugawa government in the last stage of the Edo period, and he is often regarded as a rival of Katsu Kaishu. At the time when the power of the Tokugawa government was diminishing, he took the posts of finance magistrate twice, and that of the foreign magistrate once. Also, he decided to construct the first arsenal in Japan (Yokosuka arsenal), and this decision contributed to the Meiji Restoration.

He was born in Edo in 1827. Because he was the first son of an honorable hatamoto Oguri, he got promoted smoothly from his youth. When he was 7, he started to learn Sinology from Asaka Gonsai, Kenjutsu from Toranosuke Shimada, Jujutsu from Suketaro Kubota, and gunnery from Kazue Tatuki. At the age of 14, he told the lord of Harima han (country subdivision) that Japan should build more ships and advance economically to countries overseas, the idea he was inspired with by Keinosuke Yuuki. The lord liked him and wanted to marry his daughter to him. He was first appointed to a position in the Edo castle at the age of 17. This promotion was due to his gift for the martial arts. He married the daughter of the above-mentioned lord when he was 21. His wife, named Michiko, was dauntless and a good adviser of Oguri. When he was around thirty, Ii Naosuke, took to him, and Oguri became a close follower of Ii since then.

In 1854, when the black ships arrived at the Uraga port, Tokugawa Government was compelled to take measures against pressures from the Great Powers. As one of them, the government decided to send missions to the U.S. in 1860, and Oguri accompanied them as a supervisor. The main reason why Oguri, who didn’t have any standing in the Edo government, could join them was that there had been a recommendation from Ii. At that time in the Edo castle, there was a scramble for political power among Ii’s faction and Abe’s faction. Masahiro Abe was a Roju, and while Ii was a conservative person, he was an earnest reformist. At the time when Oguri was appointed to a mission, Abe had already been dead, and Ii became Tairou. He was scheming to punish all his opponents, but simultaneously, he was preparing for retaliation from the opponents. Since Ii didn’t want Oguri to be involved into such complication, he kept Oguri at a distance.