Yanagawa Shunsan

Image: From "Photo Album of Matsudaira Shungaku's Treasured Collection" (Courtesy of Fukui City History Museum)

There was a genius who left behind numerous legends and anecdotes in this country from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji era. His name was Yanagawa Shunsan. Versatile, talented, and possessed of an encyclopedic memory, he mixed humor with self-deprecation. Though he could be mischievous, he was helpful to those around him. While assisting his colleagues, he devoted his energy to introducing Western academic knowledge, systems, and culture, performing pioneering work in many fields. In particular, because he played a central role in the publication of "Seiyo Zasshi" (Western Magazine) and "Chugai Shinbun," he has been described as the "founder of newspapers and magazines" (by Osatake Takeshi).

Fukuzawa Yukichi mentions the name Yanagawa Shunsan only once in "The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi." It is in a passage stating that when the Meiji government was established, the first three Western scholars from Edo to be summoned were Kanda Takahira, Yanagawa, and Fukuzawa. However, the two men were acquainted and shared mutual friends. I would like to briefly record Yanagawa's life and also touch upon his relationship with Fukuzawa.

Yanagawa Shunsan was born on February 25, the 3rd year of Tenpo (1832), in Yamato-cho, Nagoya, Owari (now Marunouchi, Naka-ku), as the son of Chitaya Buhei. His original name was Kuriki Tatsusuke, which he later changed to Nishimura Ryozo.

Before Tatsusuke reached the age of two, he began writing characters without being taught. His surprised parents placed him under the tutelage of Niwa Bankanshi, a calligrapher and official scribe for the domain, to learn calligraphy. Word reached the domain lord Tokugawa Nariharu, and at the age of three, he was summoned to the lord's presence. After producing many pieces of calligraphy, when the lord requested one more, he reportedly surprised everyone by writing in large characters, "I've had enough." Nariharu declared him a child prodigy, saying that if he were made a monk, he would surely become an extraordinary and outstanding Zen master in the future. He was also introduced as a calligrapher in the book "Konrin Tsukumo no Chiri," described as "a strange child who can write well without learning and read without being taught."

Subsequently, the boy's talents blossomed significantly as he studied under Ito Keisuke, an Owari-based physician of Western medicine and herbalist, and Ueda Tatewaki Nakamatoshi, a gunnery expert. In the 12th year of Tenpo, in the book "Yogaku-hen" published by Ito, Nishimura Ryozo (formerly Kuriki Tatsusuke) was listed as a collaborator along with Ito's eldest son, Keizo. He was ten years old by the traditional count. In Ueda Tatewaki's "Seiyo Hojutsu Benran" (Manual of Western Gunnery), published when he was 22, he was listed as a reviser, but the true author is said to have been Ryozo (Narushima Ryuhoku, "Anecdotes of Master Yanagawa"). Furthermore, in the following year, the first year of Ansei, he shared the task of collaborating on Ito's translation "Shoseki-hen" (Treatise on Saltpeter) with Ueda. He also learned medical sciences from Ito. Ryozo's work "Gufu Byoko" (A Study of Typhoon Diseases) from the second year of Ansei discussed epidemic dysentery.

In addition, he fully mastered Japanese and Chinese studies. His poetry and prose, along with his handwriting, were magnificent. His friend Narushima Ryuhoku evaluated him by saying, "His greatest strength lies in Kokugaku (National Learning)" ("A Brief Biography of Master Yanagawa"). This is hardly surprising, as Niwa Bankanshi was a disciple of the Kokugaku scholar Suzuki Akira, and Ueda Tatewaki, along with his wife Kaiko, were under the tutelage of Motoori Ohira; since they all studied both Japanese and Chinese classics, he was able to learn to his heart's content. Among his friends of this era, there was first the chemist Utsunomiya Saburo, a lifelong friend under Ueda Tatewaki. At Ito's place, Chimura Goro, who would become a scholar of English studies, and Tanaka Yoshio, who would become a naturalist, along with his younger brother Daisuke, came to study from the family of Mrs. Ueda's parents, the Chimura clan. It can be called an Owari period surrounded by good teachers and beneficial friends.

Ryozo went to Edo in the 3rd year of Ansei (1856) and changed his name to Yanagawa Shunsan.

Prior to this, he had briefly become Ito's adopted son and used the name Keisaku, but he later shaved his head and returned to his original name, Nishimura Ryozo (Kimura Shinpei, "Was Yanagawa Shunsan the Adopted Son of Ito Keisuke?"). Taking the opportunity of a trip to Edo on official business, he made up his mind, closed his house in Nagoya, and traveled again. He was 25 years old this year. In his own work "Nise Monogatari," he writes, "Once a man, weary of living in his hometown, set out to study as a monk." Although he seems to have visited Nagasaki at one point, Edo became his primary base of activity thereafter.

In the 4th year of Ansei, Shunsan became known to and was employed by Mizuno Tosanokami, the attached chief retainer (tsukegaro) of the Kishu Domain who ruled the 35,000-koku Shingu Domain. The Western books he translated at the Edo residence reached as many as 100 volumes.

On the other hand, he also began frequenting the Katsuragawa family, who were famous as physicians to the Shogunate and practitioners of Western medicine. The preface to Japan's first Western mathematics book, "Yosan Yoho," authored by Shunsan that same year, was written by Katsuragawa Kunimoto. At that time, the family, centered on the brothers Kunioki (Hoshu) and Kunimoto (Hosaku), was in the process of compiling the Dutch-Japanese dictionary "Oranda Jii." Shunsan's linguistic ability, appearing like a comet, must have been a great help. In the postscript written by Kunimoto, Shunsan's name appears as one of the collaborators, and the text itself is written in Shunsan's beautiful handwriting.

Many scholars visited the Katsuragawa house, including Narushima Ryuhoku, Kanda Takahira, Ishii Kendo, Mitsukuri Shuhei, Utsunomiya Saburo (who arrived a year later), and Fukuzawa Yukichi from Osaka, greatly expanding Shunsan's circle of friends. Shunsan had a refined and simple personality, a quick mind, and was rich in knowledge, education, and poetic sentiment. However, his personal appearance was extremely unimpressive; at one residence, the women and children raised a fuss, thinking a beggar monk had arrived. He loved drinking and entertainment; when drunk, he would start dancing the "Kappa Dance," and everyone would laugh at the hilarity. His charm lay in the fact that he possessed many personalities, like a man of a hundred faces, all in one person.

In the 5th year of Ansei (1858), when "Oranda Jii" was completed, Shunsan entered the service of the Kishu Domain with a stipend of 70 koku as a physician in attendance at the Dutch Studies center, upon Mizuno's recommendation. When he first arrived in Edo, he called himself a "town doctor of Owari Province," but he had now become a physician employed by one of the three branch families of the Tokugawa.

However, the times required him even more. After the conclusion of the Ansei Five-Power Treaties, foreign affairs increased day by day, and the absorption of overseas knowledge and the cultivation of human resources became urgent tasks for the Shogunate. In the leap 8th month of the 2nd year of Bunkyu (1862), Shunsan was hired as an assistant professor at the Bansho Shirabesho (renamed Kaiseijo the following year), the Shogunate's institution for Western studies, where he was reunited with his old acquaintances Chimura Goro, Ito Keisuke (who resigned in the 3rd year), Tanaka Yoshio, and Utsunomiya Saburo.

His achievements after joining the Bansho Shirabesho and Kaiseijo were numerous. While primarily teaching chemistry, he also advanced his study of foreign languages, expanding his focus from Dutch to English and French. Furthermore, the content of his translations and writings covered a wide range, from Japanese and Western languages to science, military science, and literature. He also published Japan's first photography technical manual, "Shashinkyo Zusetsu," and a guidebook for chess.

Shunsan's work pace exceeded that of ordinary people. As Yukawa Yoku, who wrote the preface to Shunsan's "Yogaku Shishin," said, "When he opens a Western book, he translates as he reads; his eyes are fixed on the book while his brush runs across the paper, with a momentum like water pouring from a high jar." He was apparently incredibly fast. Stories remain of how he would continue translating without resting his brush while talking to people, yet make no mistakes. He also frequently proofread his friends' manuscripts and wrote many prefaces. Tanaka Yoshio recalled, "Yanagawa Shunsan was quite a talented person and, moreover, a man with a gifted pen, so he would look over our work, write for us, or make corrections."

Another important task of Shunsan's was the translation of Western newspapers. For the sake of Shogunate officials, the faculty of the Kaiseijo selected and translated newspaper articles published by Westerners in the treaty ports from the 3rd year of Bunkyu to the 3rd year of Keio, creating handwritten newspapers. This group was called the Kaiyakusha, and Shunsan was at the center of distinguished individuals such as Mitsukuri Teiichiro (Rinsho), Kato Kozo (Hiroyuki), and Toyama Sutehachi (Masazu). During this time, in the 2nd year of Keio, he was promoted to the rank of assistant professor at the Kaiseijo and became a direct retainer of the Shogun, and in the following 3rd year, he assumed the position of professor.

Shunsan became the head (Tozuri) of the Kaiseijo on March 11, the 4th year of Keio (1868). The Kaiyakusha had launched "Chugai Shinbun" the previous month. They compiled domestic and international information, printed it with the Kaiseijo's wooden movable type, and sold it. This continued until issue 45 on June 8, and they also published 23 supplementary volumes and one extra edition, "Betsudan Chugai Shinbun." In a turbulent era starved for information, these newspapers were greatly welcomed and reportedly sold like wildfire. Separately, Shunsan also published "Seiyo Zasshi" from the 3rd year of Keio to the 2nd year of Meiji. This was an enlightenment magazine with the aim of "broadening the world's perspectives by collecting curious theories from around the globe, like the magazines published monthly in Western countries." In addition to Shunsan, Utsunomiya, Kanda, Tanaka, and others contributed to it.

Even for the new government after the collapse of the Shogunate, the versatile Yanagawa Shunsan was a necessary presence. He continued to serve as head of the Kaiseijo after the new government took over. When it was reorganized into the Kaisei School that same year, he was appointed to the translation and proofreading section, and the following year, he was appointed to the investigation of Tokyo's middle and elementary schools. It seems newspapers remained important to him, as he used the wooden movable type he had taken over to launch "Kanjun Chugai Shinbun" in March of the 2nd year of Meiji.

In July of the 2nd year of Meiji, Shunsan was appointed as a Junior Doctor of the University and changed his official name to Shun'in, and was awarded the Senior Seventh Court Rank in the same year. Although he was dismissed shortly thereafter for some reason, he was reinstated in November through the arrangements of the University Chancellor, Matsudaira Shungaku.

Amidst the dizzying changes in social conditions and his own position, Shunsan remained as busy as ever. However, at some point, he contracted tuberculosis, and his condition worsened without others noticing. On February 20, the 3rd year of Meiji, in front of the visiting Utsunomiya Saburo, Shunsan ate a large meal of eel over rice, saying he felt exceptionally well today. Immediately after saying, "Ah, that was delicious," he suffered a massive pulmonary hemorrhage and died. He was 39 years old. People were shocked by the news of the death of this genius who had run through life at full speed, and they deeply mourned his passing.

It seems Fukuzawa Yukichi felt the same way. In later years, in the reminiscences of a former student named Hakusuisei, there is a story that Fukuzawa was deeply grieved by the sudden death of his friend "Yanagawa," whom he greatly respected.

It is unknown when Fukuzawa first met Shunsan, but since "The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi" states, "When I came to Edo, the first thing I would do was visit the Katsuragawa house," I believe it was not long after he arrived in Edo in October of the 5th year of Ansei. Shunsan, who loved sake and the pleasure quarters, differed from Fukuzawa, who liked sake but had no connection to the brothel districts. However, since they both frequented the Katsuragawa house and associated daily with mutual friends, there must have been many points of contact. In fact, they were once present at the same banquet hosted by Ryuhoku ("Itsumandegusa").

Looking at Fukuzawa's disciples, Tanaka Yoshio's younger brother Daisuke (later Tanaka Yoshikado) enrolled in September of the 1st year of Genji (1864). Also, Indo Gento, who entered the Juku in December of the 3rd year of Keio and later became the Fukuzawa family's physician, was the adopted son of Tsuboi Gen'eki, a Western-style physician from Shingu who had exchanged a "vow of brotherhood" with Shunsan. He was an old acquaintance of Shunsan, and Gen'eki's biological son Senjiro also studied under Shunsan before entering Keio University four days after Shunsan's death.

In issue 12 of "Chugai Shinbun," there is an article regarding a pirated edition of Fukuzawa's "Guide to travel in the western world," asking to be informed if the name or address of the publisher is discovered. Notices for Fukuzawa's books and translations appeared many times in "Kanjun Chugai Shinbun." One can imagine the communication between the two men.

Time passed, and on March 12, the 14th year of Meiji, a memorial service for Shunsan was held at the Shiba Momijikan, with Fukuzawa listed as one of the organizers. Katsuragawa Hoshu remembered the deceased and composed this poem:

Flowers and autumn leaves / In the spring and autumn of this flourishing reign / It is pitiful to remember you / If only you were here

His grave still exists today at Ganryu-ji Temple in Asakusa.