Kido Takayoshi

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Junior First Rank
Kido Takayoshi
木戸 孝允
Kido Takayoshi in western dress (after Meiji Restoration)
Personal details
Born
Wada Kogorō (和田 小五郎)

(1833-08-11)August 11, 1833
Hagi, Chōshū Domain, Japan
DiedMay 26, 1877(1877-05-26) (aged 43)
Kyoto, Japan
Resting placeKyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine
Spouse
Shōka Sonjuku
Occupationstatesman
Professionpolitics
Known forOne of the Three Great Nobles of the Restoration
Other namesKatsura Kogorō (桂 小五郎)
Niibori Matsusuke (新堀 松輔)
Kido Kanji (木戸 貫冶)
Kido Junichirō (木戸 準一郎)
Kido Kōin (木戸 孝允)
Notable worksThe Diary of Kido Takayoshi Volume 1 (1868-1871)
The Diary of Kido Takayoshi Volume 2 (1874-1877)

Kido Takayoshi (木戸 孝允, born Wada Kogorō (和田 小五郎); August 11, 1833 – May 26, 1877), formerly known as Katsura Kogorō (桂 小五郎), was a Japanese statesman, samurai and shishi who is considered one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration.

Early life

Born Wada Kogorō on August 11, 1833 in Hagi, Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) as the son of a samurai physician Wada Masakage (和田 昌景) and his second wife Seiko (清子). In 1840, due to his brother-in-law already being the head of the Wada family, he was later adopted into the Katsura family at age seven and was known as Katsura Kogorō (桂 小五郎).[1]

The Katsura family's stipend was originally 150 koku, but due to the late nature of his adoption which took place as his adoptive father Katsura Takako (桂 孝古) was already on his deathbed, who died ten days later, it was reduced to 90 koku. Katsura Kogorō thus became the head of the Katsura family. A year later in 1841, his adoptive mother also died, months later he was returned to his old home. In 1848, he lost his mother and elder half-sister Yaeko to illnesses.

Katsura was educated at

Shōka Sonjuku in 1849, the academy of Yoshida Shōin
, from whom he adopted the philosophy of Imperial loyalism. In 1851, his father had died.

In 1852, Katsura went to

), returned to Chōshū to supervise the construction of the domain's first western-style warship.

Overthrow of the Tokugawa

After 1858, Katsura Kogorō was based at the domain's Edo residence, where he served as a liaison between the domain bureaucracy and radical elements among the young, lower-echelon Chōshū samurai who supported the

Kyōto. However, while in Kyōto, he was unable to prevent the 30 September 1863 coup d'état by the forces of the Aizu
and Satsuma domains, who drove the Chōshū forces out of the city.

Ikedaya incident

According to his personal diary regarding the

Ishin Shishi at the Ikedaya inn in the evening on July 8, 1864, he claimed that they had only met to discuss how to rescue Furutaka Shuntaro from the Shinsengumi
. Katsura later left the inn earlier, before the attack by the Shinsengumi troops on that night.

However, there were rumors varied that Katsura was tipped off by his

Ikumatsu
(幾松), that the Shinsengumi were coming for him and wisely chose not show up for the meeting, or that he climbed out the window of the upper floor of the inn during the attack by the Shinsengumi and escaped over the roofs.

He spent the next five days in hiding under Nijō Bridge along the Kamo River, posing as a beggar, his lover would bring him rice balls from the shop of the Chōshū merchant Imai Tarōemon and later aided in his escape.

Kinmon incident

Katsura was involved but not present in the Hamaguri Gate Rebellion on 20 August 1864, with the unsuccessful attempt to capture Emperor Kōmei by the Chōshū forces at Hamaguri Gate in order to restore the Imperial household to its position of political supremacy, the Chōshū forces clashed with Aizu and Satsuma forces who led the defense of the Imperial palace. During the attempt, the Chōshū rebels put Kyoto on fire, starting with the residence of the Takatsukasa family, and that of a Chōshū official.

The rebellion resulted in 28,000 houses being burnt down, with casualties of about 400 from the Chōshū forces, including his adopted son Katsuzaburō, and only 60 from Aizu and Satsuma forces, forcing Katsura into hiding again with his geisha lover. He would later use the name Niibori Matsusuke as an alias in 1865 to continue his work against the Tokugawa bakufu.

Satchō Alliance

After radical elements under Takasugi Shinsaku gained control of Chōshū politics, Katsura, under the new name Kido Junichirō (木戸 準一郎) was instrumental in establishing the Satchō Alliance with Saigō Takamori and Ōkubo Toshimichi through the mediation of Sakamoto Ryōma in 1866, which proved to be critical in the Boshin War and the subsequent Meiji Restoration. Around the same time, he adopted Shojirō, another nephew who was the second son of his younger sister, Kuruhara Haruko, as his heir.

Meiji statesman

Portrait of Kido Takayoshi (木戸孝允, 1833 – 1877)

Following the overthrow of the

Five Charter Oath, and initiated policies of centralization and modernization. He helped direct the Abolition of the han system
. In August 1868, he had his lover Ikumatsu adopted into a samurai family of Okabe Tomitarō, and later made her his wife. He was later renamed to Kido Takayoshi (木戸 孝允) in 1869.

On 23 December 1871, he accompanied the

constitutional government. Realizing that Japan was not in any position to challenge the Western powers in its present state, he also returned to Japan just in time to prevent an invasion of Korea (Seikanron
).

Kido lost his dominant position in the

Taiwan Expedition of 1874, which he had strenuously opposed.[3]

Following the Osaka Conference of 1875, Kido agreed to return to the government, and became chairman of the Assembly of Prefectural Governors that the Ōsaka Conference had created. He was also responsible for the education of the young Emperor Meiji.

Kido Takayoshi (1833-1877)
Sketch by Kido Takayoshi, depicting him as "Minister from the countryside."

Death

Tomb of Kido Takayoshi at Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

During the middle of the

Saigo " He is enshrined at Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine
, where his tomb is located.

Legacy

His heir Shojirō, who had studied for ten years in

Marquis
Kido Takamasa.

Kido Takayoshi was enshrined as the Shinto deity of scholarship and the martial arts at the

His widow Matsuko survived him and died in 1887 at the age of 43.

Kido's diary reveals an intense internal conflict between his loyalty to his home domain, Chōshū, and the greater interest of the country. He wrote often of having to fight rumors at home that he had betrayed his old friends; the idea of a nation was still relatively new in Japan and so the majority of samurai cared more for securing privileges for their own domain.

Enlightenment aristocracy, Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, Enomoto Takeaki, Ōkuma Shigenobu, Kuroda Kiyotaka, Saigō Takamori, Yamagata Aritomo, Iwakura Tomomi, Sanjō Sanetomi, Ōkubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi, Shimazu Hisamitsu, Katsu Kaishū, Itō Hirobumi, Kusumoto Masataka, Itagaki Taisuke, Gotō Shōjirō and Prince Komatsu Akihito

Together with Saigō Takamori and Ōkubo Toshimichi, he was known as the Ishin-no-Sanketsu (維新の三傑), which means, roughly, "Three Great Nobles of the Restoration". His younger sister's grandson was Tokyo politician Kōichi Kido (木戸 幸一).

Kido Takayoshi former residence in Hagi

The house where Kido Takayoshi was born and where he lived for about 20 years before moving to Edo still exists in Hagi and is a memorial museum. Although he had been adopted into the Katsura family when he was seven years old, but he continued to live in this family home. The former residence is located on a street called Edoya Yokocho, and is a two-story wooden building with a tiled roof. Inside exists include hanging scrolls with examples of Japanese calligraphy Kido wrote as a child, with corrections in red ink by his teachers. Volunteer guides are stationed in the building.[6] The building was designated a National Historic Site in 1934.[7]

  • House of Takayoshi Kido
    House of Takayoshi Kido
  • Gate of former residence of Kido Takayoshi
    Gate of former residence of Kido Takayoshi
  • Garden of former residence of Kido Takayoshi
    Garden of former residence of Kido Takayoshi
  • Childhood room of Kido Takayoshi
    Childhood room of Kido Takayoshi
  • Edoya Lane near former residence of Kido Takayoshi
    Edoya Lane near former residence of Kido Takayoshi

In popular culture

Kido, referred to by his initial name Katsura Kogorō, was among the historical personalities present in the

Yukishiro Tomoe (in Tsuiokuhen, he actively encouraged Tomoe to stand by Kenshin to serve as a calming influence), which ultimately boiled over into her conflicting loyalties to the shogunate agent and her emerging feelings for Kenshin. He is voiced by Tomokazu Seki in the OVA, and portrayed by Issey Takahashi in the 2021 live-action adaptation film Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning
.

Japanese actor

as the old time friend of the protagonist Kondo Isami and also the leader of the Chōshū han.

Japanese actor Shōsuke Tanihara portrayed him in the 2009 jdorama Ryōmaden as the leader of the Chōshū han.

He is also the basis for the character of Katsura Kotarou in the

Gin Tama by Hideaki Sorachi
.

He also appears in the video game

Kōichi Yamadera
. xh

Katsura Kogorō has also a prominent supporting role in Team Ninjas 2024 Action-RPG Rise of the Rōnin and is one of the many popular personalities from the Bakumatsu-Period, that the player can get acquainted with.

Honours

Notable works

  • The Diary of Kido Takayoshi Volume 1 (1868-1871)
  • The Diary of Kido Takayoshi Volume 2 (1874-1877)

Notes

  1. .
  2. ^ Edmond Papinot (1906). Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon (in French). p. 315.
  3. ^ Kokushi daijiten Vol. 4, pp. 170–171.
  4. ^ "Kido Shrine | Yamaguchi City - a strategic base of the Meiji Restoration. | Traveling website of Yamaguchi City - a city of celebrating the 150 year anniversary of the Meiji Restoration". ishin150-yamaguchi.com (in Japanese). Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  5. ^ "Kido Park / maple | YAMAGUCHI JAPAN TRAVEL GUIDE". www.visit-jy.com. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  6. .(in Japanese)
  7. ^ "木戸孝允旧宅" (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 20, 2021.

Reference and further reading

External links