Nakaiya Juubee in history (1820-1861)
Link to Nakaiya in the anime. Sections that would be most relevant to the anime are in red. Since there is next to nothing on Nakaiya in English there is a lot of (sometimes insignificant) detail here.
Sections
Early Period
Nakaiya Juubee was born in 1820 in Nakai village, Agatsuma, Kamitsuke Provice (now Tsumagoi village in Agatsuma, Gunma prefecture). "Nakaiya" was actually a yagou (屋号), a sort of guild-name, and his real name was Kuroiwa Sennosuke 黒岩撰之助. Going by the fact that he is wearing not one but two swords in this picture, we can assume he was from a samurai family (or one that became a samurai family).
In 1840, at the age of 20, he moved to Edo where he immersed himself into studying under the bookstore-keeper Izumiya Zenbei, and learned many things including Confucian studies, medicine, Western studies, general science, and firearms. He also had the Western scholar Kawagi Yukio and Philipp von Siebold (the first man to teach Western medicine in Japan) as his mentors. Nakaiya succeeded in actually making a gunpowder that was on par with, if not better, than foreign versions.
He finally set up a shop in 1854 at Nihonbashi, and in 1855 at the age of 35, published the book "Kodomo Kyousou (子供教草, Teachings for Children)", in which he wrote the line "One gains nothing with intentions of profit, only with intentions of honour" (利を以って利となさず、義を以って利となす), an expression of his own philosophy in life.
At the same time he published "Shuuyou Houyaku Shinsho" (集用砲薬新書, An Essential New Collection of Firearms and Gunpowder), a book that had all the secrets of the business written inside. The times were heading towards unrest and conflict and as such Nakaiya would be approached by samurai looking to learn something about firearms.
Silk Trading in Yokohama
After the port of Yokohama was opened as a result of the Harris treaty in 1858, Nakaiya arrived from Edo, at the invitation/suggestion of Shogunate officials who were looking towards the development and enrichment of Japan through foreign trade.
There he famously set up a shop so large and extravagant it was known as the Bronze Palace (銅御殿, Akagane Goten). It was so extravagant, that according to here, the upper part of the courtyard had birds flying within wire mesh, and the walls of the rooms had glass fish tanks in, with goldfish swimming in them... and in the zashiki (座敷, a traditional tatami room), he had placed a music box with Western music streaming out from it.
He was a pioneer in the trade of raw silk at a time when the material was in demand in European countries, and in fact had a sort of monopoly on it. It is recorded that out of the 35000 kin (about 21000 kg) of raw silk exported between July to October 1859, Nakaiya sold about half of it. Since trading of this sort was quite impossible prior to Perry's arrival in 1853 due to isolationist policies, one could say that he placed the foundations for all future trade in silk from Japan.
Incidentally he dealt in Joshuu raw silk, which came from the area around his hometown (Joshuu was another name for Kouzuke, the province where Nakaiya was born.)
As such an important businessman who was at the same time a learned scholar, he was sometimes respectfully called "The Head Priest Of 'Hama" (浜の門跡様, Hama no Monseki-sama)
Politics and Disagreement with Ii Kamon-no-kami Naosuke
I don't know which han or domain Nakaiya came from, so I can't say anything about the probability of his political loyalties stemming from his birthplace as within Kouzuke Province there were domains with varying loyalties.
It is a fact that he did sympathise with the Mito-han, ruled by the daimyo Tokugawa Nariaki, who was pushing for his son Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu to become the next Shogun after Tokugawa Iesada passed away. However, Tokugawa Yoshitomi, renamed Iemochi, become the next shogun instead, thanks to Ii Naosuke. Furthermore, Ii also shut up those who opposed him during the following Ansei Purges. This greatly insulted Nariaki, who was already at odds with Ii, and thenceforth Mito-han became even more anti-Shogunate than it already was, turning into a notable hotbed for sonno-joi philosophy.
Despite Ii being responsible for the signing of the Harris treaty which Nakaiya commercially benefited from, the political maneuvering regarding shogun candidates greatly insulted the Mito-han and therefore insulted Nakaiya as well. He believed Ii was doing the country injustice ("国を誤るもの").
It is therefore not a surprise that Nakaiya supported the warriors from Mito-han who eventually assassinated Ii in 1860 at the Sakurada-mon Incident. It is said that he provided them with crucial firearms (a pistol?).
However, in the following year (1861), Nakaiya mysteriously disappeared at the age of 42 and never returned again so we can only conclude that he died some really mysterious death. According to here he was being persued by Shogunate officials and left his shop in Yokohama... And of course, this sort of ending is perfect material to make a story out of.
His grave in Tsumagoi-mura (in Agatsuma, Gunma prefecture - i.e. his birthplace) is a designated cultural property and you can see a picture of it here with a close-up of the text on it.
Nakaiya in other media
Please click here.
Links referred to while writing this:
The writeup next to Nakaiya's grave
A writeup on Nakaiya at Kappou Nakaiya, a restaurant named after him
Wikipedia entry on Nakaiya
History trail writeup for Nakaiya's shop, at Yokohama's Naka-ku website
Nakaiya Juubee in the anime
Return to History
Link to Nakaiya in the anime. Sections that would be most relevant to the anime are in red. Since there is next to nothing on Nakaiya in English there is a lot of (sometimes insignificant) detail here.
Sections
Early Period
Nakaiya Juubee was born in 1820 in Nakai village, Agatsuma, Kamitsuke Provice (now Tsumagoi village in Agatsuma, Gunma prefecture). "Nakaiya" was actually a yagou (屋号), a sort of guild-name, and his real name was Kuroiwa Sennosuke 黒岩撰之助. Going by the fact that he is wearing not one but two swords in this picture, we can assume he was from a samurai family (or one that became a samurai family).
In 1840, at the age of 20, he moved to Edo where he immersed himself into studying under the bookstore-keeper Izumiya Zenbei, and learned many things including Confucian studies, medicine, Western studies, general science, and firearms. He also had the Western scholar Kawagi Yukio and Philipp von Siebold (the first man to teach Western medicine in Japan) as his mentors. Nakaiya succeeded in actually making a gunpowder that was on par with, if not better, than foreign versions.
He finally set up a shop in 1854 at Nihonbashi, and in 1855 at the age of 35, published the book "Kodomo Kyousou (子供教草, Teachings for Children)", in which he wrote the line "One gains nothing with intentions of profit, only with intentions of honour" (利を以って利となさず、義を以って利となす), an expression of his own philosophy in life.
At the same time he published "Shuuyou Houyaku Shinsho" (集用砲薬新書, An Essential New Collection of Firearms and Gunpowder), a book that had all the secrets of the business written inside. The times were heading towards unrest and conflict and as such Nakaiya would be approached by samurai looking to learn something about firearms.
Silk Trading in Yokohama
After the port of Yokohama was opened as a result of the Harris treaty in 1858, Nakaiya arrived from Edo, at the invitation/suggestion of Shogunate officials who were looking towards the development and enrichment of Japan through foreign trade.
There he famously set up a shop so large and extravagant it was known as the Bronze Palace (銅御殿, Akagane Goten). It was so extravagant, that according to here, the upper part of the courtyard had birds flying within wire mesh, and the walls of the rooms had glass fish tanks in, with goldfish swimming in them... and in the zashiki (座敷, a traditional tatami room), he had placed a music box with Western music streaming out from it.
He was a pioneer in the trade of raw silk at a time when the material was in demand in European countries, and in fact had a sort of monopoly on it. It is recorded that out of the 35000 kin (about 21000 kg) of raw silk exported between July to October 1859, Nakaiya sold about half of it. Since trading of this sort was quite impossible prior to Perry's arrival in 1853 due to isolationist policies, one could say that he placed the foundations for all future trade in silk from Japan.
Incidentally he dealt in Joshuu raw silk, which came from the area around his hometown (Joshuu was another name for Kouzuke, the province where Nakaiya was born.)
As such an important businessman who was at the same time a learned scholar, he was sometimes respectfully called "The Head Priest Of 'Hama" (浜の門跡様, Hama no Monseki-sama)
Politics and Disagreement with Ii Kamon-no-kami Naosuke
I don't know which han or domain Nakaiya came from, so I can't say anything about the probability of his political loyalties stemming from his birthplace as within Kouzuke Province there were domains with varying loyalties.
It is a fact that he did sympathise with the Mito-han, ruled by the daimyo Tokugawa Nariaki, who was pushing for his son Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu to become the next Shogun after Tokugawa Iesada passed away. However, Tokugawa Yoshitomi, renamed Iemochi, become the next shogun instead, thanks to Ii Naosuke. Furthermore, Ii also shut up those who opposed him during the following Ansei Purges. This greatly insulted Nariaki, who was already at odds with Ii, and thenceforth Mito-han became even more anti-Shogunate than it already was, turning into a notable hotbed for sonno-joi philosophy.
Despite Ii being responsible for the signing of the Harris treaty which Nakaiya commercially benefited from, the political maneuvering regarding shogun candidates greatly insulted the Mito-han and therefore insulted Nakaiya as well. He believed Ii was doing the country injustice ("国を誤るもの").
It is therefore not a surprise that Nakaiya supported the warriors from Mito-han who eventually assassinated Ii in 1860 at the Sakurada-mon Incident. It is said that he provided them with crucial firearms (a pistol?).
However, in the following year (1861), Nakaiya mysteriously disappeared at the age of 42 and never returned again so we can only conclude that he died some really mysterious death. According to here he was being persued by Shogunate officials and left his shop in Yokohama... And of course, this sort of ending is perfect material to make a story out of.
His grave in Tsumagoi-mura (in Agatsuma, Gunma prefecture - i.e. his birthplace) is a designated cultural property and you can see a picture of it here with a close-up of the text on it.
Nakaiya in other media
Please click here.
Links referred to while writing this:
The writeup next to Nakaiya's grave
A writeup on Nakaiya at Kappou Nakaiya, a restaurant named after him
Wikipedia entry on Nakaiya
History trail writeup for Nakaiya's shop, at Yokohama's Naka-ku website
Nakaiya Juubee in the anime
Return to History
