Volume 7 of the Gunma Prefecture Historical Materials, the Oguri Nikki, holds not only the daily diaries but the household accounts. In such details as the money spent on eel, the gifts of money and the handing round of year-end presents, something can be seen of the daily life of the Oguri house between the hard spells of office.
From those entries in the accounts and the diaries, this chapter sets out how Oguri Kōzukenosuke and his family lived.
Articles in this chapter
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A liking for eel, as the accounts show
Money for eel, entered at every kirimai-biraki, the day the stipend came in.
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A New Year sight: money for the monkey showman
The accounts record a gift of money every New Year to the monkey showman who performed in the street.
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Was there a concubine? — Oaya and Outa
Oaya, who appears in the accounts every month, and Outa, who was seen at Gonda. The records about these two women, set in order.
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His wife's rite of the sash, at the village of Gonda
The diary records that in the third month of 1868 the rite of the sash was held for his wife Michiko at the village of Gonda.
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The year-end payment, and the rule of giving by rank
At the year's end in 1867 the gifts of money to the servants were laid down in detail, rank by rank.
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The French military adviser's frequent visits
The record of Chanoine, the French officer who instructed the Western-style army, calling often at the residence.
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A debt from the earthquake, paid off over ten years
The money borrowed after the great earthquake of 1855, repaid year after year in the accounts.
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The year the accounts went well into surplus on the embassy allowance
The accounts for 1860 show the household much the better off for the allowance paid for the embassy to the United States.