NENPU

Negotiating with Russia, and reforming the shogunate's government

From the Tsushima incident of 1861 to his resignation in 1863. A record of two years and more in which, moving from post to post, he worked on relations with Russia and on the reform of the shogunate's army.

In 1861 Oguri, then commissioner of foreign affairs, went to Tsushima to deal with the Russian warship that had seized part of the island unlawfully. From there until his resignation in the fourth month of 1863, for over two years, he held no one post for long, moving from office to office as he took on the problems of the shogunate's government.

Negotiating with Russia; one transfer of office after another; reform of the army on Western lines as commissioner of infantry; the handling of the Namamugi incident; and the change of his title to Kōzukenosuke. This chapter sets out Oguri as the negotiator with Russia and as a reformer of the shogunate's government, in nine articles.

The inner moat of Edo Castle, photographed by Felice Beato
The inner moat of Edo Castle, photographed by Felice Beato, 1863.Source: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

Articles in this chapter

  1. The Tsushima incident — a Russian warship in occupation, and negotiation on a knife edge

    The Russian warship Posadnik took possession of Imozaki on Tsushima. Oguri, commissioner of foreign affairs, went there and negotiated with her captain, Birilev, face to face.

  2. “Shoot me, then” — his nerve

    How he negotiated at Tsushima without giving an inch. A story of the spirit with which he held to his argument even when cornered.

  3. How the Tsushima incident changed Oguri's thinking

    At Tsushima he learned how little negotiation can do with no force behind it. The view that this was the turn which led to his later course of financial and technical reform.

  4. Transferred again and again — eighteen times in nine years

    After a spell out of office following his resignation, one transfer after another in 1862. The number of appointments and dismissals he himself gave in later years.

  5. Reforming the army on Western lines as commissioner of infantry

    As commissioner of infantry, Oguri pressed on with bringing in the Western system of three arms — infantry, cavalry and artillery.

  6. The aftermath of the Namamugi incident, and its diplomatic handling

    The diplomatic handling of the killing and wounding of Englishmen. He is said to have had a part in it, as a man with the experience of a commissioner of foreign affairs behind him.

  7. Why he chose the title Kōzukenosuke

    In 1862 he changed from Bungo-no-kami to Kōzukenosuke. He is said to have chosen it although there were those who warned him the name was ill-omened.

  8. Opposing an increase of stipend for Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu, and resigning

    In the fourth month of 1863 he opposed the proposal to raise Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu's stipend and had it withdrawn, then took the responsibility on himself and resigned.

  9. Katsu Kaishū, and the parting of two fates

    About the time Oguri resigned, Katsu Kaishū was given leave to found the naval training station at Kobe. The two courses are followed side by side.

What came next

Oguri returned to the shogunate's government not long after resigning. He was appointed commissioner of finance four times in all, and held office too as commissioner of foreign affairs, acting commissioner of the army and commissioner of warships. The breaking of ground for the Yokosuka ironworks and the founding of the Hyōgo Shōsha, the first joint-stock company in Japan, belong to the second half of his life. → The Yokosuka ironworks／His work on the economy

From the dismissal in 1868 to the end is set out under 1868 — from dismissal to the riverbed at Mizunuma.