Katsu Kaishū Facts for Kids

In this Japanese name, the family name is Katsu.

Quick facts for kids

Count

Katsu Yasuyoshi

Katsu Kaishū (as Katsu Yasuyoshi) in his later years

Native name

勝安芳

Birth name

Katsu Yoshikuni

Other name(s)

Katsu Rintarō

Nickname(s)

Katsu Kaishū (勝海舟)
Awa Katsū

Born

March 12, 1823
Edo, Japan

Died

January 21, 1899 (aged 75)
Tokyo, Japan

Buried

Senzoku Pond Public Park, Tokyo, Japan

Allegiance

Tokugawa Shogunate

Empire of Japan

Service/branch

Imperial Japanese Navy

Years of service

1855–1868 (Tokugawa)
1872–1899 (Japanese Empire)

Rank

Gunkan-bugyō (commissioner)
Vice Minister
Naval Lord (海軍卿)

Commands held

Kanrin-maru (warship)
Kobe Naval School

Battles/wars

Boshin War

Awards

See Honours

Spouse(s)

Tami
Masuda Ito
4 other concubines

Children

9 children

Relations

Katsu Kokichi (father)
Katsu Nobuko (mother)

Other work

Military theorist

Japanese name

Kanji

勝海舟

Hiragana

かつかいしゅう

Katakana

カツカイシュウ

Transcriptions
Romanization	Katsu Kaishū

Count Katsu Yasuyoshi (勝安芳, born Katsu Yoshikuni (勝義邦); March 12, 1823 – January 21, 1899), best known by his nickname Katsu Kaishū (勝海舟), was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku 海舟書屋) by Sakuma Shōzan. He went through a series of given names throughout his life; his childhood name was Rintarō (麟太郎). He was often called Awa (安房) from his title Awano-kami (安房守) during the late Tokugawa shogunate and later changed his name to Yasuyoshi after the Meiji Restoration.

Katsu Kaishū eventually rose to occupy the position of commissioner (Gunkan-bugyō) in the Tokugawa navy. He is particularly known for his role in the surrender of Edo.

Early life
Military service
Later years
Death
Honours
- Order of precedence
See also

Early life

Born Katsu Yoshikuni on March 12, 1823, in Edo to a low-ranking retainer of the Tokugawa shōgun. His father, Katsu Kokichi, the subject of the autobiography, Musui's Story, was the ill-behaved head of a minor samurai family. As a youth whose given childhood name as Katsu Rintarō (Kaishu was a pseudonym), he studied Dutch and European military science, and was eventually appointed translator by the government when European powers attempted to open contact with Japan. Katsu developed the reputation as an expert in western military technology.

Under the advice of Dutch naval officers, Katsu served as head naval cadet at the Nagasaki Naval Academy between 1855 and 1859.

Kaishū Katsu

Military service

A bust of Katsu Kaishu by Motoyama Hakuun (1871–1952)

In 1860, Katsu served as captain of the warship Kanrin-maru (with assistance from US naval officer Lt. John M. Brooke), to escort the first Japanese delegation to San Francisco, California, en route to Washington, DC, for the formal ratification of the Harris Treaty. The Kanrin Maru, built by the Dutch, was the first Japanese vessel to sail to the Western world. Kaishū remained in San Francisco for nearly two months, observing American society, culture and technology. Following his return to Japan, Katsu held a series of high-ranking posts in the Tokugawa navy, arguing before government councils in favor of a unified Japanese naval force led by professionally trained officers in disregard of promotion and assignment due to hereditary status. During his command as director of the Kobe Naval School, the institute would become a major source of activity for progressive thinking and reformists between 1863 and 1864.

In 1866, Katsu was appointed negotiator between the bakufu forces and the anti-shogunal domain of Chōshū, and later served as chief negotiator for the Tokugawa bakufu, ensuring a relatively peaceful and orderly transition of power in the Meiji Restoration.

Although sympathetic to the anti-Tokugawa cause, Katsu remained loyal to the Tokugawa bakufu during the Boshin War. After the collapse of the Tokugawa forces in late 1867, Katsu negotiated the surrender of Edo castle to Saigō Takamori on 11 April 1868.

Later years

Katsu relocated to Shizuoka after the new Imperial government took control of the shogun's former capital, which was renamed Tokyo ("Eastern Capital"). He returned briefly to government service as Vice Minister of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1872, followed by first Minister of the Navy from 1873 until 1878. As Katsu Yasuyoshi, he was the most prominent of the former Tokugawa retainers who found employment within the new Meiji government, and was sangi (参議) between 1869 and 1885 who did not come from one of the four paramount domains. Although his influence within the navy was minimal, as the Navy was largely dominated by a core of Satsuma officers, Katsu served in a senior advisory capacity on national policy. During the next two decades, Katsu served on the Privy Council and wrote extensively on naval issues.

He also made efforts to restore the honor of Tokugawa Yoshinobu and Saigō Takamori.

In 1887, he was elevated to the title of hakushaku (count) in the kazoku peerage system. Katsu recorded his memoirs in the book Hikawa Seiwa.

Death

In 1891, through a connection of Tsuda Sen, the father of Tsuda Ume, Katsu Yasuyoshi purchased a plot of land at Senzoku-ike kôen (洗足池, Senzoku Pond), and built his retirement home there. Following his death in 1899, he was buried with his wife Tami near the site of their home, on the shores of Senzoku Pond, in what is today Senzoku-ike kôen (洗足池公園, Senzoku Pond Public Park) in Tokyo.