Dominant Player in Edo Castle Surrender
KATSU Kaishu
1823-1899
Name
Name: Yoshikuni
Middle name: After the Meiji restoration he changed Awanokami to Yasuyoshi.
Common name: Rintaro
Pen name: Kaishu
Occupation
Samurai warrior and politician
Biographical Sketch
Katsu was born at Honjo Kamezawa-cho in Edo (old Tokyo).
In 1855 he was working on the translation of foreign literature, whereupon he was sent to the Naval Academy established in Nagasaki. In 1860, he sailed across the Pacific in command of the warship Kanrinmaru carrying a diplomatic delegation on a mission to America. At the Naval Training Yards, he trained samurai from various clans and contributed to develop the navy of the shogunate. He served as a mediator between the shogunate and the overthrowing power where he met Saigo Takamori and forced the surrender of Edo Castle. After the Meiji restoration he became Lord High Admiral and following that he was an advisor to the Privy Council.
His works include "Kaikoku Kigen" and "Suijin-roku" among many others.
Ex-libris Ownership Stamp
"物部義邦" (mononobe yoshikuni) a secondary stamp and "海舟" (kaishu) are known to exist.
Reading and the size of the ex-libris ownership stamp
物部義邦 (mononobe yoshikuni): 21x21mm
勝安芳(katsu yasuyoshi): 30x19mm
海軍弘通(kaigun gutsuu): 39x38mm
Collection
The Katsu Kaishu collection used to be held in the Nanki library, but in 1925 the library was closed and it was returned to the Katsu family. Then in 1929 it was replaced in the Seimei library.
However the collection was broken up after the Second World War. Even today it is possible to find items from his collection in old book stores.
The National Diet Library holds 400 items such as his manuscripts, letters, published materials, and manuscripts in Dutch. This collection came to the National Diet Library in 1952.
Portrait
Kinse meisi shasin Volume 2, Kinse meisi shasin hanpu kai, 1935. [427-53]
