What is Shimizu Jirocho (real name: Yamamoto Chogoro)?
For those of us from Shimizu, Jirocho Oyabun of Shimizu is not only a great hero, but also a violent man with a familiar but somewhat scary image.
Jirocho and his friends are portrayed in TV shows, movies, and plays. So, what kind of person was he really?
This is why I looked back on the life of Jirocho-san.
[Childhood]
Shimizu Jirocho was born on January 1, 1820, as the second son of Takagi Sanemon, a shipowner and boatman in present-day Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City.
He was adopted by his maternal uncle, Jirohachi Yamamoto, the owner of Koda-ya, a rice merchant, because he did not have any biological children.
During this childhood at Jirohachi’s place, the people around him began to call him “Jirocho,” Chogoro from Jirohachi’s place.
[Boyhood]
In 1829, when he was ten years old, he was left in the care of his uncle Hyokichi in Yui-Kurazawa because no one could control his rough character.
In 1834, at the age of 15, he returned to Jirohachi’s adoptive home. However, he then ran away with a hundred ryo.
Perhaps he had a talent for gambling from that time, and with the 100 ryo he had stolen, he made a huge profit in the rice market, surprising his family back in Shimizu.
In 1835, his adoptive father Jirohachi died, and Jirocho devoted himself to the family business. In 1837, he took a wife.
On the other hand, he was still a rambunctious man who spent his days fighting and gambling.
[Adolescence (into chivalry)]
Although he was a violent man from his childhood, there was actually a reason why he went on to become a chivalrous man.
In 1839, when he was 20 years old, a traveling monk told him, “You have only five years left to live. You will die at 25.”
At that time, he decided that if he was going to die, he would live a short and fat life, and decided to pursue the path of chivalry.
In 1842, on his way back from seeing a play in Ejiri, Jirocho was drunk and was attacked in the dark, seriously injuring himself.
He was so badly injured that he almost lost his life. Taking this opportunity, he vowed to abstain from alcohol for the rest of his life.
In 1842, Jirocho discovered a cheat during a gambling game, and at the end of a quarrel, he cut down a man and threw him into the Tomoe River.
After this incident, he separated from his wife, handed over the family business, Koda-ya, to his sister and her husband, and left Shimizu as a homeless wanderer.
In Mikawa, he learned swordsmanship in earnest from Buichi of Kira.
After traveling around the country to train and expand his social circle, Jirocho returned to Shimizu and set up his family in Shimizu Minato.
In 1845, a fight broke out at the Ihara River in Suruga between Tazaemon of Wadajima, whom Jirocho regarded as an elder brother figure, and Bunkichi of Tsumugi Village in Kamogari, Kai Province (now Ichikawamisato Town, Nishiyatsushiro District, Yamanashi Prefecture).
However, it was said that the incident was a ruse by Sanbamasa, and Jirocho arbitrated and mediated the dispute.
Through this mediation, Jirocho’s reputation as a chivalrous man grew and he joined the ranks of the renowned kyokaku, and Bunkichi of Tsumugi deepened his ties with Jirocho.
In 1847, at the age of 28, he married Ejiri Okuma’s younger sister, Ocho (the first generation), and they established a household near Myokei-ji Temple in Shimizu Nakamachi.
In December 1858, at the age of 39, a dispute broke out between Yuten of Koshu and Ejiri Okuma.
Jirocho and Ejiri Okuma cut down a retired man in Kofu, who was Yuten’s boss.
Jirocho was chased by the officials and hid with Ocho and his henchmen at the house of Okaichi in Seto.
However, Ocho fell ill here, and after moving to Chobei’s house in Nagoya, she passed away.
In 1859, Kyuroku, whom Jirocho had once looked after kindly, betrayed him and informed the authorities that Jirocho and his men were staying at Chobei’s house.
Jirocho escapes, but Chobei is trapped and later dies in prison.
Jirocho immediately slew Kyuroku at Otogawa in Kamesaki, Chita, Owari to avenge Chobei’s death, and then, taking his henchmen Omasa, Ishimatsu of Mori and others with him, continued a long flight as far as Shikoku.
In the first year of the Man’en Era (1860), he sent Ishimatsu of Mori to Konpira Shrine as his proxy, to give thanks for the successful revenge on Kyuroku.
After his visit to Konpira, Ishimatsu visited Kamataro of Mikeyama, and Kamataro entrusted him with a funeral offering that he had been unable to deliver to Jirocho at the time of Ocho’s funeral.
On his way home, Ishimatsu was tricked and killed by the brothers Kibei and Umekichi of Miyakoda (present-day Miyakoda, Kita-ku, Hamamatsu City), who wanted the incense in his pocket.
In the first year of the Man’en Era (1860), Kakutaro and Kisaburo died after eating blowfish served by Koden, the head priest of Baiin Zen Temple.
Jirocho, who was planning to avenge Ishimatsu, used this incident to spread the rumor that the entire Shimizu family had been poisoned by fugu.
Kibei Miyakoda, who was trying to expand his influence in Shimizu, heard the rumor and rushed to Shimizu with nine of his henchmen.
He fell for Jirocho’s plan.
Jirocho, who had anticipated Kibei’s coming to Shimizu, kept his antennae up and was the first to catch the information about Kibei’s arrival.
Then Omasa, Komasa, Sumo-Tsune, Seikichi and others made a surprise attack on the Miyakoda gang at Oiwake and avenged Ishimatsu.
In October of the same year, Katsuzo of Kurokoma attended a meeting with Shimoda Kinpei at Kikugawa-juku on the Tokaido highway and met him.
Around this time in 1862, Katsuzo of Koshu Kurokoma began to grow in power.
After the death in prison of his boss, Yasugoro Takei, Katsuzo organized Yasugoro’s men into the Kurokoma family and, based in Togura, Kamikurokoma Village, made a name for himself throughout the Kanto region as the great boss of the Koshu gamblers.
And this momentum was reaching as far as Shimizu.
The Port of Shimizu had the privilege of transporting annual tribute rice from Shinano and Kai to Edo via the Fuji River Boat Canal.
Katsuzo and other Koshu mobsters attacked the Okitsu inn and the Suruga Iwabuchi riverbank, which were in Shimizu Jirocho’s sphere of influence, over the Fuji River shipping rights.
At this time, Morinosuke of Okitsu, a member of the Shimizu family, was also attacked, and Katsuzo, who had done all kinds of evil, was pursued by the authorities and fled to Enshu.
In 1863, in order to capture Katsuzo, who had escaped to Enshu, the Nakaizumi bansho (magistrate’s office) asked Tomozo of Owada to capture him, and Jirocho joined him in driving Katsuzo to Koshu.
In the first year of the Genji Era (1864), when he was 45 years old, Sanzo of Katsunuma asked Jirocho for help because he was forced to collect funds for the attack on Shimizu.
He was 47 years old in 1866 (Keio 2). The famous fight (bloody battle) at Aragamiyama in Ise took place in this year.
The area around Aragamiyama was a complex mixture of Kameyama and Kobe domains and tenryos, and if you went out into other domains, it was like a lawless zone where police power could not reach.
Many gambling halls were set up behind the temple on the occasion of the Kannon temple in April, and the bosses who used this area as their territory had a huge income.
Chokichi of Kobe had this area as his territory, but while Chokichi was away in another province, it fell into the hands of Anotoku of Kuwana.
This was the beginning of the conflict between Chokichi of Kobe and Anotoku of Kuwana.
As Chokichi’s territory, which Jirocho and his family had taken care of, was taken away from him, Nikichi of Kira (now Kira-cho, Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture), who had spent time under Jirocho and had even exchanged sake cups with him, also made a move.
On April 6, refusing mediation by Anotoku’s men and the okappiki (local police agents), 22 members of Shimizu Jirocho’s family and Nikichi of Kira joined Chokichi of Kobe in the fight at Aragamiyama.
Chokichi’s side built a camp near the present Kasado Shrine, while Anotoku’s side took up position on Mt. Takatsuka, west of Aragamiyama, and the fight began.
Chokichi’s side challenged with Chokichi of Kobe, Nikichi of Kira, and 22 members of the Shimizu Jirocho family, while Anotoku’s side challenged with more than 130 men, including the Anotoku family and the family of Katsuzo of Kurokoma, who had been Jirocho’s enemy.
Although Anotoku’s side had the advantage in numbers, they were a motley group, and when their commanders, Kadoi Monnosuke and Ota Saheiji, were killed, the whole group collapsed and fled with more than 10 wounded.
Although Chokichi’s side won despite its small numbers, Hoin no Daigoro of the Jirocho family, who had joined the fight, and Nikichi of Kira were shot and then slashed to death.
Jirocho was so enraged by the deaths of his important henchmen that he mobilized another 480 men, loaded 170 long spears, 40 guns, and 90 bales of rice onto a ship, and headed for Anotoku.
Anotoku’s side was terrified by this, apologized earnestly, and proposed peace.
Jirocho forgave him and accepted the peace treaty.
After this incident, the name “Shimizu Jirocho” became known throughout the country and his dignity increased.
Later, on the first anniversary of the death of Nikichi of Kira, Jirocho and the bereaved family built a tomb for him.
[Turning point]
In April 1868 (Keio 4), in place of the Sunpu town magistrate, Fuseya Nyosui, whom the Office of the Governor-General for the Eastern Expedition had appointed as Sunpu town administrator, appointed Jirocho as highway guard (chief of police).
Jirocho refused the appointment, saying that it was unreasonable for someone like him to become a government official.
Fuseya Nyosui, however, refused to back down and negotiated with Jirocho that he would be exonerated of his past crimes if he accepted the position.
Jirocho also refused, saying that if he accepted the role, he would be laughed at for the rest of his life for having become a government official to escape punishment.
Japan was then at the turning point from the Tokugawa shogunate to the Meiji era, so Nyosui said to him: “Now is a time when there is neither Tokugawa nor Satsuma-Choshu; we must all welcome the Emperor together and build a new era. Won’t you set yourself aside and serve the Emperor? Protecting the port of Shimizu and keeping Sunpu and the Tokaido safe will be of service to the Emperor.”
He was struck by Nyosui’s enthusiasm, and those words, which became the turning point of his rebirth, were deeply engraved in his soul.
He then took on the role of highway guard and worked on the security of the Sunpu Tokaido highway until July of the same year.
From this point on, Jirocho, who had lived his life as a famous chivalrous person, changed his way of life 180 degrees.
In the same year, Katsuzo of Kurokoma used a false name and tried to enter Sunpu as a spearhead of the government forces.
Jirocho immediately saw through this and prevented Katsuzo from passing through Ejiri.
In July of the same year, he and his henchmen escorted Fuseya Nyosui as he returned to the Hamamatsu domain.
In addition, a large number of refugees from Edo, former Tokugawa shoguns and their families, landed at Shimizu Port.
The city of Sunpu was in turmoil due to the large number of refugees, as it was a time when housing and accommodation facilities were not as well developed as they are today.
Jirocho rescued the refugees by serving them food and other means, and quickly worked around the city to secure housing for the refugees, thus curbing the chaos.
In August of the same year, Lord Tokugawa Ietatsu entered Sunpu Castle, and Kaishu Katsu and Tessyu Yamaoka became the administrators of the Sunpu domain. At this time, Edo became Tokyo, and Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu was placed under house arrest at Hodaiin in Sunpu.
Around the middle of August, Takeaki Enomoto, vice-commander of the former shogunate’s navy, led a fleet of seven warships and escaped from off the coast of Shinagawa toward Hokkaido with the samurai who refused to go from Edo to Sunpu.
On the way, however, they were hit by a huge storm and drifted in the sea.
One of the ships, the Kanrin Maru, had a broken mast and had to enter Shimizu Port for repairs.
On September 18, the first year of the Meiji Era (1868), the sound of cannons suddenly echoed through the streets of Shimizu.
Jirocho ran out of his house and saw a terrible scene.
The government troops found the Kanrin Maru, which had fled as part of the former shogunate’s forces, and even though it was flying a white flag, they mercilessly boarded the ship; the seven crew members who had remained aboard were cut down and killed, and their bodies were thrown into the sea.
Immediately afterward, a public notice was put up saying, “Do not touch or bury the bodies of the crew of the Kanrin Maru, who were rebels. Anyone who breaks this rule will be severely punished as a traitor.”
Because of this warning and strict guards, no one could bury the bodies floating in the sea, and the smell of death and the landscape was terrible.
The fishermen asked Jirocho and his family for advice on how to deal with the situation.
At first, his henchmen tried to stop him, saying they could not let their boss, who was working hard to change his way of life, do something so forbidden, but Jirocho took action.
“Even if you don’t know the person, once he has died there, it doesn’t matter whether he was a rebel or an imperial soldier. It is only human kindness for the people of the land to hold a memorial for him,” he said. In the end, defying the authorities, he had his henchmen recover the bodies in the middle of the night when there were no guards, and held a memorial service for them.
However, at the end of September, he was immediately ordered to appear before the Sunpu clan office.
It was rumored that no one else but Jirocho could do such a thing, and he was found out.
Jirocho did not lie or run away, but admitted what he had done and claimed that he had only done what was natural for a human being to do.
Matsuoka, who listened to Jirocho’s argument and was once a vassal of the Tokugawa Shogunate, was deeply moved and decided not to blame him.
In 1869, when he was 50 years old, while Jirocho was away in Mikawa, Ocho II was cut down and killed by a man thought to be a member of the Shinbangumi guard unit who had been gathering at Kunoji Temple.
His henchman Tanaka Keijiro immediately chased after him and killed him.
At that time, Tesshu Yamaoka, a former shogunate retainer serving as a senior councilor (Daisanji) of the Shizuoka domain, heard about Jirocho’s actions and words during the Kanrin Maru Incident, was deeply grateful to him, and became his friend.
Tesshu named the grave Jirocho built “Tomb of a Brave Warrior”.
In the same year, Koji Sugi, a former shogunate retainer (later the first Director General of the Statistics Bureau), met Jirocho and explored ways for the migrant samurai to make a living, such as the salt fields in Miho and the cultivation of Mt. Udo.
In December of the same year, Shinmon Tatsugoro met Jirocho and asked him to serve as a guard for Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu.
The following year, 1870 (Meiji 3), he married Ocho III, the daughter of a samurai in Nishio, Sanshu.
The time as a social entrepreneur ＜Land reclamation in Ohbuchi, Fuji City＞
In 1874, when he was 55 years old, at the suggestion of Sadakiyo Osako, then the prefectural governor (kenrei) of Shizuoka, he received a grant of 2,000 yen and gathered prisoners from Mukojima to start cultivating the land at the foot of Mt. Fuji (Ohbuchi).
The land was so barren that not even water could be found, and the cultivation was very difficult, but from 1881 (Meiji 14), when Jirocho was 62 years old, Goro Amada, who had been introduced by Tesshu Yamaoka in 1878 (Meiji 11) and adopted by Jirocho, took charge and succeeded in cultivating 76 cho-bu of land.
The cultivated land was called “Jirocho Kaikon” (Jirocho’s reclaimed land), and the name still remains today.
Goro Amada, who was adopted by the family, wrote a book titled “Tokai Yukyoden: Ichina Jirocho Monogatari” and published it by Tokyo Yoron-sha in 1884.
In 1874 (Meiji 7), Jirocho also helped to open Nakaizumi Cash Store, a liquor store run jointly by the Nakano and Morita families, which moved from Handa Port to Shimizu Port.
＜Development of Shimizu Port＞
In the 8th year of Meiji (1875), the port of Shimizu was originally an estuary port of the Tomoe River.
Jirocho, who was the first to sense the dawn of a new era after the change from Edo to Meiji era, thought it was necessary to expand the sales channel of tea for the development of Shimizu port.
In order to do so, he persuaded the managers of shipping wholesalers that larger steamships should be able to enter the port and trade heavily.
In 1880, at the age of 61, he was involved in the establishment of Seiryu-sha, and traveled back and forth between Yokohama and Shimizu many times with three steamships.
He also established a regular service between the ports of Shimizu and Yokohama by connecting tea exporters, Shizuoka tea merchants, and shipping wholesalers in the port of Shimizu.
As a result of Jirocho’s efforts, the Port of Shimizu became more open to the outside world, and Shizuoka tea was exported to the United States, making it the largest tea exporting port in Japan.
The year after the establishment of Seiryu-sha (1881), Masagoro Yamamoto, known as Omasa, passed away.
＜Opening of the English School＞
In 1876, at the age of 57, he opened an English language school in a room of Meitokukan, a private school opened by Kan Arai, a former vassal of the shogunate.
Jirocho, who felt the need for English firsthand because of the export of tea to foreign countries, said, “Young people from now on must know English!”
He gathered young people from the neighborhood and invited a young lecturer from the Shizuoka Academy as an instructor to start an English school.
One day, Genkichi Kawaguchi of Miho, one of the students of the English school, sneaked onto a cargo ship from Yokohama and smuggled himself to Hawaii.
He became a huge success in Hawaii and is known as “Mr. Hawaii” in his hometown.
The English school played a solid role in internationalization.
There is an exhibition of this English school in Suehiro, a facility that recreates the boathouse that Jirocho ran in his later years.
＜Opening of "Suehiro" boat house.＞
Before opening Suehiro, in the year he turned 65, he was imprisoned at Shizuoka Inomiya Prison in a mass roundup of gamblers and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of 400 yen, but thanks to the efforts of Takayoshi Sekiguchi and others, he was released the following year.
In 1886 (Meiji 19), he was 67 years old, but he still kept going.
The port of Shimizu had grown so large that warships came and went, and many soldiers came and went.
That’s when he opened his own inn, Suehiro.
One of the soldiers who came and went at Shimizu Port was Takeo Hirose, who later became known as the “God of War” and played an active role in the Russo-Japanese War.
When Hirose entered Shimizu Port, about fifty naval soldiers visited Jirocho.
Jirocho looked around at them and said, “There isn’t a single real man among you.” Hirose replied, “Well, if you say so, I’ll show you what I can do, so don’t be surprised,” and punched himself in the solar plexus 50 to 60 times in a row. Impressed, Jirocho said, “I see, you are a real man,” and it is said that the two then talked openly with each other.
Lord Tokugawa Yoshinobu often visited this Suehiro to visit Jirocho.
＜Establishment of Saishu Clinic＞
In 1886, Jirocho met Shigetoshi Ueki, a graduate of the special course of the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Medicine, on a ship from Yokohama to Tosa, and invited him and Ryozo Watanabe, who was also from Kaji-machi, Susaki, Tosa, to Shimizu to establish the Saishu Clinic in Shimizu-cho, Udo District, Shizuoka Prefecture.
[Last period]
In 1887 (age 68), a ceremony was held to unveil a monument to the victims of the Kanrin Maru at Seikenji Temple in Okitsu.
The inscription “He who eats another’s food dies for that person’s cause” was written by Takeaki Enomoto.
In the 21st year of Meiji (1888, age 69), Tesshu Yamaoka died. Jirocho attends the funeral.
In 1890 (age 71), Navy Lieutenant Commander Naganari Ogasawara boards the warship Amagi and goes to Shimizu Port. He visits Jirocho at Suehiro.
In 1892 (age 73), he held a sumo tournament in Sunpu Castle to erect a monument in honor of Yamada Nagamasa.
Since the beginning of the Meiji era, Shizuoka people had been trying to make a bronze statue of Nagamasa Yamada, a local hero, but had not been able to achieve it.
Jirocho also respected Nagamasa Yamada, so he took it upon himself to build the statue.
In addition to the sumo tournament, Jirocho went to Tokyo with Iwakichi of Tome and met with the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Takeaki Enomoto, to explain the purpose of erecting the statue, and received a monetary donation.
In 1893, at the age of 74, Jirocho died of a worsened cold while being cared for by Ocho III.
He lived a very long life for a chivalrous man.
More than 3,000 people attended his funeral and he was buried at Baiinji Temple.
Jirocho, along with Ocho I, II, III, Omasa, Komasa, Masukawa Sen'emon and others, still rests at Baiinji Temple.
