Tarōzaemon Egawa was a Military expert of the late Edo period.
Background
Tarōzaemon Egawa was born on 23 June 1801. He was the second son of Egawa Hidetake, a daikan, or local administrative official of the shogunate, in Nira-yama in the province of Izu; in addition to the names Tarozaemon and Hidetatsu he is also known by the literary appellation Tan’an.
Education
In 1841 he studied gunnery under iakashima Shuhan.
Career
At the age of thirty-four he succeeded his father as administrative official of Nirayama, applying himself to his duties with great seriousness.
In 1836 he restored order after a peasant uprising had broken out in the district under his supervision, and he also made frequent tours of inspection through the district, apprising himself of conditions among the people, promoting men of talent, encouraging the practice of vaccination and the building up of grain reserves, and gaining for himself a reputation as an outstanding administrator.
In 1842 he was designated by the shogunate as an instructor in gunnery; he gave instruction to men from over ISO domains. In 1843 he constructed a reverberatory furnace at Nirayama and succeeded in casting cannon; later he constructed a large furnace at Nakamura in Izu for the casting of guns. In 1853, he was promoted to a post in the shogunate having to do with finance and he began construction of a battery emplacement at Shinagawa on the outskirts of Edo.
Personality
He was a man who was not only interested in all fields of learning, but possessed a surprisingly high level of competence in a number of them.