Background
Shōzan Sakuma was born on 22 March 1811. He was the son of Sakuma Kuniyoshi, a samurai of the domain of Matsushiro in Shinshu, present-day Nagano Prefecture; his given name was Kunitada, Shozan being a literary appellation.
佐久間 象山
Shōzan Sakuma was born on 22 March 1811. He was the son of Sakuma Kuniyoshi, a samurai of the domain of Matsushiro in Shinshu, present-day Nagano Prefecture; his given name was Kunitada, Shozan being a literary appellation.
From an early age he showed great fondness for learning and in 1833 went to Edo to study Neo-Confucianism of the Chu Hsi school under Sato Issai, head of the officially sponsored Hayashi family school.
In 1836 he was ordered by the lord of Matsushiro to return to his home and teach the sons of the samurai of the fief. In 1839 he went to Edo a second time and took charge of the school, which was maintained in the official residence of the Matsushiro domain, at the same time opening a school in Kanda called the Shozan Shoin and giving instruction there.
In 1841 at the direction of the lord of Matsushiro, Sanada Yukitsura, who held the position of roju (councilor of state) in the shogunate, he went to Nirayama on the Izu Peninsula to receive instruction in Western style gunnery from Egawa Tardzaemon, a shogunate official who, among other things, was proficient in military science, and presented to the government a proposal for measures to be taken for coastal defense.
In 1853, when Perry’s ships first arrived at Uraga, he sent a letter expressing his opinions to the shogunate and, in company with Yoshida Shoin, attempted to board the ships and obtain passage aboard, but the plan ended in failure. As a result of the incident he was imprisoned in Edo and later sent back to Matsushiro for confinement there, but this did not sway his determination to continue to pursue Western studies and improve his scientific knowledge.
In 1864 he was ordered by the shogunate to go to Kyoto and confer with the shogun’s advisor, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, and other important government officials who were there, attempting to convince them of the need to open the country as soon as proper steps had been taken to introduce Western scientific knowledge and strengthen the defenses of the state, but he was attacked and killed by a member of the group that advocated expulsion of foreigners. Among his disciples were many such as Katsu Kaishu, Sakamoto Ryoma, Yoshida Shoin, and Hashimoto Sanai, who played important roles in the late Edo and Meiji Restoration periods.