Shihei Hayashi was an expert on administrative and military affairs of the middle Edo period.
Background
Shihei Hayashi was born on 6 August 1738 in Edo. His common name was Tomonao and his literary name was Rokumusai. His father, Okamura Gengohyoe Yoshimichi, was in the service of the shogunate in Edo, but because his elder brother Tomomasa was a retainer to the Date family in Sendai, Shihei and his family moved to Sendai in 1756. He was friendly with Kudo Heisukc and Fujitsuka Shikibu, a Shinto priest of the Shiogama Shrine, men who, like himself, were concerned about Japan's position in the world.
Career
He took a particular interest in matters pertaining to economics and national defense, traveling throughout the domain to observe conditions first hand. He also acquired what knowledge he could of conditions in the West. Three times he submitted proposals to the lord of the domain calling for reforms in the educational and defense system and steps to restrain the merchants, encourage production, provide lands for the samurai so that they could engage in farming, and improve the financial situation of the domain. He also made three trips to Nagasaki, taking particular note of reports of Russian expansion toward the south.
As his views on military matters often contradicted those of the shogunate, in 1792 the wood blocks from which the works were printed were confiscated by the authorities and Shihei was ordered confined to his elder brother’s house in Sendai. He died there the following year on the twenty-first day of the six month.
Personality
He took a particular interest in matters pertaining to economics and national defense, traveling throughout the domain to observe conditions first hand. He also acquired what knowledge he could of conditions in the West. Three times he submitted proposals to the lord of the domain calling for reforms in the educational and defense system and steps to restrain the merchants, encourage production, provide lands for the samurai so that they could engage in farming, and improve the financial situation of the domain. He also made three trips to Nagasaki, taking particular note of reports of Russian expansion toward the south.
Connections
father: Okamura Gengohyoe Yoshimichi