was a Japanese

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

('' kangakusha'') of the late

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

and

Meiji Meiji, the romanization of the Japanese characters 明治, may refer to: Japanese history * Emperor Meiji, Emperor of Japan between 1867 and 1912 ** Meiji era, the name given to that period in Japanese history *** Meiji Restoration, the revolution ...

periods.

Biography

Oka Rokumon was born on the second day of the eleventh month of Tenpō 4 according to the traditional

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...

(12 December 1833 in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

). He was born into a '' buke'' family in

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of ...

. While he was still young he moved to

and studied at the , an educational institute under the auspices of the

shogunate , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

. He eventually became the director (舎長) of the institution. While a student there, he developed close friendships with several of his classmates, notably , , and . In late 1861, he travelled to

Kinki The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolit ...

, and while there, to help Keidō (who was not receiving a government salary), planned with Hanzan to establish a school in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. They called the school ''Sōshōkō-juku'' (双松岡塾), literally "Two Matsus and Oka School". The school became a meeting place for various figures associated with the '' sonnō-jōi'' movement, attracting negative attention from the authorities, and Oka was forced to shut the school down after less than a year. He was at this time ordered by his superiors in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

to perform reconnaissance work in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

(the seat of the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

and a hotbed of restorationist rebels). During the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

, he opposed the union of the domains of Mutsu and Dewa provinces, drawing the ire of the government, and was imprisoned. Following the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, he served in various government positions. After retiring early, he devoted himself to writing. In 1884 he visited China, writing a travel diary recounting his experiences, ''Kankō kiyū'' (観光記遊). He died on 18 February 1914. His grave is in

Yūtenji is a temple of the Jōdo-shū Buddhist sect in Nakameguro, Meguro, Tokyo, Nakameguro, Meguro, Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. History The temple was founded in 1718, the 3rd year of the Kyōhō era. After the 36th Buddhist monk of Zōjō-ji, Zōj ...

Meguro, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character ...

Names

''Rokumon'' was his

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

. His original given name was ''Tenshaku'' (天爵), and his

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

was ''Shibun'' (子文). He went by the name ''Keisuke'' (啓助) for a time, and changed his name to ''Senjin'' (千仭) and his courtesy name to ''Shin'i'' (振衣) at various times.

References

Works cited

* {{authority control Continental rōnin Japanese sinologists 1833 births 1914 deaths People of Bakumatsu People from Sendai Domain