, better known as , was a Japanese master of gunnery and scholar of

kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Edo period. scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of ...

. He established the of

hōjutsu / Teppojutsu (鉄砲術), the art of gunnery, is the martial art of Japan dedicated to Japanese black powder firearm usage. Hōjutsu is still practiced today, often with antique matchlock firearms such as the ''tanegashima (gun), tanegashima''. ...

Biography

Sakamoto Tenzan was born the eldest son of , a

retainer Retainer may refer to: * Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth * RFA Retainer (A329), RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship * Retainers in early China, a social group in early China Employment * Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer p ...

of the

Naitō clan is a Japanese samurai kin group. The clan claims its descent from Fujiwara no Hidesato. The Naitō became ''daimyōs'' during the Edo period.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du J ...

and master of the of gunnery. In 1767, when he was 22 years old, Sakamoto traveled to

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 ...

to study under the instruction of . In 1778, Sakamoto published an advanced design for a portable

swivel gun A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...

called a . In his later years, Sakamoto investigated measures for

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

and

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

. Earning the ire of his colleagues, he was ordered into

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

for several years before being released. He died in 1803.

Family

Sakamoto's grandson, , defended

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Layout Th ...

from

Ōshio Heihachirō was a Japanese philosopher, revolutionary, writer, and ''yoriki'' who led the in Osaka. Despite his privileged status, he led a brief uprising against the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life Ōshio was born as the eldest son in a samurai family ...

's army of the poor in 1837. His granddaughter, , was the stepmother of Shimazaki Masaki, father of noted author Shimazaki Tōson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakamoto, Tenzan 1745 births 1803 deaths 18th-century Japanese people Kokugaku scholars Gunsmiths People from Nagano Prefecture Japanese designers

Biography

Family

See also

References