Katsu Kaishū

Common card · No. 357205

Count Katsu Yasuyoshi (勝 安芳; March 12, 1823—January 21, 1899), born Katsu Yoshikuni (勝 義邦), best known by his nickname Katsu Kaishū (勝 海舟; Japanese pronunciation: [kaꜜ.tsɯ | kaꜜi.ɕɯː]), was a Japanese statesman, naval engineer and military commander in the 19th century, during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku 海舟書屋) by Sakuma Shōzan. He went through a series of given names throughout his life; his childhood name was Rintarō (麟太郎). He was often called Awa (安房) from his ceremonial title Awa-no-kami (安房守) during the late Tokugawa shogunate and later changed his name to Yasuyoshi after the Meiji Restoration. An advocate of modernization and westernization, Katsu was an influential figure during the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate (Bakumatsu) and subsequent Meiji Restoration. He eventually rose to occupy the position of commissioner (Gunkan-bugyō) in the Tokugawa navy and was a chief negotiator of...

Read on Wikipedia · Image published by 東洋文化協會 (The Eastern Culture Association), Public domain