Hirayama Seisai

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Hirayama Seisai

Hirayama Seisai (平山省斎, March 19, 1815–May 22, 1890), was a Bakumatsu-era bureaucrat of hatamoto rank, serving as Magistrate of Foreign Affairs (1866-67). After the Meiji Restoration he was rusticated to Shizuoka, but later was rehabilitated to become an important Shinto official in the new government during the Great Promulgation Campaign (1872-1884). After the failure of the campaign, he started Shintō Taiseikyō, a new religion within the category of sectarian Shinto, and also served as the first Superintendent (kanchō) of Ontake-kyō. His name was Yoshitada (敬忠), and Seisai (省斎) is his sobriquet.

Early life[]

His father was Kurooka Katsuensai, an instructor in swordsmanship (kendō) for the Miharu Domain. At the age of 20 he went to Edo, staying at the home of his uncle (father's younger brother) Takemura Shichizaemon, who was the chief of a guild of scribes. He studied Chinese learning and Kokugaku under Asaka Konsai, a scholar of the Cheng–Zhu school, who also taught Yoshida Shōin, Iwasaki Yatarō, Takasugi Shinsaku, Oguri Kozukenosuke, and others who became influential. In about 1850, he was adopted by the bakufu official Hirayama Gentaro (平山源太良),^[1] which opened up the prospect of a career in the bakufu.

Political career with the Bakufu[]

In 1853, when Commodore Perry arrived in Edo Bay, Seisai was placed on the reception committee, in the capacity of a military police inspector (okachi metsuke). On this occasion, he tailed an American crew member named Pittinger who was wandering around the Kawasaki area, and sent him back to his ship. The same year, he was attached to the party of Hori Toshihiro, an official governing Ezo, and was stationed at Minmaya, Aomori, on the northern tip of Honshu. He was suddenly sent to Hakodate, which was on Perry's list of places to be opened to Americans, and joined the party arguing against this.

In 1855, he was sent to Shimoda as part of the Bakufu presence prior to the arrival of Townsend Harris in July 1856. In 1857 he was assigned to the Bansho Shirabesho, where Western books were vetted, studied, and translated. Later that year he served under Mizuno Tadanori in Nagasaki, where revisions to the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia were being negotiated.

However, in the dispute over who would succeed Tokugawa Iesada in 1858, Seisai supported the Hitotsubashi faction. When the Iemochi faction won, they purged the losing faction, Seisai was rusticated to Kōfu. He was pardoned in 1862, and in 1865 assigned to guard the "Second Moat" perimeter of Edo Castle. In 1866, during the Second Chōshū expedition, he was detailed to ensure the cooperation of samurai from the Kokura Domain, but instead they burned down Kokura Castle. The Bakufu system was falling apart.

When Tokugawa Yoshinobu became shogun on August 29, 1866, Seisai became the shogun's liaison with Léon Roches, the French Ambassador. He accompanied Tokugawa Akitake, the shogun's brother, to the Exposition of 1867 in Paris. Later that year he was promoted to Wakadoshiyori and Magistrate of Foreign Affairs (Gaikoku Sō Bugyō 外国惣奉行). After Bakufu forces were roundly defeated at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi at the end of January 1868, Seisai stubbornly continued to advocate resistance against the pro-Imperial forces, and when they were ultimately victorious, he was rusticated to Shizuoka and kept under house arrest.

Career in State Shinto[]

While under house arrest in Shizuoka, Seisai opened a school of Chinese studies. When he regained in freedom in 1870, he became active in religious affairs.^[1] When the Great Promulgation Campaign (taikyō senpu undō) began, he obtained registration as a kyōdōshoku (教導職: doctrinal guidance official; variously translated as "national preceptor," or "Shinto evangelist") in 1872. In 1873 he was made daigūji (senior high priest) at Hikawa Jinja (the ichinomiya of Musashi Province), and from 1875 he served as priest at Hie Jinja in Nagatachō. By 1879 he had advanced within the Great Promulgation Campaign to the highest office among preceptors, the Senior Prefect of Instruction (daikyōsei).

In 1879, Saisei formed the Taisei Church (Taisei Kyōkai 大成教会) as an organization to raise the public's consciousness of Shinto doctrines. In 1882，Taisei Kyōkai became independent under the name of Shintō Taiseikyō with Seisai as the leader (kanchō). Meanwhile, the Great Promulgation Campaign devolved into the Enshrinement Dispute (祭神論争) 1880-1881, with pro-Ise and pro-Izumo factions.

See also[]

• Shinto sects and schools
• State Shinto

References[]