Egawa Hidetatsu

Self-portrait by Egawa Hidetatsu

Egawa Hidetatsu ( Japanese 江川 英 龍 , also known as: Egawa Tarōzaemon ( 江川 太郎 左衛 門 ); * June 23, 1801 ; † March 4, 1855 ) was a Hatamoto and Japanese military official for coastal defense in the service of Bakufu , who opened the opening early of the country advocated.

biography

Egawa Hidetatsu, whose nickname was Tannan ( 坦 庵 ), followed his father's death into the position of Daikan of Nirayama in the Izu province . He had already learned Dutch in his youth .

He studied artillery under Takashima Shuhan . In 1839 he accompanied Torii Yozo on an inspection tour through several provinces. He then wrote a detailed report on the state of coastal defense at the time. Egawa later set up a foundry and a shooting range for cannons.

After the appearance of Commodore Perry , who was to force the opening of the country on behalf of the US government, he was taken into service by the daimyo of Saga . Egawa provided for the establishment of a useful artillery defense through forts for the port of Nagasaki . He was also involved in building a fort in Shinagawa in Edo Bay . In 1853 he worked as a commissioner for coastal defense. Even at this early stage, he was one of the few Bakufu officials who advocated the opening of the country.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Egawa surname, Hidetatsu the first name.