Buhei Ogawa

2018/10/26

In December 1874 (Meiji 7), Buhei Ogawa of Naganuma Village (now Narita City, Chiba Prefecture), who had been frequently visiting the Chiba Prefectural Office to file petitions, happened to see "Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning)" at a night market while staying in Chiba Town (now Chiba City). Upon returning to his inn and reading it, he found that it explained the freedom and rights of the people in an easy-to-understand manner. Ogawa decided to visit Yukichi Fukuzawa, believing that if he asked this teacher for cooperation, he would surely lend a hand.

Ogawa immediately went to Tokyo and, after obtaining an introduction, knocked on the gate of the Fukuzawa residence in Mita on the evening of December 15. Welcomed by Fukuzawa himself and guided to a back room, Ogawa recounted the details of the situation. When Ogawa said, "I am uneducated, poor at writing, and a clumsy speaker, so I cannot fully convey what I am thinking to others," Fukuzawa, who had been listening in silence until then, responded, "No, that is not true. Shall I try saying what you just told me?" and proceeded to recount the events of the case, down to the months and years, without a single mistake.

The origins of the legal dispute for which Ogawa was struggling date back about two and a half years before this day.

Naganuma Village, where Ogawa lived, was a settlement of about 100 households and 500 people. The fields were narrow, and farming alone was not enough to make a living, so the villagers maintained their lives by fishing in the gourd-shaped Naganuma, which spanned 300 cho (about 300 hectares) before their eyes. Since the Edo period, the ownership of Naganuma belonged to Naganuma Village. However, as development around Naganuma progressed and the number of villages increased, those villages began to plot to make Naganuma available for joint use. Then, in the joint names of 15 villages, they filed a lawsuit with Inba Prefecture (which later merged with Kisarazu Prefecture to become Chiba Prefecture), requesting that Naganuma Village remove the sediment that had accumulated in the Naganuma waterways. The plan was that dredging the sediment, which caused flood damage, was the responsibility of Naganuma Village, and if they could not do it, it would be a joint project of all villages, making Naganuma common land (iriai-chi). The work ordered by the prefectural officials to Naganuma Village was a large-scale project requiring a total of 10,500 people, a scale that Naganuma Village could not possibly bear alone. The villagers repeatedly petitioned for the withdrawal of the order, but instead, five villagers were arrested. Furthermore, they were persuaded by officials who claimed the land would be returned to the village once the work was finished, and they eventually effectively acknowledged the government's confiscation of Naganuma. As a village official (murayogakari) of Naganuma Village, Ogawa had been visiting the prefectural office to reclaim Naganuma.

After hearing the story, Fukuzawa immediately agreed to help Naganuma Village and told Ogawa, "I will write the petitions and other documents for you. However, I cannot guarantee that we will definitely win this issue. Also, since these things tend to fizzle out halfway through, you must be determined to see it through to the end. If you are up for it, I will certainly lend you my strength."

The next day, Ogawa visited the Fukuzawa residence again and received a petition drafted by Fukuzawa and written by his disciple Takuzo Ushiba, which he submitted to the prefectural office. Separately, Fukuzawa himself took up his brush and wrote a letter to Yawara Shibahara, the Governor of Chiba Prefecture, inquiring whether the petition had reached his hands (dated December 25, 1874). The effect was immediate, and the prefectural office notified the village officials that the case would be inspected and settled early the following year.

However, spring came and summer passed, but there was no inspection. Ogawa went to Tokyo again to appeal to Fukuzawa. The draft petitions Fukuzawa wrote on behalf of the Naganuma villagers reached as many as 17 documents. In response, the officials at the counter pointed out minor details each time, forcing Ogawa to travel back and forth between Chiba and Mita many times. When Fukuzawa told him, "If they are going to be so difficult, tell them that these documents were written by Fukuzawa at your request," Ogawa and the others began to frequently mention Fukuzawa's name to the officials. Hearing this, Fukuzawa cautioned Ogawa in a letter (dated September 20, 1875) that revealing the inside story could cause things that would have gone well to fail.

On the other hand, Fukuzawa continued to support Naganuma Village from the sidelines, meeting directly with Governor Shibahara when he visited Tokyo to explain the circumstances of Naganuma and communicating through letters. Thanks to these efforts, on July 10, 1876 (Meiji 9), an order was issued by the Governor stating that the entire marsh would be leased to Naganuma Village for five years, provided they paid an appropriate rent. Although the government retained ownership of the marsh, the exclusive right of use returned to Naganuma Village, marking a temporary resolution.

When Ogawa went to Tokyo to report and rushed into the Fukuzawa residence, Fukuzawa was pounding rice at the time. It is said that he stopped the pestle and waved his hand towel tied around his head in joy.

With the Naganuma incident settled for the time being, the villagers wanted to repay Fukuzawa's efforts. The men made rope and the women spun thread and wove cotton to earn 227 yen, which they delivered to Fukuzawa. Fukuzawa was pleased by their sincerity but did not accept it. Instead, he added 3 yen to make it 230 yen and returned it to the village, saying, "Although you have obtained permission for a five-year lease of the marsh, you must reclaim its ownership if the opportunity arises in the future. You will need money for that, so it would be better to save this." Furthermore, Fukuzawa stated that the cause of the incident lay in the villagers' lack of education and that establishing a primary school to provide education was an urgent matter. He donated 500 yen to Naganuma Village as construction funds. Thus, the second primary school in the prefecture (Naganuma Primary School) was established.

For Fukuzawa, this cooperation with Naganuma Village unexpectedly became an opportunity to practice and prove the "martyrdom" he advocated in the seventh volume of "Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning)." In the seventh volume, Fukuzawa preached that what the people can do against government tyranny is not to oppose the government with force, but to "protect justice and sacrifice oneself"—that is, to advocate for what is right at the risk of one's life and press the government. Fukuzawa used the Western word "martyrdom" for this and wrote that the only person in history who practiced "martyrdom" and is not ashamed before the world is "none other than Sakura Sogoro."

Sakura Sogoro, whose real name was Sogo Kiuchi, was a village headman in the early Edo period. It is handed down that he appealed directly to the Tokugawa Shogun on behalf of villagers suffering from the heavy taxes of the feudal lord. Although he and his family were executed, his appeal was heard, and he saved many villagers. Naganuma Village is near Sogoro's birthplace, Kozu Village in the Sakura Domain (now Narita City, Chiba Prefecture). At the time of the incident, it is said that the village women made daily barefoot pilgrimages to the Sogo Reido sanctuary where Sogoro is enshrined. If the copy of "Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning)" that Ogawa bought was this seventh volume, the story would align perfectly and be quite interesting, though this is not certain.

Fukuzawa worried about Ogawa, who had been so busy with the Naganuma incident that he had no time to look after his home. During the case, Ogawa lost his eldest son, Sanzo, to illness, and his household finances became so strained that he ended up selling his land. Fukuzawa praised Ogawa as the "Second Sakura Sogoro" for working for the village at his own expense, but not all villagers in Naganuma were sympathetic toward Ogawa, who had neglected his own fields. Fukuzawa sent a letter to the Naganuma villagers (dated November 30, 1881) asking for unity of mind so that Ogawa could work for the village with peace of mind. Furthermore, for about four years starting from 1883, he invited Ogawa to Tokyo and had him stay at the Fukuzawa residence.

In September 1898 (Meiji 31), Fukuzawa, who had collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage, was recovering but still had difficulty speaking. He repeatedly uttered the sound "Na... Na..." When those around him asked, "Are you talking about Naganuma?" he nodded. When he said "Su... Su..." and they asked, "Is it Mitsubi Suzuki?" he also nodded. In other words, it was revealed that he meant to entrust the application procedures for the free transfer of Naganuma to Suzuki, a lawyer and graduate of the Juku. Thus, an application for transfer was filed based on the State-Owned Land, Forest, and Wilderness Transfer Law, and on March 29, 1900, permission for the free return of Naganuma was obtained. Twenty-five years had passed since Fukuzawa first became involved in the case.

When representatives of the villagers visited Fukuzawa to report, Fukuzawa also rejoiced, saying he felt as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted. He then set forth three articles for the villagers to observe in the future: to make the day of the return a commemorative day, to keep the documents of the incident in something like a small shrine to protect them from fire, and for the village to support Buhei Ogawa for the rest of his life.

The villagers tried to present fish caught in Naganuma to Fukuzawa, who would not accept any monetary reward. However, Fukuzawa did not like river fish and said that if they insisted on giving him something, homemade pickles would be good. From then on, they began delivering miso-pickled vegetables.

In "Fukuo Jiden" (The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa) published in 1899, there is no mention at all of the Naganuma incident or other events where Fukuzawa provided support behind the scenes. Perhaps he maintained his principle of not revealing the inside story until the very end.

Buhei Ogawa had two sons and one daughter. The son of his second son, who had been adopted into another family early on, ended up succeeding the Ogawa family. Surrounded by these descendants, Ogawa spent his final years in peace and ended his 86-year life on August 17, 1915 (Taisho 4).

The subsequent relationship between Naganuma and the Fukuzawa family is recorded in detail by Mr. Mitsuaki Kato in "Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press)" (March 2008 issue). Before writing this article, the author met with Mr. Fujio Ogawa, a great-great-grandson of Buhei Ogawa, in Naganuma and heard about the recent situation. The custom of visiting the Fukuzawa family continued even after Fukuzawa's death but ended in 2010 (Heisei 22). Currently, in September, the month of the autumnal equinox, officials from the Naganuma district visit Fukuzawa's grave at Zenpuku-ji Temple. Also, on the "Return Anniversary" of March 29, the custom of district officials and volunteers shouting three cheers of "Banzai" in front of the monument erected in 1918 continues. It is said that it used to be an important event for Naganuma, where the entire village would march from Naganuma Primary School (closed in 1959; Naganuma Nursery School is now at the site) to the monument while singing the "Naganuma Return Commemoration Song" to the sound of flutes and drums. Because the people of Naganuma have not forgotten the feeling that it is "thanks to Yukichi Fukuzawa" and have passed down the story of the Naganuma incident from generation to generation, the event continues even as times change significantly.

From before World War II through the post-war period, Naganuma was reclaimed through drainage in cooperation with neighboring villages that had once disputed its ownership. The Naganuma where Mr. Fujio played as a child, catching aquatic creatures, has disappeared, but beautiful and rich rice fields spread across the Naganuma area today.