| 会津脱出の護衛が小栗顕彰のはじまり Escorting the exodus to Aizu was the Beginning of Oguri Commendation |
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| 1899年五月、小栗上野介没後一三〇周年式典が行われ小寺知事は、 かつてワシントンのウィラードホテルに泊ったとき、一三八年 前に上野介ら遣米使節一行が滞在した絵が掲示されていて感銘を受けた、と挨拶。 「きょうご臨席の沢田秀男横須賀市長は自治省に入ったときの先輩で、その後転任されるのを上野駅へ見送りに行き、ずいぶんきれいな奥さんだなあ、と思った」と会場を沸かせ、沢田夫人が恥ずかしそうに下を向く場面となる。 次に立った沢田市長は「あのころ小寺さんは紅顔の美青年で……」 とお返しがあって、いっそう和やかな式典となった。 1899 May, a ceremony was held to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the death of Kozukenosuke Oguri. Gunma Prefectoral Governor Mr. Hiroyuki Kodera said in his speech that when he stayed at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., he was impressed by the picture of the Japanese delegation to the U.S., including Kozukenosuke Oguri, that stayed there 138 years ago. Then he said, "Yokosuka City Mayor Mr. Hideo Sawada, who is here today, was my senior when I joined the Ministry of Home Affairs. One day, I went to Ueno Station to see him off at his new post and I thought how beautiful his wife was," which excited the audience and caused Mrs. Sawada look down in embarrassment. Mayor Sawada, standing up next, replied, "In those days, Mr. Kodera was a beautiful young man with rosey cheeks...," making the ceremony even more relaxing. |
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On leap April 6, 1868, Kozukenosuke Oguri was killed in Gonda Village (today's Kurabuchi Village). Three days earlier, Kozukenosuke, sensing the unsettled situation, asked village official Sanzaemon Nakajima and others to evacuate and protect three women, his pregnant wife Michiko, his mother, and his adopted son Mataichi's fiancee. Sanzaemon and other villagers formed a convoy of about 30 people and began a hasty journey to Aizu, away from public view. They went from Sakaue Village (today's Agatsuma Town) to Naganohara and Kunimura Village to further prepare for their journey, and then from Nozoriike Pond to a steep mountain road that winds around the middle of Saburyu Mountain, where cars cannot pass even today. After much effort, they traveled from Akiyamago to Tokamachi and Niigata. Meanwhile, two members in the convoy, who worried about lack of travel expenses, returned to Gonda village from Tokamachi to raise money, but they could not raise as much as they had hoped. Nevertheless, they gathered a little money and followed the convoy again to Aizu via Numata and Oze, joining them on the way. The convoy crossed more mountains and rivers from Niigata to Aizu, where
they were welcomed at the residence of Chikara Yokoyama, a feudal lord.
In the Aizu Boshin War that started soon after, many members of the convoy
joined the Aizu army and fought, and two young men died in the war. |
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小栗忠高の墓 (新潟市西堀通り・法音寺） 道子夫人一行はこの墓にお参りした後､追われるように会津へ向かった。 写真は大正２年９月14日に参詣した大隈重信夫妻。わきの綾子夫人は上野介の従兄妹で、幼少時に兄三枝守富とともに小栗家で育てられた恩があった。 Grave of Tadataka Oguri (Hoh-onji Temple, Nishibori Street, Niigata City) After visiting the grave, Mrs. Michiko Oguri and her party left for Aizu as if being chased. The photo shows Mr. Shigenobu Okuma (2nd from left) and his wife Ayako (4th from left) who paid their respects on September 14, 1913. Mrs. Ayako was a cousin of Kozukenosuke Oguri and was raised in the Oguri family with her brother Moritomi Saegusa when they were children. Therefore, she owed a debt of gratitude to Tadataka Oguri. |
| 会津戦争さ中に避難先で生まれた唯一の遺児国子と夫人らを守って年を越し、 明治二年春に東京から静岡まで送り届けて、中島らは村へもどった。乞食同然 の姿であったという。さらに中島らは館林へ出向いて、東山道総督による首実検 のあと埋められていた上野介の首を法輪寺からひそかに盗み出し、東善寺裏山の 胴体と一所にした。 「小栗上野介はどういう人柄か」という質問をよく受ける。それを憶測で語る より、夫人らを守って会津へ行き、その任を全うした村人の行いを知っていただ くことが、上野介の人柄を理解していただくことにつながると考えている。 Sanzaemon Nakajima and his fellows spent the rest of the year protecting Mrs. Michiko Oguri and Kuniko, Kozukenosuke's only child, who had been born in an evacuation shelter during the Aizu War. In the spring of 1869, they took the Oguri family to Tokyo, then to Shizuoka and returned to Gonda Village. At the time, they were said to have looked like beggars. After that, Nakajima and his group went to Tatebayashi and secretly stole Kozukenosuke Oguri's head from Horinji Temple, where it had been buried after an inspection by the governor of Tosando, and placed it with his torso on the mountain behind Tozenji Temple. I am often asked a question, "What kind of person was Kozukenosuke Oguri?" Rather than speculating about the character of Oguri, I believe that understanding the actions of the villagers who went to Aizu to protect his wife and others and fulfilled their duties will lead to a better understanding of Oguri's character. |
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一三〇周年式典は倉渕村小栗上野介顕彰会が主催して行われたが、村における
顕彰の始まりは、たまたま小栗家の領地だったという縁で会津への夫人脱出を護衛
した村人の無償の行いからと思う。群馬県民としても誇るべきことといえよう。 The 130th anniversary ceremony was hosted by the Kurabuchi Village Kozukenosuke Oguri Memorial Society. The beginning of honoring Kozukenosuke Oguri can be attributed to the free act of the villagers who escorted Oguri's wife on her escape to Aizu, only because Gonda Village (present-day Kurabuchi Village) happened to be the domain of the Oguri family. This is something that the people of Gunma Prefecture should be proud of. In late September of this year, the Governor Mr. Kodera and the Mayor Mr. Sawada, together with the Kurabuchi Village mayor, requested NHK to dramatize the Kozukenosuke Oguri story. We will have to wait a few years to see if the dramatization will be successful. However, the Gonda villagers, who made the arduous journey to Aizu out of a sense of righteousness and a desire not to leave the matter unattended, are probably the most pleased with the progress that has been made so far in the honoring activities. （上毛新聞「オピニオン21」1999年12月28日掲載） |
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| 関連ページ ■小栗上野介の顕彰活動：会津脱出から現在までの顕彰活動 ■会津へ逃れた小栗夫人 ■会津脱出の「歴史の道」秋山郷への山旅（画像） ■夫人護衛の苦難味わう・秋山郷へ（ﾘﾝｸ） ■「小栗上野介と会津」を読んで（寄稿） |
[Related Paged] ■ Activities in Honor of Kozukenosuke Oguri: Hornoring activities from Mrs. Michiko Oguri's escape to Aizu to the present ■ Mrs. Michiko Oguri who fled to Aizu ■ Mountain trip to Akiyamago along the "Road of History" (photos) ■ Tracing the hardships of escorting Oguri's wife to Akiyamago (Link) ■ Reading "Kozukenosuke Oguri and Aizu" (contributed article) |
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