Takahashi Deishu — The Third of the "Three Boats" Who Asked for Nothing
Three men are named together as the "three boats" of the end of the shogunate: Katsu Kaishu, Yamaoka Tesshu, and Takahashi Deishu. Deishu is the least known of them, and the one who asked for the least.
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Who Was Takahashi Deishu?
Deishu was a Tokugawa retainer and a master of the spear.
Three things define him.
A spearman. He inherited the Yamaoka line of sojutsu and taught at the Kobusho, the shogunate's own martial academy.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu's man. After the shogun returned power to the court, Deishu kept him on the path of submission and stayed with him through his confinement.
The man who sent Yamaoka Tesshu to Saigo. Tesshu, who did the groundwork for the surrender of Edo Castle, went at Deishu's recommendation.
He was born in 1835 and died in 1903.
Takahashi Deishu's House of Spearmen
Deishu was born into the Yamaoka, a family of spear masters, and was adopted into his mother's family, the Takahashi, whose name he took.
His elder brother Yamaoka Seizan was called a prodigy with the weapon — and in 1855 died young and suddenly.
The Yamaoka house then passed to Ono Tetsutaro, one of Seizan's students, who married Deishu's younger sister and took the Yamaoka name. He is the man known as Yamaoka Tesshu.
Deishu and Tesshu were therefore brothers-in-law — and they acted together for the rest of their lives.
Deishu's skill got him a post as an instructor at the Kobusho, the institution where the shogunate taught both traditional martial arts and Western military methods.
Takahashi Deishu Beside the Last Shogun
After the return of power to the court in 1867 and the defeat at Toba-Fushimi, Tokugawa Yoshinobu came back from Osaka to Edo and confined himself at Kanei-ji temple in Ueno.
The Tokugawa retainers split. One faction wanted to fight; the other wanted submission.
Deishu kept Yoshinobu on the second course. As head of a guard unit he controlled access to the shogun and prevented the war faction from getting hold of him.
Had Yoshinobu been pushed into fighting for Edo, the city would have burned. Measured that way, Deishu's role is not a small one.
Why Takahashi Deishu Recommended Yamaoka Tesshu
In March 1868 the new government's army closed on Edo.
Someone had to reach Saigo Takamori and negotiate — which meant walking alone into the enemy's camp.
Deishu is said to have wanted to go himself. He could not leave Yoshinobu's side, because he was the one holding the war faction back.
So he put forward his brother-in-law, Yamaoka Tesshu.
Tesshu rode to Sunpu, met Saigo Takamori face to face, and settled the terms. On that basis Katsu Kaishu held his own meeting with Saigo, and Edo Castle was surrendered without a battle.
All three men appear in that sequence, each at his own station. The "three boats" label came later, but it describes the arrangement accurately.
Why Takahashi Deishu Took Nothing From Meiji
After 1868 their paths separated.
Katsu Kaishu served the Meiji government and was made a count. Yamaoka Tesshu became an attendant to the Meiji emperor.
Deishu refused every office.
He declined the new government's approaches, spent a period near Yoshinobu after the former shogun moved to Shizuoka, and later lived quietly in Tokyo. He was not comfortably off. He lived by his calligraphy.
The name he took, Deishu, means "a boat made of mud" — a boat that sinks the moment it enters the water. Explanations of his choice vary, but it is widely read as a reference to the vessel he had stayed aboard.
When the Tokugawa boat went down, he did not get into another one.
Takahashi Deishu's Death and Grave
He died in Tokyo in February 1903, aged sixty-seven.
His grave is in Tokyo, near Yamaoka Tesshu's. The brothers-in-law ended up close together after all.
His calligraphy survives, and his standing as a calligrapher is now well established.
Takahashi Deishu Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1835 | Born into the Yamaoka, a family of spear masters |
| 1850s | Adopted into his mother's family, the Takahashi |
| 1855 | Yamaoka Seizan dies; his student Ono Tetsutaro marries Deishu's sister and succeeds to the Yamaoka house as Yamaoka Tesshu |
| 1860s | Teaches sojutsu at the Kobusho |
| 1868 | Holds Tokugawa Yoshinobu to submission against the war faction |
| Mar 1868 | Recommends Yamaoka Tesshu for the approach to Saigo Takamori |
| after 1868 | Declines all offices under the new government and lives in retirement |
| 1903 | Dies, aged 67 |
For the other "boats" see Katsu Kaishu; for the shogun he served, Tokugawa Yoshinobu.
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