Teito Monogatari:
The Tale of the Imperial Capital
Part 1: Great Spirit of Tokyo
Author: Hiroshi Aramata
Part 2: Nobuhiro Revived
Chapter 7: The Kantō Utopia Plan
It was April 3rd, 1907 (Meiji 40). Vibrant fireworks soared into the sky—pop, pop, boom. The Japanese flag fluttered in the pleasant spring breeze. It was a clear, sunny day.
Several hundred people gathered in the auditorium of an elementary school in Iwai. All eyes and ears were focused on an elderly man standing on the stage. Nearly all of Iwai's residents had come to this venue.
At the entrance, a large sign decorated with artificial flowers had been set up. It read: “Tokyo Ukigome Association—Lecture by Oda Kanshi—‘Tales of Taira no Masakado.’”
Despite being branded a traitor for many years, Taira no Masakado was revered as a divine personage in many circles. The passionate speech by the man who had devoted his life to restoring the honor of his deity captivated the audience.
Oda Kanshi published Studies on the National Treasure: Tales of Masakado, a book discussing the true achievements of Taira no Masakado based on the Chronicle of Taira no Masakado, in 1904 (Meiji 37). He established the Ushigome Association by relying on connections in the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. He lobbied the government for funding. Eventually, he succeeded in overturning the prevailing historical theory that Taira no Masakado was a traitor, and even presented the book he'd published to the Meiji Emperor.
This remarkable achievement won the enthusiastic applause of old Edo citizens, who were devoted followers of an ancient faith that venerated historical personages like Taira no Masakado. Oda Kanshi became a hero of culture in the Kantō region. Recently, he'd been inundated with requests to give lectures all over Japan. He'd traveled all the way to Shimōsa Province to deliver his speech today.
The lecture began at 10:00 a.m. Mr. Oda started by critically examining the absurd and baseless stories about Taira no Masakado that still circulated among historical researchers and everyday people. He then moved on to demonstrate, point by point, that his book and the Chronicle of Taira no Masakado provided a trustworthy depiction of the historical Taira no Masakado.
At noon, there was a break for lunch, and then the lecture continued at 1:00 p.m. Mr. Oda spoke about the achievements of Taira no Masakado in detail. He recounted the long and complicated process that led to Taira no Masakado's burial mound being designated as a national historic site and the grand memorial ceremony that was held there.
He finished speaking at 3:30 p.m. It was a lengthy lecture, but the audience had listened attentively throughout. When Mr. Oda stepped down from the podium, the hall erupted in thunderous applause.
The late Meiji period was a curious one for history and culture. Historical figures like Taira no Masakado were taken up as subjects to be rehabilitated. Other historical villains and traitors received similar treatment, but Taira no Masakado was at the forefront of this movement. Works such as Yamaji Aizan’s book about Ashikaga Takauji, an historically unpopular shogun, continued down the path that Oda Kanshi had made. The Buddhist monk Nichiren, whose teachings were a bit unorthodox, had long been denied the title "Great Teacher" that was given to other founders of Buddhist schools like Kōbō Daishi and Dengyō Daishi. Calls to grant Nichiren the title were growing stronger day by day.
Oda Kanshi was not simply a historian fighting against society's lack of understanding. Nor was he merely a passionate advocate for Taira no Masakado. He wanted to accomplish even more than that.
"It's good to be back in Shimōsa again," Oda Kanshi said. "I've missed it." He got into a prepared car, settling deeply into the seat. He then spoke to Takesaburō Inaba, the chairman of the Iwai Town Board of Education, who was a passenger in the same car.
“Chairman, I think the lecture was a great success, don't you think? I've been thinking about a major project I completed thirty years ago in Inbanuma, Chiba, risking my life in the process. Perhaps it was Taira no Masakado's guidance that brought me to that work. As a bit of entertainment until we reach our lodging, would you like to hear some stories from my past?”
“That sounds wonderful,” replied the chairman, his glossy mustache shining as he smiled and nodded.
"I live in the country now, but I once served in the Ministry of Finance," Oda Kanshi said. "I started working there in 1871 (Meiji 4). In 1874 (Meiji 7), I transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and settled at the Naitō Shinjuku Agricultural Experiment Station. While I was there, I began working on agricultural development in the Kantō region.
"Now, at about that time I was tasked with submitting recommendations as a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Agricultural Division. I created a land reclamation plan to transform the wastelands in the Kantō region into farmland. I argued that the best way to return prosperity to the region was not just to reclaim the wastelands, but to make some of our shallow lakes and inland seas into farmland as well."
This idea had come from Oda Kanshi's experiences in Wakamatsu Prefecture. While traveling through the prefecture, he came to the Tone River and saw the devastating flooding that Lake Inbanuma and Lake Kasumigaura caused every year.
"That experience reminded me of the grand and ambitious project plan of a certain great historical figure," Oda Kanshi said.
“Oh? Whose plan was that?” His listener was still smiling, encouraging the story to continue.
Oda Kanshi said, “Satō Nobuhiro's. He was a great economic thinker of the late Edo period. I was thinking specifically of the treatise The Chronicle of the Inner Ocean."
"Yes, the name is familiar to me," the chairman said. "If I recall correctly, Satō Nobuhiro was a scholar who studied various methods of national administration, leaned deeply into Shinto religious principles, and ran into a bit of trouble with the shogunate. Didn't he write that strange book, A Secret Plan for the Unification of the World? He proposed some truly odd ideas about the creation of the universe and the formation of the earth.”
"That's the man," Oda Kanshi said. "When I was young, I read his posthumous works and was greatly inspired by his ideas. The Satō family devised many secret techniques and teachings in mining, agriculture, and water transportation.”
"Satō Nobuhiro devoted his life to enriching the land and helping the poor. Fair and proper administration and management was his life's work. The Chronicle of the Inner Sea focuses specifically on flood control. He planned a project to reclaim land by filling in Tokyo Bay with earth excavated from shallower waterways. This would divert the flood-prone Tone River. After the land was reclaimed, drainage ditches could be built so that water would drain out of the swampy marshes and into the ocean, creating vast areas where rice could be planted. The drains themselves would improve water transportation and the excavated soil would be rich and loamy. The plan had multiple benefits, you see.
"Credit for this plan is given to Taira no Masakado in the text.
"Later, the Tokugawa shogunate tasked Tanuma Okitsugu and Mizuno Tadakuni with this difficult project, but each attempt was forced to halt midway. After all, the plan required enormous funds. It is understandable that these efforts failed. However, Nobuhiro possessed an absolute trump card to ensure the success of this grand project: sacred stone."
"Sacred stone?" the chairman asked.
"Yes," Oda Kanshi said. "It is a legendary construction material that was first used by Emperor Wu of China. In ancient times, when people tried to build embankments to hold back seawater or river water, the currents were so strong that repeated repairs had to be made. The only way to avoid this was the use of human sacrifices."
"How terrible!" the chairman said. "People of the past believed that sacrificing people would prevent damage to their embankments?"
"Strangely enough, human sacrifice supposedly worked, according to the Chinese records. We have similar examples of this in Japan's history, too. In ancient Japan when the Nagara Embankment was constructed in Naniwa, Tsuno Province, human sacrifices were made for the purpose of strengthening the construction.
"But let's return to China for a moment. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Yellow River flooded, breaking the embankment for a stretch of more than eight miles. Repairs to the embankment took years, and progress was very slow. The Emperor decided that human sacrifices must be used. He grieved and prayed to the gods for a way to avoid sacrificing his own people. A spirit appeared to him and told him that sacred stone could be used in place of human sacrifices, and that the flooding would cease.
"To make sacred stone, one must find heavy stones and tie them to pine trees with their needles still attached to them. The branches and leaves should face the direction from which the waves come, and the stones should be sunk in a row. This would block the waves, allowing an embankment to be built on the inside. Emperor Wu used sacred stone and was able to repair the embankment without sacrificing human lives."
"There aren't many large stones on the coast in Kantō," the chairman said.
"That is exactly what makes Satō Nobuhiro's plan so ingenious," Oda Kanshi said. "He thought that if you drove pine trees with their branches and leaves still attached into the seabed, they could serve as substitutes for sacred stone. They would function as wave-breakers and would support the embankments.
"Even if only Lake Inbanuma was converted into farmland, the economic impact would be considerable. Satō Nobuhiro had completed this plan in the fourth year of the Tenpō era (1833). When I saw Lake Inbanuma for myself, I was immediately convinced that his plan would work and that it should be implemented. I advocated for land reclamation over simple land development.
"In 1880 (Meiji 13), I presented the plan laid out in Satō Nobuhiro's The Chronicle of the Inner Sea to Lord Masayoshi Matsukata. I secured approval to begin the land reclamation project, starting with Lake Inbanuma. Then I visited Shibusawa Eiichi, who is also dedicated to promoting Japanese industry. With his support, I arranged for Satō Nobuhiro's vision to be realized as a government project.
"By 1889 (Meiji 22), we had received unofficial approval from the authorities. Baron Shibusawa introduced me to the brilliant Dutch engineer Johannis de Rijke, who conducted a survey for the reclamation of Lake Inbanuma. We received a report stating that the best method would be to build a sluice gate between the lake and the Tone River to regulate the water level.
"However, this sluice gate plan conflicted with the authorities’ views of the project. The project I'd worked on for more than ten years was put on hold and then canceled well before completion.
"Thus, my dream of turning Tokyo into a rich rice-producing region was crushed. I still believe that Satō Nobuhiro's plan would work. I regret that project's cancellation every day."
“I see," the chairman said. "That was certainly unfortunate. These days, the Imperial Capital Renovation Plan is a hot topic. It seems that construction is proceeding quite rapidly. It is interesting to learn that Satō Nobuhiro was planning such large-scale changes to Tokyo even during the Edo period." As he warmed to his subject, his eyes widened and his gestures became more expansive. "I see no reason for the Meiji government to reinvent the wheel, as they seem to be doing. They should implement the older generation's plans for improving the city. Those thinkers anticipated our wars with China and Russia. Renovating the city in the ways they wished would reshape Japan's history."
Oda Kanshi nodded in agreement. "Mr. Chairman, I have something interesting to show you." He gestured to a student who was sitting in the car with them. "Could you bring out your copy of The Outline of Family Learning?"
The student sitting in the front seat searched through his bag and pulled out a thick, brown-covered book.
Oda Kanshi accepted the book from the student and lightly tossed it to the Chairman of the Board of Education.
“This is a book called Satō Nobuhiro's Outline of Family Learning. It was published by the Ushigome Association in November of 1906 (Meiji 39). I am the editor-in-chief of the Ushigome Association. As you can see, my association is not solely devoted to the task of clearing Taira no Masakado's name. It is also our mission to inform the public of the grand ideas of the past, especially the ideas of Satō Nobuhiro. He was a great man."
The Chairman of the Board of Education flipped through the book. The table of contents was overwhelming to him. There were a number of difficult and obscure titles listed: On the Theory of the Creation and Nurturing of Heaven and Earth, Main Treatise on Agricultural Policy, Records of the Pillar of Heaven, Secret Records of the Transmission of Lineage, and Secret Strategies to Confuse the World.
“Lord Nobuhiro passed away in Edo in the third year of the Kaei era (1850) at the age of eighty-two. That was about sixty years ago. After his death, his family line unfortunately came to an end. Nobuhiro himself was posthumously awarded the fifth administrative rank in the Imperial Court in 1882 (Meiji 15). He is entombed with his teacher, Hirata Atsutane, at Yataka Shrine in Akita. His wife and his nephew Yonejirō fell into poverty, eventually becoming dependent on others for support.
"I consulted with people like Mr. Shibusawa, Lord Matsukata Masayoshi, and Nitobe Inazō, and we managed to publish The Outline of Family Learning two years ago to help Yonejirō restore the Satō family. This book is a symbol of the movement to restore Lord Nobuhiro’s honor.
"Now then, Mr. Chairman, could you please turn to the last section of that book?”
At his request, the Chairman turned the book's final section.
“That’s it—Secret Strategies to Confuse the World, right? Lord Nobuhiro describes a method to reorganize all of Japan, renew its political and defense systems, and make Japan the leading nation in the world. That is what the Secret Strategies to Confuse the World is about.”
“N-no way, Mr. Oda!” The Chairman of Education broke into a cold sweat.
“It’s true. By strengthening the country and its military, we will conquer all the nations of the world, establish our Emperor as its ruler, and end hardship and suffering for everyone. Satō Nobuhiro discussed a plan to reform Japan for this purpose, proposing to rename Edo as Tokyo and position it as the headquarters for Japan's overseas expeditions.”
The Chairman of Education read the passage titled “Tokyo” with some trepidation.
Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor should change his residence to Tokyo and remain here permanently. The Kantō region is known for its many wild rice fields. The soil is fertile and the water is sweet, making it excellent for agriculture and livestock. The region already has a good reputation. Minamoto no Yoritomo first established his rule here, which continued for three generations of the Minamoto clan and nine generations of the Hōjō clan. During this time, the population gradually increased, the fields were greatly developed, and the land became prosperous—words cannot describe the scope of the change. However, after the Shōkei and Kenmu eras (about 1332 to 1338), Kantō fell into great disorder. The feudal lords fought for supremacy, battles continued for 270 years, the people were scattered, and fields everywhere became desolate...
"Mr. Oda, is this text suggesting that Japan only prospered when the capital was in the Kantō region?"
“That’s right. That’s why Satō Nobuhiro proposed moving the capital to Edo. He wanted to rename the city Tokyo, reclaim Inbanuma Lake, and create prosperity in the region. He wanted to do all of this so that Japan could establish a stronghold for world domination.”
“I am astonished, Mr. Oda,” the Chairman of Education murmured as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Hahaha. I would like to keep this confidential, but I am secretly preparing something that could be called the The Kantō Utopia Plan.”
“The Kantō Utopia Plan?”
“Excuse me, excuse me. ‘Utopia’ is the name of an ideal country proposed by a man named Thomas More from England. It doesn’t exist in this world yet, but you can think of it as a paradise on earth that will one day be realized.
"This grand plan to reclaim the Kantō region and move the imperial capital there all started with Taira no Masakado. Minamoto no Yoritomo inherited his aspirations, which continued to be realized through the will of Tokugawa Ieyasu and persisted all the way to the Meiji era. As Satō Nobuhiro said, Japan will flourish and become a world leader only by moving the capital to the Kantō region. Even the story The Legend of the Eight Dog-Warriors of the Satomi, I believe, is a major literary embodiment of the Kantō Utopia concept.”
Oda paused, reached into his pocket, and took out a letter.
“Chairman of Education, this is a letter I recently received from my esteemed friend Shibusawa Eiichi. What do you think is written in it? Right now, the government is proceeding with Imperial Capital Renovation Plan. A secret council is being convened, and I have been strongly urged to attend the meeting. Of course, I will participate. I also intend to present Satō Nobuhiro's Tokyo Imperial Capital Plan. You may not know this, but at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, the Minister of Internal Affairs read Satō Nobuhiro's writings and submitted a petition to His Majesty the Emperor to rename Edo as Tokyo. From the very moment Tokyo was named, it became the only place where Satō Nobuhiro's dream could be realized. Tokyo is destined to become the imperial capital of the world, don’t you think?”
The car carrying Mr. Oda stopped at the entrance of the inn where they would stay that night.
The vast plain of Shimōsa, home of the dreams of Taira no Masakado, Satō Nobuhiro, and the the Eight Dog Warriors of Satomi, was swathed in twilight colors.
Oda got out of the car and gazed out at the Kantō region at dusk. Isn’t Kantō the dream setting for an empire? he thought.
The sun shone gold on the Inland Sea as it set in the distance.
Translator's Notes
関東: Kantō is the region of Japan consisting of Tokyo and surrounding prefectures.
Kōbō Daishi (Kūkai) and Dengyō Daishi (Saichō) were pivotal Japanese Buddhist monks of the Heian period who, despite studying in China together briefly and founding major Buddhist traditions (Shingon and Tendai, respectively), had a complex, sometimes rivalrous, relationship as they established distinct esoteric paths in Japan, both becoming legendary figures revered as "Daishi" (Great Teacher).
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