[献芹微衷] / Maritime Defense Proposal

Tokizō Matsumoto was a Confucian scholar during the latter half of the Edo period, and head of the Hachiōji sennin dōshin (junior officials in Hachiōji). An advocate of maritime defense, he wrote this book in 1837 and presented it to Nariaki Tokugawa, the lord of Mito domain. Matsumoto was alarmed by the shōgunate’s response to Russia’s southward expansion and Britain’s demand for trade, and he insisted on imitating Western countries by building large ships and artillery, and to permit trade with Russia and Britain. In addition, he describes Ryukyu along with the Ezo region as being the sauyoku (left and right wings) of Japan. Matsumoto also insists in the book that in order to protect the coastal waters of Ryukyu from a maritime defense point of view, Satsuma ought to send Western ships two to three times a year to the Ryukyu Islands, patrol each island, and prevent Westerners from entering the area.