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Tsunoda Tadayuki | |
|---|---|
| 角田 忠行 | |
 Photograph of Tsunoda Tadayuki | |
| Born | 1834 |
| Died | 1918(1918-00-00) (aged 83–84) |
| Other names | Yonegawa Shinanō (米川 信濃) |
| Occupation | Priest |
Tsunoda Tadayuki (角田 忠行; 1834–1918) was a Japanese scholar ofkokugaku and aShinto priest.
Tsunoda Tadayuki was born in 1834 in the remote village of Nagadoro (now within the city ofSaku,Nagano Prefecture), the second son of Tsunoda Tadamori (角田 忠守), akannushi of the local Chikatsu Shrine. Additionally, his father served as a tutor to theNaitōdaimyo ofIwamurada Domain and an instructor at thedomain school, theTatsudōkan (達道館). Little is known of his early life and childhood.
In 1855, he absconded from his domain and travelled toEdo in order to study under themitogaku theoristFujita Tōko. Around that time, he formally became a disciple of the kokugaku theologianHirata Kanetane, heir to the legacy ofHirata Atsutane.[1]
Later, in 1863, Tsunoda was one of a group ofanti-foreign extremists who carried out theAshikaga Statue Decapitation Incident [ja] atTōji-in in the vicinity ofKyoto. He was thereafter hunted by shogunate spies and hid for several years in the residence ofMatsuo Tase [ja], a fellow Hirata disciple, in the Ina Valley of theTenryū River.
In 1867, with the imminent outbreak of theBoshin War, Tsunoda came out of hiding and, under the assumed name "Yonegawa Shinanō", entered into the service ofSawa Tamekazu [ja]. When Sawa was appointed governor-general of Northern Japan within the revolutionary Imperial Army, Tsunoda served as liaison with theKubota Domain and was involved in that domain's defection from the shogunate.
Alongside many other Hirata disciples, Tsunoda attempted to enter into political service after the conclusion of the war. However, theprogressive establishment, fearing that Hirata primitivism would obstruct thenational modernization program, sought to expel Hirata influence from the government. As a result of this, Tsunoda was dispatched to serve as a provincial shrine priest and thereby removed from direct involvement in national affairs.
Shrines to which he was attached includedHirota,Shimogamo, and finallyAtsuta Shrine where he served as high priest. He served in that capacity until his retirement in 1914.
To the end of his life Tsunoda despised all things Western, and made a point of never wearing a single piece of Western clothing. Only once, on the occasion of an audience withthe Emperor, was an exception made for asuit.[2]
Tsunoda, under the fictional nameKureta Masaka (暮田 正香), is a major character depicted inShimazaki Tōson's epic novelBefore the Dawn, first published in 1929.
