TEACHING

The Ako Exercise

The year is 1701. The retainers attached to Akō domain have gathered in Akō castle to discuss what they should do in response to news from the capital that their master and daimyo, Lord Asano, has been forced to commit junshi for having attacked and injured Kira Yoshinaka, the senior Bakufu master of ceremony, in the shogun’s castle. As further punishment, the Bakufu has also ordered the arrest of Asano Daigaku, Lord Asano’s younger brother and presumptive heir, the seizure of Akō castle and the disbandment of the Asano house.  The domain will be transferred to a new daimyo.  Overnight the retainers have been stripped of their status and turned into masterless samurai or ronin.

The Bakufu ordered Asano to commit junshi and it confiscated his domain but it elected not to punish Kira in any way. Some observers believe that this violates the basic principle of kenka ryōseibai, the notion that both parties to a quarrel or fight were to be punished equally.  However, Bakufu officials seem to believe that since Kira did not draw his sword in response to Asano’s attack, he was not really a party to the fight. Hence, he should not be punished.

The Bakufu has dispatched a massive military force under the control of two Bakufu inspectors to seize control of the castle and confiscate the domain which will be assigned to a new daimyo. That force is now marching on the domain. Hence the retainers have to decide very quickly what to do and everyone agrees they should come to a consensus as they are stronger acting together.

The retainers number roughly 300 or so samurai, some wealthy, others low-ranking.

As retainers you have very limited information on what Lord Asano intended as he never confided in you. You have two key pieces of information.  First, your lord’s words when he attacked Kira were about some kind of grievance or grudge.  He shouted “Do you remember my grudge from these past days?” (Kono aida no ikon oboetaru ka?).  But you have no idea what Lord Asano meant.

Before he died, he sent you a final message, but it was deeply enigmatic. It read as follows: “I should have informed you about this matter in advance, but what happened today could not be helped, and it was impossible for me to let you know. You must wonder about the situation.”  In this way, there is much about Lord Asano’s actions that is simply unknown and you have to interpret what he intended. 

There are different rumors flying around Edo and now Akō domain. Some people say Lord Asano refused to pay a bribe so Kira humiliated him in public. Other say Kira, a sophisticated courtier who is also an expert on court ritual, insulted Lord Asano by calling him an uncouth country samurai. Others say Asano simply went mad (ranshin) and attacked in a rage. No-one knows the true reason for Asano’s actions.

The retainers have split into six separate factions. Each has a different idea about how the retainers as a collective body should respond. The faction are as follows:

• Radical faction (We must carry out Lord Asano’s wishes and launch an attack on Kira now)

• The junshi faction (We must commit junshi in the Asano family temple)

• Defend the Castle or rōjō  faction  (We must defend the castle against the Bakufu troops coming to confiscate the domain)

• House Restoration/Continuity faction (We must work to ensure that Asano Daigaku, our lord’s brother is allowed to succeed as the head of the Asano house)

• Abandon the domain faction (We must accept our new fate as ronin and leave the domain)

• The delayed revenge faction (We must kill Kira but we must wait months or even years till we have a good chance of actually succeeding)

Each of these factions has a different approach. They also have very different views and interpretations of what happened in the shogun’s castle. Some factions view Kira as the primary villain who deserves death. Other factions see the Bakufu as the main villain as Tokugawa officials produced a rushed, clearly flawed judgement that violated the basic principle of kenka ryōseibai, the notion that both parties to a quarrel or fight were to be punished equally. These factions believe that Kira was clearly a party to the fight (kenka).  Still other factions see Lord Asano as bearing the primary responsibility as he acted recklessly and stripped the retainers of their livelihood and status.

The Maritime Asia Exercise

In the early 1670s, the Dutch East India Company based in Batavia and the Zheng maritime network headquartered in Taiwan dominated the waters of East and Southeast Asia.  They were engaged in a ferocious struggle for commercial and military supremacy. Like two massive tectonic plates, the company and the Zheng collided at multiple points distributed widely across East and Southeast Asia. For rulers across the region, the presence of two maritime powers with ambitions to dominate the same markets presented opportunities. But the ongoing conflict also presented significant hazards as the Company and the Zheng network both possessed formidable naval resources and a readiness to use force to cut through potential difficulties.

The exercise is divided into three stages.  In each stage, the factions will confront a different set of problems and a different set of votes.

The factions are as follows:

●       Zheng maritime network

●       Dutch East India Company (VOC)

●       Ayutthaya (Siam)

●       Tokugawa Japan

●       Qing China

Note: The Dutch East India Company was referred to as the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie in Dutch.  Because of this, it was commonly referred to by its acronym as the VOC.  The kingdom of Ayutthaya is frequently known as Siam and roughly corresponds with modern day Thailand.

These powers can be further divided into three broad groups or factions. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The armed maritime powers

The Zheng (based in Taiwan)

The VOC (based in Batavia)
Strengths: formidable maritime and trading powers that can blockade the coast or attack shipping. Both organizations possess powerful fleets and engage regularly in maritime violence which they depict as a lawful act of war, that is not piracy. The VOC has developed a highly flexible justification for violence based on the work of Hugo Grotius and others.  The Zheng claim they are a state with an absolute right to use maritime violence.

Weaknesses: hybrid organizations with no conventional diplomatic standing. As unconventional political actors, they struggle with a lack of legitimacy. While the Zheng claim to be the rightful rulers of China, they are engaged in a struggle with the Qing who control the mainland and are sometimes condemned as pirates, rebels or bandits. While the Dutch claim they should be treated as representatives of what is effectively an Asian kingdom, they in fact represent a company based in a republic.  Despite their legal claims, the VOC are frequently derided as violent pirates who prey on peaceful commerce.

The continental agrarian powers

Qing China (based in Beijing)

Tokugawa Japan (based in Edo)

Strengths: wealthy markets that everyone wants access to, high prestige as East Asian superpowers, crucial regional players but only limited power to project their authority over the sea. China and the Qing emperor stands at the center of a large Sinocentric diplomatic order. Japan occupies a position at the center of a much smaller Japanocentric diplomatic order.

Weaknesses: huge armies but no real navies. Vulnerable to maritime blockades. The Qing have a further disadvantage in that the Zheng claim legitimacy as China’s rightful rulers. At the same time, the new Qing government has a weak hold over the mainland.  Because of this they have moved to relocate coastal populations to create a new maritime frontier against the Qing. The Tokugawa rule a stable political system but they’re not absolutist rulers and rely on high prestige to keep local lords (daimyo) in check. The Tokugawa have established a complex Japonocentric diplomatic order built around the shogun. Both regimes are susceptible to any loss of prestige.

The continental trading powers

Ayutthaya (Siam)

Advantages: Flexible polity heavily invested in long-distance commerce, willing to make compromises, open to trade, less focused on prestige, maneuverable and adaptable. Ideally wants to keep good relations with everyone to retain maximum access to markets.

Weaknesses: No navy capable of projecting power. Heavily reliant on long-distance trade with profits flowing directly to the court. Blockades are devastating. Wants to prevent any one maritime power from becoming dominant.

The Perry Exercise

An American expedition under the command of Commodore Perry has arrived in Japan in 1853 carrying a letter from the US president, Millard Fillmore. Perry has demanded that the shogun and the Tokugawa government (Bakufu) open up Japan. The Tokugawa government must promise protection to shipwrecked sailor, access to supplies and provisions and the right to trade. In effect, Perry has demanded the Tokugawa government give up its isolationist policies and open the country. The arrival of this expedition has sent shockwaves through Japan. Perry has sailed off but has promised to return with a much larger and more dangerous fleet. He wants a positive answer from the Bakufu and is prepared to use the threat of force to compel one. The Bakufu has taken the unprecedented step of sending out the president and Perry’s letters to all the daimyo asking them how they should respond to Perry’s demands.

The daimyo have split into five competing factions each with a different view as to how the shogun and the Bakufu should respond. The Bakufu has decided to bring everyone into one room to come to a single consensus view. The goal now is to discuss and debate in order to agree on a single strategy that the Bakufu can carry forward.

The daimyo have split into five competing factions:

1)      Open the Country. Key representative: Ii Naosuke. We should start sending merchant vessels and must reengage with global trade. Trade is natural and appropriate. We must develop western technology. The samurai must adapt to a new world ruled by Western technology.

2)      A Narrow Opening. Perry wants us to guarantee protection of shipwrecked sailors, permission to obtain supplies and permission to use Japanese ports for trade. We will allow the first two but deny the third, that is we will not open Japan to trade. In this way, we’ll defuse the conflict with Perry without making too many concessions.  Perry will be satisfied and he will leave.

3)      The Big Stall (domestic focus). We will simply drag out the negotiations until Perry gives in and leaves. We won’t say no to anything but equally we won’t say yes. When Perry runs out of supplies, he will have no choice but to leave. We simply don’t know if he will return and it may be that another European power like Britain or France arrives to offer us a better deal. In the meantime, we should focus on boosting Japan’s domestic economy via a series of targeted reforms. With a better domestic economy, we will be far better placed to resist any further incursions into our waters.

4)      The Long Game. We will make an expansive public show of accepting Perry’s demands but it will be nothing more than a front. We will aggressively build up Japan’s armies and navies with advanced weapons and technology imported from Europe and the United States in rapid space of time. This conflict will only be solved with war but we need to be prepared.

5)      The War Faction. Key representative: Tokugawa Nariaki. We must place our trust in war now. War will unify the country which is currently divided. Aggressive European or American expeditions will never settle with minor concessions. We must repulse them now and decisively. The samurai must return to their roots as a martial class.