ABSTRACT
THE roju Mizuno Tadakuni stayed late at the shogunal palace at Yedo on April 1, 1837. He normally disposed of current government business between ten o’clock in the morning and two o’clock in the afternoon, with unrivalled speed; but that day alarming news had arrived from Osaka; the council was deliberating. On March 23, Oshio Heihachiro, former horse-guard from Osaka, had incited a revolt: the town was burning, the shogunal police and army were outflanked. What steps could be taken at Yedo? The courier had taken eight days to bring the dispatch announcing the disaster: the roju’s orders would reach Osaka with the same delay. The Bakufu could do nothing but hope for the return of peace to the great western market.
