ABSTRACT
Katsu Kaishu and Yokoi Shonan were major advocates of parliamentary (kogi seitai) government. Between 1862 and 1864, they were at the core of a group of reformers that attempted to bring about a new political order, centered on the establishment of an assembly that would represent the views of daimyo, ranking samurai, and wealthy merchants and farmers. Katsu Kaishu, a young expert in western military science, was among those invited to present their views. His social standing was relatively low: he was a bannerman (hatamoto) assigned the kobushingumi ranks of normally unemployed Tokugawa retainers, with an income of only forty bales (hyo) of rice. In an argument similar to that advocated independently by Katsu Kaishu that same year, Shonan was highly critical of the Tokugawa political system. The bakufu’s concern with maintaining and strengthening its own prestige slighted the nation.
