一ヶ月程前、五箇会という隠岐の島町の一地域の集まりがあり、招待を受けその祝宴に出席した。冒頭、挨拶の中で、水若酢神社（みずわかすじんじゃ）（島根県隠岐郡隠岐の島町郡にある神社。式内社（名神大社）、隠岐国一宮。旧社格は国幣中社で、現在は神社本庁の別表神社。神紋は「菊」）の宮司は、今日は隠岐騒動の犠牲者１４名の弔い神事があり、この会に出席できない、との紹介があった。
エッと思った。隠岐騒動は無血革命であったはず？。１４名の戦死者、エッそんな事があったのか。隣に座っていた御仁に、「隠岐騒動で１４名もの戦死者があったの・・？」、質問した。すると、多分・・人数までは知らないが何人かは亡くなっているはず、と云う。以後暫くその人と、隠岐騒動についての話しとなった。その後、確か隠岐騒動の本があったはず、もし家にあったら送るは・・と云う。それはありがたい。是非読みたい、別に本の題名さえ教えて頂ければ、アマゾンででも取り寄せるけど・・、等と話していた。すると一週間もたたぬ間に、送られて来たのが、「島もゆ、隠岐騒動」（松本侑子）。
これは知る人ぞ知る、知らない人は全く知らない、日本の歴史的秘話である。実は、隠岐の島は、明治維新の動乱期、極めて先進的な維新革命、無血革命を起こし、一時期自治政府を立ち上げた歴史があるのです。その事件を一般的に「隠岐騒動」というのですが、隠岐島は当時、松江藩、松平家の管轄領で有り、松江藩の代官が派遣され、常駐統治していた。ただ、可也民度は高かったいうか、学問に熱心な地域であった様である。それはそうでしょう・・。江戸時代は北前船の寄港地として、日本各地の物資と情報が入っており、当時は今よりもはるかに賑わい栄えており、本州から隠岐に渡って商売をする商人が相当居たくらいです。そうした中で、日本各地で起こった尊皇攘夷論が、隠岐の若者の中でも燃え上がり、外国船の寄港を排斥しようと動いたようです。また、中沼了三という隠岐出身の儒学者の影響もあって、藩政に不満を持つ、隠岐島の庄屋や神主が結束し、代官を追い出し、自治政府を作らんとした訳です。きっかけは、中沼了三が奈良県の十津川村に造った「武文館」を隠岐にも造らんとし、その旨を上申するも聞き入れられず、従来からの圧政による不満もあって、当時の庄屋や神主など主だったものが立ち上がり、それらの呼びかけで、３０００人からの農民が集結し、代官屋敷を取り囲み、武力を使う事無く、時の代官を追い出し、自治政府を作ったものです。
なんと、その自治政府は、３権分立の、極めて革新的なものであった様です。ところが、薩長のあやふやな対応から、隠岐は再度松江藩の管轄地とするという事になり、50日後に、松江版が数百人の武士を送り込み、自治政府をつぶしてしまいました。その時に、維新革命の首謀者など14名が戦死したと云うものです。詳細を話せば切がありませんが、非常に興味深い本で、楽しまさせていただきました。
で、何が云いたいかというと、一般に知られるように単に隠岐は流人の島というのではなく、明治維新には、それ相応の貢献をし、今の日本を作り上げた、陰の立役者とまではいいませんが、それなりに頑張った島であるということが云いたかった訳です。
About a month ago, I was invited to attend a party in Gokakakai, an area of Oki island town, and I attended the party. In his opening remarks, he spoke of Mizuwakasu Jinja, a shrine located in Oki-no-jima-cho, Oki-gun, Shimane Prefecture. Shikiuchi Shrine (Meishin Taisha), the first shrine in Oki Province. Formerly known as Kokushinchu-sha, it is now an annexed shrine of the main shrine office. The priest of the shrine (whose crest is called “chrysanthemum”) informed us that he was unable to attend this meeting today because there was a rite of condolence for 14 victims of the Oki Disturbance.
I thought. The Oki Riot was supposed to be a bloodless revolution? Fourteen dead… eh, that’s not real. I asked the man who was sitting next to me, “There were 14 people killed in the Oki Disturbance…? I asked. He said, “I don’t know how many, but some of them must be dead. After that, I talked with him about the Oki riot for a while. After that, he told me that there must be a book about the Oki Disturbance, and if I had it at home, I would send it to him. I appreciate that. I’d love to read it, and if you tell me the title of the book, I’ll order it from Amazon… etc. In less than a week’s time, I received a copy of “Shimamoyu, Oki Disturbance” (Yuko Matsumoto).
This is the secret story of Japanese history that only those who know it and those who don’t know it don’t know it at all. In fact, the Oki Islands have a history of starting an extremely advanced and bloodless revolution during the turbulent period of the Meiji Restoration, and of establishing an autonomous government for a time. At that time, Oki Island was under the jurisdiction of the Matsue clan and the Matsudaira family, and a deputy of the Matsue clan was dispatched to the island to rule it permanently. However, it seems to have been a region with a high level of citizenship, or rather a place where people were enthusiastic about learning. It would be… In the Edo period, as a port of call for Kitamae ships, goods and information from all over Japan came in, and in those days it was much busier and more prosperous than it is now, and there were quite a few merchants who traveled from Honshu to the Oki Islands to do business. In the midst of all this, the idea of reverence for the emperor and expulsion of the barbarians, which took place in many parts of Japan, seems to have flared even among the young people of the Oki region, who have moved to ban foreign ships from port. In addition, under the influence of Nakanuma Ryozo, a Confucian scholar from Oki, the villagers and priests of Oki Island, who were dissatisfied with the clan administration, united to expel their deputies and create an autonomous government. The reason for this was that Ryozo Nakanuma wanted to build the “Bukubunkan” in Totsukawa Village in Nara Prefecture, but his proposal was not heard.
It was an extremely innovative, three-powered, self-governing government. However, due to the Satsunaga’s vague response, it was decided that the Oki Islands would again be under the jurisdiction of the Matsue Clan, and 50 days later, the Matsue version sent several hundred samurai to destroy the autonomous government. At that time, 14 people, including the ringleaders of the Restoration Revolution, were killed in the war. I’m not cut out to talk about the details, but it was a very interesting book and I enjoyed it.
What I wanted to say was that Oki is not just an island of drifters, as is generally known, but also an island that made a commensurate contribution to the Meiji Restoration and worked hard in its own way, if not to the extent of being a behind-the-scenes player in the creation of present-day Japan.
