Ryohei Noguchi 'Biographies of Bakumatsu Figures: Expelling Barbarians and Opening the Country' Episode 1: Daikokuya Kodayu (Part 7)
★Header photo: Catherine Palace
Author: Александр Гришин CC BY-SA 3.0
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/エカテリーナ宮殿#/media/ファイル:Музей-заповедник_Царское_Село._Большой_Екатерининский_дворец._3.jpg
Episode 1: Daikokuya Kodayu (Part 7)
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Laxman's devoted efforts bore fruit, and it was on May 28, 1791, that Kodayu had his audience with Catherine II at the summer palace on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. In the grand hall of the palace, Kodayu stepped forward before the 62-year-old Empress, who was surrounded by many ladies-in-waiting and officials, knelt, and flawlessly performed the etiquette of the audience by kissing her extended hand three times. Afterward, as he was asked, he recounted the hardships he faced after drifting at sea and expressed his longing for his homeland.
The 'Hokusa Bunryaku' records the Empress's words: 'Oho, jauko' (Oh, you poor thing).
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Click the image to watch the music video (Daikokuya Kodayu Memorial Museum)]
http://suzuka-bunka.jp/kodayu-news/918.html It is believed that while Kodayu was staying at the residence of
Osip Bush (a friend of Kirill Laxman), the director of the summer palace gardens, Bush's sister Sofia sympathized with Kodayu's situation and arranged and sang a Ukrainian folk song. The 'translated lyrics' by
Kodayu after he returned home are recorded in the 'Hokusa Bunryaku'. 'Oh, how boring, in this foreign land, I rely on everyone, I will not abandon anyone, how pitiful, you all, you don't even look at me and turn away, how resentful, how bitter, now I can only cry.'
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Catherine II, who continued to frequently summon Kodayu to ask about Japanese affairs, finally issued an imperial decree in September to send an envoy to the Japanese government, primarily to repatriate the castaways and to convey the hope of establishing trade.
During this period, not only the Netherlands, the only European country trading with Japan, but also Great Britain had turned its attention to Japan and had offered Laxman to take charge of repatriating the castaways. The value of Kodayu's existence and the necessity of negotiations with Japan that preceded Britain. The fact that these two things were recognized by the Russian Empire created a miracle.
National Archives of Japan Digital Archive 'Hokusa Bunryaku' 'Equipment/Clothing'
Author: Hoshu Katsuragawa CC-BY 4.0 Worldwide Public Domain Provided
(Details at the bottom of the page)
pp. 582-583 [Illustration of St. Petersburg] = Caption from the same book → * About the image
→ To the top of Ryohei Noguchi's 'Biographies of Bakumatsu Figures' magazine
→ To Episode 1: Daikokuya Kodayu (Part 1) (Author profile at the end of the text)
* Please refrain from reprinting or reusing the images. → About the images
・The copyright of the main text belongs to the author (Mr. Ryohei Noguchi).
・Of course, I am happy for you to link, share, and introduce the entire article! m--m
[Editor]
☆ Statue of Empress Catherine
National Archives of Japan Digital Archive 'Hokusa Bunryaku' 'Equipment/Clothing'
Author: Hoshu Katsuragawa CC-BY 4.0 Worldwide Public Domain Provided
https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/DAS/pickup/view/detail/detailArchives/0404000000/0000000539/00
Catalog information: https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/gallery/0000000539
('Hokusa Bunryaku' is a topography and record of observations of Russia and Siberia, compiled by the Rangaku scholar Hoshu Katsuragawa at the order of the Shogunate, based on interviews with the Ise ship captain Daikokuya Kodayu and others, who were shipwrecked while sailing to Edo in 1782, drifted, traveled to Russia, and returned to Japan in 1792. It includes sketches of clothing and artifacts brought back, as well as copies of maps. Kodayu is said to have been treated well by Catherine II (1762-96). Hanging prints depicting Catherine II, clocks, microscopes, etc., are copied in detail. Original drawing size: 1378cm long x 29cm paper height.' = Commentary on the same page