NHK E-TV's program "The Power of Our Ancestors: A Fountain of Wisdom," which teaches us wisdom relevant to the present day from historical figures, will rebroadcast "Loves Foreign Countries! The Secret to Making Shimazu Shigehide a First-Class Domain" on June 23rd at 10pm. This special feature focuses on Shimazu Shigehide, who also appeared in last year's historical drama "UNBOUND (Berabou)."
What made Shimazu Shigehide so remarkable was his drive and initiative. During the long journeys he took between Kagoshima and Edo for the sankin-kōtai (alternate attendance) system, he always made sure to take detours.
He interacted with monks at the Obaku Zen temple in Uji, Kyoto, a center of Chinese language research, befriended the head of the Dutch trading post in Nagasaki, and even met with Siebold's great-grandson, Nariakira, three times when Siebold came to Edo. He also employed loopholes during Japan's isolationist policy, such as having a doctor in Beijing examine Japanese medicinal herbs through the Ryukyu king in order to study them.
What were the true intentions of Shimazu Shigehide, who earned the nickname "Daimyo obsessed with Western culture"?
