HAYASHI, Michiyuki 林通幸 (or Ryūho 柳圃).

Kaihei heidan hoi 海国兵談補遺 [Addendum to a Discussion of the Military Problems of a Maritime Country].

Eight double-page & 24 full-page woodcuts. .5, 32; 36 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. semi-stiff wrappers (now mottled), title-slips, new stitching. [Japan]: 1867; Preface dated 1865 & Postscripts dated 1861 & 1866.

First edition. The tragic story of Hayashi Shihei 林子平 (1738-93) and his efforts to prepare Japan for changing times is well known. A Japanese scholar and a specialist in military affairs, he travelled to Nagasaki in 1777, where he was greatly impressed by the size and strength of the Dutch ships. While there, he learned of Russian intentions to advance south from Siberia into Asia. This prompted him to go to the northernmost island of Hokkaido to study the situation.

As a result of this journey, he became alarmed at the weakness of Japan’s coastal defenses and ignorance of the outside world. In 1787, Hayashi began to privately issue, in a series of 16 volumes (only 38 sets were produced), his famous and controversial Kaikoku heidan, which recommended stronger military forces and a maritime defense capability. His series is a remarkable example of a study on modern strategy, introducing the military sciences of the West to Japan. Hayashi describes the powerful weaponry of the Western powers and openly criticizes the shogunate for its ignorance of the rest of the world and reliance upon an isolationist policy while neglecting maritime defenses.

Kaikoku heidan caused a sensation and was banned by the government in 1792, on the grounds that national security matters were being discussed without official consent. Almost all copies and the woodblocks were confiscated. Hayashi was placed under house arrest in 1792 and died the following year. In his final years, he used the pen name “Rokumusai,” meaning “Six Losses,” enumerated as: “no parents, no wife, no children, no woodblocks, no money, and no desire to die.”

The present work, by his nephew Michiyuki, who had studied under the military theorists Oikawa Kanzaemon 及川勘左衛門 and Hishita Jūzō 日下十蔵, is both an homage to his uncle and an addendum on the modern role of horses and cavalry in warfare, as practiced in the West. Michiyuki believed that the traditional Japanese methods of using horses in battle were no longer relevant and that the samurai must be trained in the methods practiced by the cavalries of Western countries.

The book is richly illustrated. In the first volume are fine woodcuts of training patterns designed to improve the horses’ agility. Also shown are a series of horses’ eyes and teeth, each revealing the character of the animal and its suitability in warfare. Acupuncture points on legs of horses are also shown.

The woodcuts in the second volume depict modernized saddles, stirrups, bridles, and horseshoes.

Fine set and very scarce. Preserved in a chitsu.