The Shimizu Port Shipping Agent Memorial House
At the inn Suehiro, you can get a glimpse of Shimizu no Jirocho's endeavors in his twilight years to revitalize Shimizu Port.
It is an invaluable structure that conveys the state of Shimizu Port at the time, transmitting to the present Jirocho’s life through a time of dramatic change beginning in the last years of the Edo period (1830-1843) .
Jirocho and Suehiro after the Meiji Restoration
Before the Meiji Restoration, Jirocho was known as a chivalrous gang boss who "helped the weak and undermined the strong."He has been a hero of popular culture, depicted in kodan storytelling, naniwa-bushi songs, novels, and films.
At the time of the Meiji Restoration, Jirocho significantly transformed his social role, becoming a social enterpriser.
He gave a proper burial to the sailors of the shogunate’s battleship Kanrinmaru, who were killed in battle in the first year of Meiji.
This led to his acquaintance with Yamaoka Tesshu, from whom he received influence.
Jirocho engaged in the development of Shimizu Port through opening fields on the skirts of Mt. Fuji and exporting tea.
In his twilight years, Jirocho was visited by Hirose Takeo and Ogasawara Naganari, who both fought in the Russo-Japanese War, as well as by the painter Tomioka Tessai, and they got to know each other.
Children looked up to Jirocho, calling him the "Old Man of the wharf."
He died at the age of seventy-four.
