東郷平八郎の謝辞
◆「この造船所は、幕末に小栗上野介が大変な苦難を乗り越えて着工にこぎ着け、今に至っている……」1915大正四年、横須賀海軍工厰創設五十周年式典の挨拶で大隈重信（の代理）は、こう語って参列者を驚かせた。「明治政府が作ったのではないのかー」、という驚きだった。

　幕末の1865慶応元年に着工し、慶応年間から次第に施設が出来上がってモノづくりの総合工場として1866慶応二年ごろから蒸気機関を原動力とする本格的な造船やモノづくりを開始した。明治維新後は四年目の建設費未払金と共に明治政府に引き継がれ、明治政府は黙って使ってきたから無理もない。　

　大隈夫人綾子は上野介のいとこに当り、明治政府に引き継がれた造船所建設の未払い金を工面することに大隈は苦労したので、この挨拶となった。この挨拶がきっかけで、横須賀市では恩人として、上野介と仏人技師長ヴェルニーの胸像を募金によって作成した。

Acknowledgement by Heihachiro Togo

◆ "This shipyard was started by Kozukenosuke Oguri at the end of the Edo period after overcoming great hardships and has been in operation up to now..."

In 1915 or Taisho 4, at the 50th anniversary of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, (a substitute for) Shigenobu Okuma surprised the attendees by saying the above. They were surprised because they thought that the Meiji government had built it.

The construction of the shipyard began in 1865, the first year of Keio, at the end of the Edo period, and the facilities were gradually completed during the Keio years, with full-scale shipbuilding and manufacturing operations starting around 1867 Keio 3 as a comprehensive manufacturing plant. After the Meiji Restoration, it was taken over by the Meiji government along with the unpaid construction costs for the fourth year. However, the government used the shipyard silently without talking about such circumstances, so it is not surprising that people thought so.　 　　 　

Ayako, Okuma's wife, is a cousin of Mrs. Michiko Oguri, the wife of Kozukenosuke Oguri. This greeting came about because Okuma, who was serving as prime minister of Japan at the time, was having a hard time raising the unpaid money for the construction of the shipyard, which had been taken over by the Meiji government. This greeting led the city of Yokosuka to create busts of Oguri and the French chief engineer, Francois Leonce Verny, as benefactors through fund-raising.

　
◆これよりさき明治四十五年夏、東郷平八郎は上野介の遺族小栗貞雄（遺児国子の婿）と上野介の孫又一を自邸に招いた。

　部屋へ通されると上座に座れという。貞雄が辞退すると「上野介さんの代りに来ていただいたのだから」と強いて座らされた。東郷は「日本海海戦においてロシアの艦隊を打ち破って完全な勝利を得ることができたのは、あなた方の父上、上野介さんが横須賀造船所を作っておいてくれたお陰です。ひとことお礼を申し上げたかった」と語ってご馳走した。
　
　その後、記念にと「仁義礼智信」の書を書いて贈った。東郷との面談の写真がないから、この書は東郷が小栗上野介の遺族に礼を述べたという貴重な証拠となる。
　平成九年の百三十回忌小栗まつりにあたって、その書額が曾孫忠人氏から「曾祖父の名誉回復にはこれを見ていただくのが一番」ということで東善寺へ寄進された。「曽祖父小栗忠順の名誉は未だに回復されていない」と曾孫が受け止めている言葉である。

In the summer of 1912 or Meiji 45, Heihachiro Togo, who had served as Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, invited Sadao Oguri (husband of Kuniko, daughter of Kozukenosuke Oguri) and his son Mataichi (grandson of Kozukenosuke) to his residence. 　

When they were shown into the room, they were told to sit at the seats of honor. When Sadao declined, Togo told him, "You are here in place of Kozukenosuke-san," and forced them to sit on the top seats. Togo said, "We were able to achieve complete victory over the Russian fleet in the Battle of the Sea of Japan thanks to your father, Kozukenosuke, who built the Yokosuka Shipyard. I wanted to express my gratitude to you," and offered them a meal. 　 　

Afterwards, he wrote a calligraphy of "Jin, Gi, Rei, Chi, Shin (benevolence, justice, gratitude, cleverness, faith)" and presented it to them as a commemorative gift. Since there are no photographs of the meeting between Togo and Oguri's bereaved family, this calligraphy is valuable evidence that Togo thanked Oguri's bereaved family. 　

On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the Oguri Festival in 1997, the calligraphy was donated to Tozenji Temple by his great-grandson Tadato Oguri, who said, "The best way to restore my great-grandfather's honor is to see this." The great-grandson's words express his feeling that "the honor of my great-grandfather, Tadamasa Oguri, has not yet been restored."　　　　　

　　　　　顕彰慰霊碑建立の苦心
◆昭和四年、上野介の無実の死を悼む村民の浄財により、上野介主従が殺された河原に慰霊の石碑を建てる計画書が、高崎警察署に出された。明治政府への批判を恐れて表現の自由がなかったから、こうした建碑は内務省に届けて許可を得なければ建てられなかった。
　
　内務省の窓口は警察署である。まもなく高崎警察署長から建碑責任者の市川元吉元村長に呼出しがあった。
　署長は告げた。
「偉人小栗上野介罪なくして此所に斬らる、と碑文にあるが、斬ったのは官軍だ。官軍は天皇様の軍隊だから、罪のない者を斬るはずがない。【罪なくして…斬らる】、とは穏やかでないからなんとかしろ」

◆ふつう「官」の反対語は→「民」である。ところが日本語はおかしなことに
　　　　「官軍」の反対語を→「民軍」と言わないで「賊軍」にしてしまう。特に明治以後。
　　　　「賊軍」は…何をしても悪い人々、その軍隊　　　という意味になる。すると
　　　　「官軍」は…何をしても正しい人々、その軍隊　　という意味になれる。…世界中の軍隊にこれまで何をしても正しい軍隊があったろうか、これからもそんな軍隊はないだろう。しかし明治以後の日本は「官軍意識」が強くはびこり、国民だけでなく外国に対しても攘夷意識、官軍意識の政治が1945昭和20年の敗戦まで横行してきた。高崎警察署長の言葉も「官軍意識」で発せられている。

Painstaking efforts to erect a cenotaph in honor of Kozukenosuke Oguri

◆ In 1929, a plan was submitted to the Takasaki Police Station to erect a monument on the riverbank where Oguri was killed, funded by the villagers who mourned his innocent death. At that time, the Japanese government did not allow freedom of expression for fear of criticism of the Meiji government, so such a monument could not be erected unless permission was obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs. 　 　

The contact point for the Ministry of Home Affairs was the police department. Soon after, the chief of the Takasaki Police Department called Motokichi Ichikawa, the former mayor of Gonda Village, who was in charge of erecting the monument. The chief told him the following:

"The inscription says that the great Kozukenosuke Oguri was killed here without any crime, but it was the government forces that killed him. The government forces were the army of the Emperor, so they would not have cut down an innocent man. Therefore, it is not gentle to say, "He was slain...without sin, so do something about it."

"Government Forces" is a bad word.

◆Normally, the opposite of "government" is "civilian." However, the opposite of "government forces" is not called "civilian forces" but "rebel forces," especially after the Meiji Restoration.

"Rebel forces" means... forces made up of people who are bad at whatever they do.

Then, "government forces" can mean... forces made up of people who are right at whatever they do.

...I wonder if there have ever been any forces in the world that are right no matter what they do and I think there will never be such forces in the future. However, since the Meiji era, "government forces consciousness" has been strong in Japan, and the politics of expelling foreigners and government forces consciousness have been rampant not only towards the people of Japan but also towards foreign countries until the defeat in WWII in 1945. The words of the Takasaki Police Chief were also spoken with the "government forces consciousness."

◆　困った市川元村長は村へ戻ると、碑文を書いた国際法学者蜷川新博士に手紙で報告し相談した。蜷川の母はつ子は小栗上野介夫人道子の妹で、元旗本の家に生まれた蜷川は苦学して国際法を学び国際法学者として同志社大学、駒沢大学で教え、総理大臣田中義一の国際問題顧問をつとめていた。そして昭和初年に著書『維新前後の政争と小栗上野の死』で上野介の無実の死を書き、明治政府の処置を厳しく糾弾していた。

　まもなく蜷川から「待っていなさい。田中義一に話をつけさせるから」と返信があり、その後署長の話は沙汰やみとなって除幕にこぎつけ、今も無事に碑が立っている。