生涯

繼承家督

文化12年（1815年）10月29日，在近江國犬上郡的彥根城（現滋賀縣彥根市）出生。幼名鐵之介、鐵三郎。

由于是庶出，因此無法作為他家養子，17歲時以年俸300俵移居他屋，師從學習國學，自比為深埋地底、無法開花的木材，把自己的居所取名為（），度過15年隱居的生活。這段時間他還熱衷于學習石州流茶道，也學習了和歌、鼓、禪、槍術、居合術，顯示出過人的智慧。有「（茶·歌·鼓）」的綽號。

弘化3年（1846年），第14代藩主井伊直亮的內定繼承人（井伊直中第11子，直弼的兄長）死去，直弼被選為彥根藩的後繼，官賜從四位下侍從兼。嘉永2年（1849年），遷任，兼任玄蕃頭。

嘉永3年（1850年），直亮死後正式繼承藩主，遷任（）。

幕末動亂

彥根藩時代進行了藩政改革，被認為是一代名君。

嘉永6年（1853年），美國海軍佩里艦隊的黑船事件協助防衛江戶灣（東京灣）、老中首座的阿部正弘對其詢問對策時、以「必須臨機應變，積極交易（）」作答，主張實行開國政策（也有說直弼的開國政策是為了自己「政治上的方便」）。

安政2年（1855年），遷任左近衛權中將、兼任掃部頭。安政4年（1857年），授從四位上。

嘉永安政年間的幕政由老中首座的阿部正弘主掌，阿部實行從原來譜代大名為中心到雄藩（德川齊昭、松平慶永等人）聯合方式的政策，讓德川齊昭挂銜海防挂顧問（外交顧問）參與幕政。德川齊昭一直宣揚攘夷理論。作為溜間（江戶城名門譜代大名商政的房間）領頭人的直弼對此勢不兩立。直弼等溜間的諸侯同阿部正弘、徳川齊昭的對立，在日美和親條約的締結問題上終于達到高峰。在江戶城西湖之間討論時雙方是不相讓，齊昭逼迫阿部撤換老中、。

安政2年（1855年）8月4日，阿部撤去松平乘全、松平忠固老中職位，這兩人都是開國通商派，乗全和直弼並有書信往來，因此直弼強烈反對。溜間的譜代大名要求阿部馬上補充老中後繼人選，阿部為了緩解對立局面不得不起用堀田正睦（開國派、下總佐倉藩主）作為老中首座。

安政4年（1857年），阿部正弘死去，堀田正睦立刻將松平忠固複職，成為堀田、松平連立格局。他們在第13代將軍德川家定的將軍繼嗣問題上推舉紀州藩主的德川慶福，和推舉一橋慶喜的「一橋派」德川齊昭再次對立。

安政5年（1858年），在松平忠固和（紀州藩副家老）等「南紀派」的策劃下，直弼就任大老，6個月後，直弼在沒有孝明天皇敕許的情況下，私自同美國簽署日美修好通商條約、並將責任推給自己一派的堀田正睦、松平忠固，將他們逐出內閣，由、及松平乗全3名接任，力圖依靠強硬手腕在尊皇攘夷派的呼聲中屹立不搖。體弱的將軍家定聽順其決定，立慶福為繼嗣，強令齊昭和松平慶永等人蟄居，並貶謫、、、等要員，在閣僚內部免除反對自己的和寺社奉行的老中職位，所以遭到尊王志士的憎惡。

安政6年（1859年），授正四位上。

死亡

孝明天皇對于直弼所作所為十分不滿，偷偷詔令水戶藩剷除無視武家秩序的直弼（戊午密敕），對于朝廷前所未聞的政治幹涉，造成幕府和朝廷的關係殭化，直弼要求水戶藩交出密敕，同時派遣間部詮勝上京調查密敕有關的人物，由此為開端發起安政大獄，致使眾多志士和公卿（）遭到肅清。安政7年（1860年）3月3日被水戶藩浪人在江戶城櫻田門附近暗殺，史稱「櫻田門外之變」，享年45歲。死後家督由次子繼任。

著作有《井伊大老茶道談》、《》等。

現在彥根城內和橫濱市的為了表彰他實行開國政策的功勳，而建有他的銅像，但是對于實行開國政策的利弊也有不同的看法。

死後文久2年（1862年），因安政大獄問罪，彥根藩減封10萬石。彥根市和水戶市以明治維新一百周年為契機昭和43年（1968年）結為「友好城市」。

肖像畫為和直弼的四子所作。墓所位於井伊家菩提寺豪徳寺（東京都 世田谷區）。

軼事

• 早年學習儒學、國學、曹洞宗的禪、書、繪畫、歌、劍術、居合、槍術、弓術、 砲術、柔術等日本武術、對茶道、能樂也頗有研究。特別在學習新心流居合術後開創了新心新流。茶道的茶器名為「宗觀」、創立下的一個門派。著書《茶湯一會集》卷頭名句「一期一會」。能樂方面醉心于能面的製作、能面製作必須的工具全部收集齊全。製作狂言「鬼宿」、重新發掘了廢曲「狸的腹鼓」（又稱「彥根狸」）、體現出狂言作曲家的才能。

• 明治維新後在井伊家發現大量洋書以及世界地圖，曾言：「只有開國和富國強兵才是日本的生存之道（）。」體現他的理想和博學。

• 安政大獄中殘害很多志士，和彥根藩祖井伊直政一樣被稱為「井伊的赤鬼」。然而對直政是敬畏，對直弼更多的是憎恨。

• 櫻田門外之變被認為是直弼為恢復幕府威望實施強權手腕的結果。安政大獄不光使攘夷派也讓推進開國運動的開明派官僚也被大量貶謫，造成幕臣人才流失，被看作是幕府滅亡的原因。

• 直弼被譽為「堅持開國政策拯救日本的政治家」。如果沒有他這樣的人，日本歷史將完全不同。直弼是幕末政治不得不說到的人物，但是開國政策是阿部正弘的既定方針，遵循這個方針的水戶、薩摩等雄藩開展對外國的調查，錄用開明派人士構建的開國體制在直弼強壓下反而遭到瓦解。

• 也有說直弼倡導的開國政策是安撫水戶、薩摩等有力諸侯對幕政手段，直弼其實想在江戶幕府國政恢復後，幕府在親藩譜代大名為主體的背景下實行攘夷的一貫支持者。根據這個見解、通過安政大獄對諸侯和攘夷派的鎮壓、明里簽署條約背地實行攘夷實際都是為「恢復幕府威信」服務。司馬遼太郎對此作了「對攘夷派所作的鎮壓其實並非開國，而是討厭西洋（『小說花神』）」的嚴厲批判。

注釋

登場作品

;小說

• 花之生涯（每日新聞社、著）

• 井伊直弼（PHP研究所、著）

• 巨人傳說（講談社、著）

;影視劇

• （1927年、日活、演：）

• （1953年、松竹、演：）

• 櫻田門（1961年、大映、演：長谷川一夫）

• （1963年、NHK大河劇、演：）

• 幕末（1964年、TBS、演：山村聰）

• 少年高杉晉作（1967年、NET、演：）

• 大奧（1968年、KTV、演：）

• （1971年、ABC、演：）

• （1974年、NTV、演：）

• （1977年、NHK大河劇、演：）

• 大奧（1983年、KTV、演：）

• （1985年、KTV、演：成田三樹夫）

• （1986年、NTV、演：森源太郎）

• （1988年、TX、演：北大路欣也）

• 開港風雲錄 YOUNG JAPAN（1989年、東寶、演：）

• （1989年、TBS、演：波多野博）

• 宛如飛翔（1990年、NHK大河劇、演：）

• （1991年、東映、演：江守徹）

• 尾張幕末風雲錄（1998年、TX、演：中田浩二）

• 德川慶喜（1998年、NHK大河劇、演：）

• 大奧（2003年、CX、演：窪田弘和）

• 篤姬（2008年、NHK大河劇、演：中村梅雀）

• （2010年、東映、演：伊武雅刀）

• 龍馬傳（2009年、NHK大河劇、演：）

• （2012年、NHK、演：山崎榮）

• 八重之櫻（2013年、NHK大河劇、演：）

• 柘榴阪的復仇（2014年、松竹、演：）

• 花燃（2015年、NHK大河劇、演：）

• 西鄉殿（2018年、NHK大河劇、演：佐野史郎）

• 直衝青天（2021年、NHK大河劇、演：岸谷五朗）

;戲曲

• 井伊大老（北條秀司作）

;漫畫

• 大奧（白泉社、吉永史作）

Early life

Ii Naosuke was born on November 29, 1815, as the 14th son of Ii Naonaka, the daimyō of Hikone by his concubine. Since Naosuke was the 14th son, he was not in line for a prominent position and early in his life was sent to a Buddhist temple where he lived on a small stipend from his family. Fortunately for Ii, even though he was sent to the monastery, his 13 elder brothers were either adopted into other families who needed an heir, or died before they succeeded their father. Accordingly, when his father died in 1850, Ii was called back from the monastery and became the daimyō of Hikone, a fudai domain, and took the family name of Ii. As the daimyō of Hikone, Ii was one of the daimyōs who were eligible for a position in the bakufu, the council of the shōguns advisors. His childhood name was Tetsunosuke (鉄之介).

Ii became involved in national politics, rapidly rising to lead a coalition of daimyōs. In 1853 Ii put forward a proposal concerning the Japanese negotiations with U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry during Perry's mission to open Japan to the outside world. Realizing that Japan was faced with immediate military danger Ii argued that Japan should use their relationship with the Dutch to allow them to buy enough time to develop armed forces, which could resist invasion. Ii recommended that only the port of Nagasaki be opened for trade with foreigners Ii, like Hotta Masayoshi, refused to remain silent while shogunal advisor Abe Masahiro appeased the anti-foreign party. Ii led the fudai daimyōs in their effort to bring about the downfall of Abe Masahiro and replace him with Hotta Masayoshi. This alienated many reformist daimyōs, leading them to strengthen their association with the Imperial court.

Family

• Father: Ii Naonaka (1766-1831)

• Mother: Otomi no Kata (1785-1819)

• Foster father: Ii Naoaki (1794-1850)

• Wife: Masako (1834-1885)

• Concubines:

　• Senda Shizue

　• Nishimura Sato

• Children:

　• Ii Naonori by Nishimura Sato

　• daughter

　• Son

　• Chiyoko (1846-1927) married Matsudaira Yoritoshi

　• Ii Naotomo (1849-1887) by Masako

　• Ii Naoyasu (1851-1935) by Nishimura Sato

　• daughter

　• son

　• Manchiyo

　• daughter

　• son

　• Michiyo

　• daughter

　• Ii Naoyuki (1858-1927) by Masako

　• Tokiko married Aoyama Yukiyoshi

Tairō

In 1858 after Hotta Masayoshi's disastrous attempt to obtain the emperor's approval for the Harris treaty the Tokugawa shōgun Tokugawa Iesada chose Ii Naosuke to be the Tairō (Great Elder); a decision influenced by the Kii Party. The position of Tairō, a post traditionally held by members of the Ii family, was rarely filled; in fact there had only been three Tairō between 1700 and Ii Naosuke's rise to power 158 years later. Ii's promotion to the post of Tairō annoyed many of the shinpan daimyōs (daimyōs related to the shōgun, they were unable to be members of the bakufu, but in the event of the shōgun dying heirless the next shōgun would be chosen from one of the shinpan families) including Tokugawa Nariaki. As the Tairō Ii Naosuke had both prestige and power second only to the shōgun; Ii also enjoyed the full backing of the fudai daimyōs. An intelligent and capable politician Ii Naosuke was determined to restore the power of the bakufu in Japanese policy making, both in a domestic and a foreign role.

Ii Naosuke regarded the Harris treaty, which Hotta Masayoshi had negotiated with the American envoy Townsend Harris as in Japan's best interests. In accordance with the protocol he asked the three house lords of the gosankyō for their views in writing. However Ii faced a problem in the form of an obstructionist policy from members of the Hitotsubashi faction led by Hitotsubashi Keiki's father Tokugawa Nariaki.

Ii was unwilling to sign the Harris treaty without approval from Emperor Kōmei in Kyoto. However the daimyōs of the Hitotsubashi faction were preventing him from presenting the treaty to the emperor by withholding their approval. At this time Harris started putting pressure on the shogunal officials to sign the treaty. Ii decided not to risk aggravating the Americans and on July 29, 1858, encouraged by the full backing of the bakufu officials, Ii ordered the Harris treaty to be signed. Soon after this Ii negotiated a number of similar unequal treaties with the Dutch, the Russians, the British and the French. Bakufu critics considered the treaties signed by Ii Naosuke to have seriously compromised Japan』s sovereignty, and recovery of this power became the basis of a large part of the policies formed during the Meiji period.

Due to the frail health of the shōgun Tokugawa Iesada, the members of the Hitotsubashi faction wanted to force Ii to support Hitotsubashi Keiki as the heir to the ailing shōgun. Hitotsubashi Keiki was the reformist candidate, supported by the reformist faction, headed by his father Tokugawa Nariaki; his supporters pointed to his experience and skill in handling policy decisions. Ii was aware that Japan needed strong leadership, but unlike the reformist daimyōs, Ii was not prepared to accept strong leadership from outside the traditional forms of government. The bakufu, led by Ii, wanted the 12-year-old daimyō of Kii, Tokugawa Yoshitomi, to ascend to the position of shōgun. The bakufu supported such a young candidate because they felt that it would be easier for them to influence and control a young and inexperienced shōgun.

To end meddling in bakufu affairs, shortly after he signed the Harris treaty Ii settled the matter of the shogunal succession by claiming that the shogunal succession was a matter for the Tokugawa house alone and neither the shinpan daimyōs or the Emperor had the right to interfere. As head councilor of the Tokugawa house Ii was now free to influence the decision in favor of whichever candidate he preferred without any interference. In this way Ii was able to ignore the daimyōs who supported Hitotsubashi Keiki, the reformist candidate for the office of shōgun and crowned the fudai daimyōs candidate, Tokugawa Yoshitomi who changed his name to Tokugawa Iemochi, as the 14th Tokugawa shōgun.

Ii's decision made him very unpopular with Imperial loyalists, especially with the Mito samurai. Towards the end of 1858 the reformists went to the emperor with the hopes of restraining Ii. In response to the attempt by Tokugawa Nariaki and his supporters to denounce him in the emperor's court Ii had a shogunal decree passed which allowed him to conduct the Ansei Purge. During the rest of 1858 and into 1859 Naosuke purged over 100 officials from the bakufu, the imperial court and the lands of various daimyōs. Eight of the officials who were purged were executed; the remainder were forced into retirement. During the Ansei purge Ii Naosuke was able to force Hitotsubashi Keiki's supporters to retire and place Hitotsubashi and his family under house arrest. Ii Naosuke was also able to remove officials who had expressed unhappiness with his handling of the Harris treaty and the shogunal succession from public life.

Kōbu gattai and the Kazunomiya marriage

In early 1859 Ii Naosuke's agent in the Imperial Court, Nagano Shuzen, approached him with the idea of kōbu gattai. Kōbu gattai was a policy binding Kyoto and Edo closer together to shore up the failing shogunate with the prestige of the imperial court. This policy was to be carried out by means of a marriage between the shōgun and the Emperor's younger sister, Princess Kazunomiya. Naosuke broached the topic to the Imperial court through his Envoy Manabe Akibuke. Manabe was tasked with gauging the measure of acceptability for the proposed marriage between Shogun Iemochi and Princess Kazunomiya. Prominent court official Konoe Tadahiro responded favorably to the proposal, insinuating a marriage between the shogun and Princess Kazunomiya was possible if her present engagement failed. However, in March 1859 Konoe was forced to retire from the court by Naosuke's Ansei purge, and the idea of kōbu gattai faded into the background until 1861, after the death of Ii Naosuke. In 1861 due to the further deteriorating status of the shogunate the marriage between Tokugawa Iemochi and Princess Kazunomiya finally took place, though their marriage was cut short by Iemochi's death in 1866.

Death and consequences

Although Ii's Ansei purge was very effective in silencing the officials and his high ranking opponents, it did not have the same effect on lower-ranking samurai. Ii Naosuke's 20-month dictatorial reign as tairō came to an abrupt end in the third month of Ansei 7 (March 24, 1860).

In the Sakuradamon incident, Ii was attacked by a band of 17 young samurai loyalists from the Mito Province and cut down just in front of one of the gates of the shōguns Edo castle entering to meet with the shōgun. The assassination of Ii Naosuke, who was seen as the symbol of the bakufu's power and authority, was construed as crushing any hopes for the resurrection of the shogunate's power. His assassins additionally left a note accusing him of building heretical Buddhist temples in Japan; this in fact referred to his allowing Christianity to return to the region, building on earlier Japanese heresiological discourse.

The death of Tairō Ii Naosuke started a wave of loyalist terrorism across Japan, the poet Tsunada Tadayuki even wrote a poem praising Ii's assassins. Soon attempts were being made on the lives of other members of the bakufu and their informants. The wave of popular dissent also turned against officials with a connection to Ii Naosuke, no matter how distant it was. Shimada Sakon, retainer of the Kujō, (one of the Sekke families; the 5 regent houses, and among the most powerful in the court), Imperial regent, was killed by dissidents for supporting the Harris treaty and helping Ii』s confidant, Nagano Shuzen, expose members of the court who were targeted during the Ansei purge.

The shōgun and the Bakufu were astounded and taken completely unaware by the death of Ii Naosuke. They didn't even announce his death until several months after the assassination took place. Instead, during this time the shōgun and the bakufu first pretended that Ii was still alive and rendering service to the shōgun. Then they faked an illness and had him render his resignation to the shōgun before announcing his death. In this way Ii continued to serve the shōgun, even after death. Ii's assassins were later granted a general amnesty by the bakufu, a precedent later used by Yamagata Aritomo, a key member of the Meiji restoration and a main architect of the military and political foundations of early modern Japan and Japanese militarism, to show that any action can be forgiven if it is performed for the betterment of the emperor.

Accounts of the dramatic event were sent via ship across the Pacific to San Francisco and then sped by Pony Express across the American West. On June 12, The New York Times reported that Japan's first diplomatic mission to the West received the news about what had happened in Edo.

Legacy

After his death, Ii Naosuke was quickly both vilified and defended. Even his enemies would admit that, along with Tokugawa Nariaki, Ii was one of the most important political figures of the late Edo period of Japanese history. Due to the often-tyrannical means Ii used to maintain his power, he was the subject of extremely negative press and was portrayed as a villain in much of the literature from his time, for example in the poems of Tsunada Tadayuki. Historians such as Miyauchi and Beasley consider that Ii was nonetheless a patriot who carried out all of his acts in the belief that they were for the good of Japan and the Emperor. They base this theory upon Ii's 1853 proposal concerning the Japanese negotiations with Commodore Perry, where Ii realized that Japan could not stand up to the Western powers and therefore suggested a policy of placation while the Japanese built up their armed forces (which was the policy chosen by the Meiji government). Ii's successors could not overturn his policy decisions, and his attitude towards the foreigners became the cornerstone of Japanese policy well into the Meiji period.

After Ii Naosuke's death, the Ii family was disgraced for many years; recently, however, Ii's actions have been looked at in a more favorable light and Ii Naosuke has taken his place as one of the most important political figures of Japanese history. On October 7, 2009, Ii Naotake, a family descendant of Naosuke, attended a memorial ceremony with the people of Fukui in reconciliation over the execution of Hashimoto Sanai in the Ansei Purge.

Ii is buried in the temple of Gōtoku-ji, in Setagaya, Tokyo.