Although there are no noticeable stains or scratches, please understand that this item has been stored by an individual. #TakashimaEki #KaemonTakashima ◆ Kaemon Takashima, whose childhood name was Seizaburo, was born on November 3, 1832, as the heir to Enshuya Kahee, a lumber merchant and construction contractor in Kyobashi, Sanjikkembori-cho, Edo. He showed business acumen from a young age, and after succeeding his father, he ran a lumber business in Edo. He opened a store called "Hizenya" when Yokohama opened to foreign trade in June 1858, and it prospered, but he was imprisoned after being involved in a trouble related to the prohibited gold and silver coin transactions. The Edo Denmacho prison at the time was an incredibly terrible place where the worst criminals held sway, but with his naturally strong constitution, trained physical strength, and mental fortitude, he subdued the villains and secured a safe position within the prison in about three months. In the past, many late-Edo period patriots and debaters, such as Shoin Yoshida, were imprisoned in this prison, and he discovered the two volumes of "I Ching" (Book of Changes), which he believed were left behind by someone among them, under the tatami mats. He had received guidance from his father from a young age, learned reading aloud, and had a strong memory from birth, so he could almost recite the Four Books and Five Classics (a general term for the nine most important books among the Confucian classics). He also had the ability to fully understand the "I Ching," which is considered the most important of the Five Classics. He had been too busy with his family business to have time to read, but because he had nothing to do in prison, he devoured the book and came to memorize all the hexagram statements of the sixty-four hexagrams, as well as the statements of the three hundred and eighty-four lines. He did not waste his six years of prison life. The foundation of the later Takashima Eki was established at this time.