翻訳 10
『初めて〇〇をした！？』歴史の面白いエピソード集を厳選紹介歴史
夏目漱石の『吾輩は猫である』に、「はじめて河豚（ふぐ）を喫せる漢（おとこ）はその勇気において重んずべし」との一節がありますが、「初めて◯◯した」日本人が実は「あの歴史上の有名人物だった！」という面白いケースが意外とたくさんあります。
勇気とチャレンジ精神が旺盛だからこそ歴史上に名を残せたのかも知れませんが、今回はそんな「初めて◯◯した」歴史上の有名人を、面白いエピソードと共にご紹介しましょう。
歴史の面白い話①「初めてワインを飲み、パンを食べた日本人は織田信長！？」
新しいモノ好きで知られる織田信長は、初めてワインを飲んだ日本人だと言われています。贈り主は宣教師のフランシスコ・ザビエル。日本に初めてキリスト教を伝えたことでも有名な人物です。
飲んだのは赤ワインで、当時は「珍陀酒（ちんたしゅ）」と呼ばれていました。赤ワインはポルトガル語でヴィニョ・ティント、そのティントの響きから「ちんた」と呼ばれるようになったとか。
甘党の信長に好まれたということから、恐らくポルトガルの名産品である甘口のポートワインではなかったかと推測されます。
また信長は、初めてパンを食べた日本人とも言われています。食べたのは「ビスコート」と言う名の硬いパンで、今のビスケットに近いもの。食べる時はわざわざ南蛮の服に着替えたそうです。
歴史の面白い話②「初めて女性用下着を手にした日本人は豊臣秀吉！？」
日本人で初めて西洋式の女性用下着を手にしたのは、天下人の豊臣秀吉であると伝えられています。
ポルトガル人の献上品に入っていたそうですが、当時の着物姿の日本女性には全く受け入れられなかったようで、伝来してからも長きにわたって着用の記録は残っていません。
その後江戸末期に福沢諭吉が、自著『西洋衣食住』で西洋式下着の効用を説いたのがきっかけとなり、上流階級の女性たちの間でドレスに合わせて着用され始めたとのこと。
一般庶民にまで広まったのは、昭和に入ってからのことです。
歴史の面白い話③「初めてメガネをかけた日本人は徳川家康!?」
信長、秀吉ときたら、徳川家康に触れないわけにはいきません。家康が「日本で初めて天ぷらを食べた人」であることはよく知られていますが、実は日本で初めてメガネをかけたのも家康だと言われています。
初めて日本にメガネを持ち込んだのはやはりフランシスコ・ザビエル。戦国武将・大内義隆に献上したと伝わっていますが、現物が残っておらず、実際に使われたかどうかは不明です。
そこで記録に残る「日本で最初にメガネをかけた人」となると、徳川家康になります。
家康愛用のメガネは今日主流の耳にかけるタイプとは異なる手持ちの鼻眼鏡で、重要文化財として静岡の久能山東照宮に納められています。
歴史の面白い話④「初めて餃子を食べた日本人は水戸光圀!?」
餃子と言えば日本人に愛される庶民派中華の代表ですが、日本人で初めて餃子を食べたのは、水戸黄門こと徳川光圀であるとされています。
日本の文献上に初めて餃子らしき食べ物が登場したのは、1707年刊行の『舜水朱氏談綺』です。
明国から招いた儒学者・朱舜水が徳川光圀に献上した「福包」がそれに当たり、鴨肉、松の実、クコの実などが餡として用いられたそうです。
なお、ラーメンを日本で初めて食べたのも徳川光圀というのが定説でしたが、室町期の僧侶の日記に「小麦粉とかん水を使用した麺を来客に振る舞った」との記述があると分かり、現在はこちらが「日本初のラーメン」であるとの説が有力となっています。
歴史の面白い話⑤「初めてビールを飲んだ日本人は徳川吉宗!?」
「暴れん坊将軍」こと八代将軍・徳川吉宗は、史実の上でも徳川幕府中興の祖として位置づけられる名君でしたが、日本人で初めてビールを飲んだのが吉宗とされています。
吉宗が将軍だった享保9年（1724）に、オランダからの商船とその使節団が江戸入りしたのですが、その時の献上品にビールがあったとされているのです。
ただし吉宗自身の感想などは特に残されてはいないため、実際に飲んで“暴れん坊”になったかどうかは不明です。
歴史の面白い話⑥「初めて新婚旅行に行った日本人は坂本龍馬!?」
坂本龍馬と言えば日本史上屈指の人気者ですが、慶応2年（1866）の寺田屋事件でケガを負った龍馬が、当時鹿児島屈指の温泉街だった霧島塩浸温泉へ、新婚の妻・お龍を連れて療養の旅に出かけたのが、日本最初の新婚旅行と言われています。
現地の「龍馬公園」の中には資料館があり、龍馬がその時の旅行について面白おかしく書き記した、姉の乙女さん宛の手紙（レプリカ）が展示されています。
ちなみに龍馬は、日本で初めて株式会社を作った人物としても知られています。
歴史の面白い話⑦「初めて始球式を行った日本人は大隈重信!?」
プロ野球の始球式では、人気女性アイドルの「ノーバン投球」がネットニュースを賑わしていますが、記録に残る日本最初の始球式は明治41年（1908）、米国メジャー選抜チームと早稲田大学野球部の試合に先立って行われた大隈重信の始球式です。
大隈は内閣総理大臣を2度務めた大物政治家で、早稲田大学の創設者でもあります。
なおこの時、大隈の投球はストライクゾーンから大きく外れたのですが、VIPの投球をボール球にする訳にはいかないと、早大の1番打者がわざと空振りしてストライクにしたことから、打者がわざと空振りするのが慣例になったとのことです。
歴史の面白い話⑧「初めてランドセルを背負った日本人は大正天皇!?」
通学カバンは国によって様々ですが、箱型で背負うタイプのランドセルは日本独自のもの。
その起源は明治20年（1887）、当時の内閣総理大臣・伊藤博文が、大正天皇の学習院ご入学祝いに献上したのが始まりとされています。
なお3年後には素材が黒革と定められ、明治30年に細かな形状や寸法（縦一尺一寸、横一尺五分、マチ幅二寸五分）が統一されました。そして130年以上経った今も、基本的なスタイルは変わっていません。
まとめ
いかがでしたでしょうか。
ここでご紹介した以外にも、初めて箸を使った日本人が聖徳太子だったり、初めてアイスクリームを食べた日本人が勝海舟や福沢諭吉だったりと、意外な有名人の名前が出てきます。
興味がある方はサクッと調べてみて下さい。
https://blog.pokke.in/history-interesting/
First Times: Curious Stories from History
In his book, 'I Am a Cat,' Natsume Sōseki once wrote, 'The courage of one to eat fugu for the first time must be respected.' In actual fact, there are lots of interesting cases of Japanese people doing things for the first time, and we've compiled them here.
These famous figures from history have no doubt been remembered for their spirit of discovery. So what new things did they try?
Curious story from history ①. Oda Nobunaga: the first Japanese person to drink wine and eat bread!?
Oda Nobunaga loved new things and he is said to be the first Japanese person to have tried bread and wine. The goods were sent by the missionary Francisco Xavier, who was famous for being the first person to bring Christianity to Japan.
The wine was red, or 'vino tinto' in Portuguese. It was dubbed 'chintashu' in Japanese at the time, with the 'chinta' part said to derive from the 'tinto' in 'vino tinto.'
As sweet toothed Nobunaga was said to enjoy it, it is supposed that the wine in question was Port Wine, Portugual's sweet speciality.
It is also said that Nobunaga was the first Japanese person to ever eat bread. It was a hard kind of bread, similar to a modern day cookie, and it seems he got changed especially into Western clothes before eating it.
Curious story from history ②. Toyotomi Hideyoshi: the first Japanese person to get a hold of Western-style women's underwear!?
It is known that the first Japanese person to possess Western-style women's underwear was feudal lord and warrior Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
It seems that they were in amongst gifts presented by the Portuguese, though as they didn't catch on amongst the kimono wearing ladies of the time, no record of them having been worn exists.
In the closing years of the Edo period, Fukuzawa Yukichi advocated for the benefits of Western-style underwear in his work 'European Clothes, Eats and Dwelling,' and as a result they began to be adopted by upper class women of the time.
It was the Showa era by the time Western-style underwear spread to the masses.
Curious story from history ③. Tokugawa Ieyasu: the first Japanese person to wear glasses!?
When it comes to Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, it's impossible not to also mention Ieyasu. It's well-known that Ieyasu was the first in Japan to eat Tempura, but it was also Ieyasu who wore glasses for the first time in Japan.
It was Francisco Xavier who first brought spectacles to Japan. It is thought that they were presented to Ōuchi Yoshitaka, a military commander in the Sengoku period, but as the glasses in question have been lost, it is difficult to say whether they were used.
What has been recorded is that Tokugawa Ieyasu was the first Japanese person to wear glasses.
Curious story from history ④. Tokugawa Mitsukuni: the first Japanese person to eat gyōza!?
When you think of gyōza, you think of the Chinese dumplings loved by the masses in Japan, but the first Japanese people to eat them were Tokugawa Mitsukuni, also known as Mito Kōmon.
The first reference to something resembling gyōza in Japanese culture was in a 1707 publication of 'Memorandum of Zhu Zhiyu.'
Zhu Zhiyu was a Confucian scholar who came over from China, and with him brought 'fukuhō' - made with duck meat, Chinese wolfberries and pine nuts as a kind of anko paste.
It's long been established that the first Japanese person to eat ramen was most likely Mitsukuni. A monk from the Muromachi era writes in his diary, 'customers were treated to noodles made from brine and flour,' and it has long been thought that these were Japan's first ramen.
Curious story from history⑤. Tokugawa Yoshimune: the first Japanese person to drink beer!?
Tokugawa Yoshimune was featured in the television series, 'Abrenbō shōgun,' and he earned his place in real life as a wise ruler who rejuvenated the Tokugawa shōgunate. On top of that, he was the first Japanese person to ever drink beer.
In 1724, the 9th year of the Kyōhō era, Tokugawa was shōgun when a merchant ship and delegation came from Holland. They came to Edo and brought beer as an offering.
Tokugawa's thoughts on the Dutch beer are unknown, and we can't know for sure whether he did become the rowdy shōgun he was rumored to be.
Curious story from history ⑥. Sakamoto Ryōma: the first Japanese person to go on honeymoon!?
When it comes to Japanese history, few are more well-known than Sakamoto Ryōma. In 1866, the second year of the Keiō era, he was injured in the Teradaya Incident, and subsequently took his newlywed wife, Oryō, on a restorative trip to Shiobitashi onsen in Kirishima, known as Kagoshima's premier onsen town at the time. This trip later came to be known as the first Japanese honeymoon.
The archives at what is now Ryōma Park house among other things Sakamoto's own amusing record of the journey in a replica letter he wrote to his elder sister Otome.
Sakamoto is also known for establishing the first Japanese trading company.
Curious story from history ⑦. Ōkuma Shigenobu: the first Japanese person to conduct a baseball opening ceremony!?
When it comes to major league baseball opening ceremonies, popular celebrities taking part in the ceremonial first pitch regularly hits the news but did you know the first opening ceremony recorded in Japanese history was in 1908? It was held in the 41st year of the Meiji era by Ōkuma Shigenobu, before the match between the Waseda University Baseball Club and the Reach-All-Americans.
Ōkuma was an influential politician who twice served as Prime Minister and also founded Waseda University.
When Ōkuma went up to throw the first pitch, his ball stopped some distance from the strike zone. Waseda's number one hitter deliberately swung to miss the ball, a strike was declared, and ever since then it has became customary to swing and miss the ceremonial first pitch.
Curious story from history ⑧. Emperor Taishō: the first Japanese person to wear a randoseru backpack!?
School bags vary by country, but the box-like randoseru backpack is unique to Japan.
Its origins are said to be in 1887, the 20th year of the Meiji era, when Itō Hirobumi, the Prime Minister, presented the Emperor Taishō with a randoseru as a congratulatory gift for entering the Gakushūin Peers' School. Three years later, precise aspects of the randoseru were decided on, such as the materials (black leather), as well as its shape and dimensions, approximately 30cm high, 23cm wide and 18cm deep. Even after 130 years, the fundamental style remains unchanged.
Other than these figures from history experiencing things for the first time, we didn't quite have time for Shōtoku Taishi, the first Japanese person to ever use chopsticks, as well as Katsu Kaishū and Fukuzawa Yukichi, the first Japanese people to eat ice cream.
We hope that you've enjoyed these curious stories from history and be sure to look into more if you're interested!
