satsuma rebellion primary sources

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 signaled the beginning of the end for Japan's samurai warriors. The main Imperial Army, under General Kuroda Kiyotaka with the assistance of General Yamakawa Hiroshi arrived in Kumamoto on April 12, putting the now heavily outnumbered Satsuma forces to flight. Located on the southern tip of Kyushu Island, more than 800 miles south of Tokyo, the Satsuma domain had existed and governed itself for centuries with very little interference from the central government. A Long History of Japanese Women Warriors, Biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 16th Century Unifier of Japan, Overview of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, Bushido: The Ancient Code of the Samurai Warrior, Russo-Japanese War: Admiral Togo Heihachiro, J.D., University of Washington School of Law, B.A., History, Western Washington University. Who are Satnamis? imported from Wikimedia project. Satsuma Rebellion and Saig Takamori Prints, [portraying events of September 24, 1877], and government military officers who fought against him], he stands at the head of the women's troops; when resting she offers help, shares out food and looks after the soldiers' needs], Saig Takamori was a revered figure to many Japanese. Physically he was imposing, standing six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds. He was a key player in the formation of the Meiji government, both as a military leader against the Tokugawa shogunate (see the print, and as a politician shaping foreign and domestic policies. After his leaving service with the Meiji government, largely over differences on Japans Korea policy, [see the print, he returned to his home province of Satsuma where he cultivated his image as a man of virtue, culture, and honor and where he was generally regarded as a living legend., While not actively engaged in politics he remained politically involved through the, schools), where he was celebrated as the spiritual leader., While he is viewed by historians as a reluctant leader of the rebellion his reputation made him the natural leader. After a raid on the government arsenal by, students, his hand was forced and on February 7, 1877 he announced his decision to confront the central government., Nine months later the rebellion was over, Saig was dead and his out-manned and out-gunned rebels decimated., with his faithful hunting dog was erected in Tokyo's Ueno Park. The imperial government in Tokyo expected Saigo to come to the capital by sea or to dig in and defend Satsuma. Modern weapons were also used such as the Smith & Wesson Model No. Saig was initially confident of his ability to take Kumamoto Castle, but he had underestimated the effectiveness of the imperial conscripts defending the castle. First I developed my thesis statement. Founded in 1938 and published semiannually by Sophia University, Monumenta Nipponica (MN) is one of the oldest English-language academic journals in the field of Asian studies. By early 1873, Japanese militarists who interpreted this as a grave affront called for an invasion of Korea but in a July meeting that year, Saigo opposed sending warships to Korea. This provoked open conflict, although with the elimination of samurai rice stipends in 1877, tensions were already extremely high. In disgust at this latest move of a Government with which he had never from the first been in sympathy, he left Tokio. During war, the mountain artillery had a nominal strength of 160 men per battery and field artillery had 130 men per battery. The Last Samurai chronicles the fortuitous rise and tragic fall of Saig. The Meiji Era controlled most of Japan, except for a small area in the southwestern part of Japan, which was the Satsuma. Instead, he went home to Kagoshima. In reality it was a military college. SAIGO's forces were crushed on September 24, 1877 (Meiji 10) in the face of a general attack by government forces. When the attack finally came, the Satsuma forces withdrew, leaving small pockets of samurai to hit the larger army in guerrilla-style strikes. [9] On 22 February 1889, Emperor Meiji pardoned Saig posthumously. Although Satsuma had been one of the key players in the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War, and although many men from Satsuma had risen to influential positions in the new Meiji government, there was growing dissatisfaction with the direction the country was taking. When an Imperial Navy landing party reached the arsenal at Somuta under cover of night, locals raised the alarm. Saig Takamori was labelled as a tragic hero by the people, and his actions were considered an honorable example of bushido and Yamato-damashii. In April 1877, Saig reorganized the army into nine infantry units of 350 to 800 men each. This rebellion was led by the restoration hero Saig Takamori and lasted six months. Friction among the Cabinet members over the question of Korean conquest, added to the local disturbances, made the already confused state of things worse confounded, and the result was the famous Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Morale was extremely low, and lacking any strategy, the Satsuma forces dug in to wait for the next Imperial Army offensive. 1973 Sophia University Szczepanski, Kallie. The very rapid and massive changes to Japanese culture, language, dress and society appeared to many samurai to be a betrayal of the ji ("expel the barbarian") portion of the sonn ji justification used to overthrow the former Tokugawa shogunate. Contemporary illustrations show the cavalry armed with lances. Takamori Saigo, defeated in his insistent advocacy of the invasion of Korea, resigned his councillorship in the Cabinet and returned to his native place. The Korean government even went as far as having a prefect publicly state that by adopting western-style customs and clothing, Japan had become a barbarian nation. The head was somehow retrieved by government forces and was reunited with Saig's body, which was laid next to that of his deputies Kirino and Murata. SAIGO's army campaigned as far as Kumamoto and Miyazaki (both in Kyushu), but then returned to Kagoshima in September, where it holed up in Shiroyama. By ending the samurai class's privileges, the Meiji government had essentially abolished their identity, allowing small-scale rebellions to erupt all over Japan. Though in Satsuma the rivalry of individual leaders had stopped short of open hostilities, the division of feeling was not less marked. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Presented with this sudden success, the greatly dismayed Saig was reluctantly persuaded to come out of his semi-retirement to lead the rebellion against the central government. She has taught at the high school and university levels in the U.S. and South Korea. These attacks on the ramparts continued for two days, until Saigo decided to settle in for a siege. Despite the overwhelming odds, the Imperial Army did not attack immediately upon arrival on September 8 but instead spent more than two weeks carefully preparing for its final assault. Undeniably, it was one of the most noteworthy incidents during Japan's transition from a feudal regime to a modern state. By 1877, he sided with rebel forces and fought in what's now known as the Satsuma Rebellion. Bonded by their distaste for the shogunate, Choshu and Satsuma gradually formed an alliance. By this time much uneasiness prevailed. How the Samurai Ended During the Satsuma Rebellion, Overview of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, A Long History of Japanese Women Warriors, The Four-Tiered Class System of Feudal Japan, J.D., University of Washington School of Law, B.A., History, Western Washington University. The artillery battalion was divided into 2 batteries with 130 men per battery. The police, in units ranging from 300 to 600 men, were mostly ex-samurai (ironically, many of whom were from Satsuma) and were armed only with wooden batons and swords (Japanese police did not carry firearms until the rice riots of 1918). Satsuma Rebellion. The spy leader confessed under torture that he was supposed to assassinate Saigo. Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. Wikipedia. The Last Samurai's Katsumoto Moritsugu is based on the iconic Japanese samurai Saig Takamori. On September 24, 1877, at 3:45 am, the Emperor's army launched its final assault in what is known as the Battle of Shiroyama. Founded by a saint named "Birbhan" in 1657 in Narnaul in Haryana. Beginning its educational efforts with a small Imperial forces landed with few losses, then pushed north seizing the city of Miyanohara on March 19. Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877: Letters of John Capen Hubbard E. Nock Published 1 August 1948 History The Far Eastern Quarterly One of the most noteworthy incidents in the history of Japan's transition from a feudal regime to a modern state was the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877. Although much of his history has been lost, recent scholars have discovered clues to the true nature of this illustrious warrior and diplomat. By HORACE WALLER, FRGS, Rector of Twywell, Northampton. These disaffected samurai came to dominate the Kagoshima government, and fearing a rebellion, the government sent warships to Kagoshima to remove weapons from the Kagoshima arsenal. Vol. More critically, the defeat of the samurai displayed the power of modern artillery and rifles, against which a banzai charge had no appreciable effect. Nariakira and his allies sought to increase the emperor's power at the expense of the shogun, but on July 15, 1858, Shimazu died suddenly, likely of poison. Unable to overcome the affection that the people had for this paragon of traditional samurai virtues, the Meiji-era government pardoned him posthumously on February 22, 1889. The Satsuma advance guard, 4,000 strong, set out on February 15, marching north. Brilliant Essays. The true story that inspired the 2003 Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai, the Satsuma Rebellion (seinan sens, or "Southwestern War" in Japanese) was an 1877 rebellion of disaffected ex-samurai from Satsuma domain against the newly constituted Meiji government of Japan.Led by an erstwhile member of the government's highest circle, the legendary samurai Saigo Takamori, the . Over the next three days, more than 1000 students staged raids on the naval yards and other arsenals.[3]. Despite Yamagata's efforts over the next several days, Saig and his remaining 500 men reached Kagoshima on September 1 and seized Shiroyama, overlooking the city. Historian Ivan Morris described him as "the quintessential hero of modern Japanese history". The Wealthy Chiefs Inspecting the Decapitated Heads of Enemies, Presentation of the Emperor's Gift Cup for the second time to commanders involved in pacifying Western Japan (Saigoku), 1877, Report: The Whole Nation Living in Perfect Contentment (Empress, Empress Dowager and Court Ladies in Waiting Sewing Pledgets), 1877, Iwai Hanshir VIII, Ichikawa Danjr IX and Ichikawa Sadanji in The Morning East Wind Clearing the Clouds of the Southwest, March 1878, Bronze Statue of Saig in Ueno Park, 1899, The Debate Over Invading Korea (Seikanron), http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090913a6.html, http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/bunko10/b10_8333/index.html. staff and only a handful of students, the university confronted many difficulties in its early years. After two days of fruitless attack, the Satsuma forces dug into the rock-hard icy ground around the castle and tried to starve the garrison out in a siege. The rebellion lasted from January 29, 1877, until September of that year, when it was decisively crushed, and its leader, Saig Takamori, was shot and mortally wounded. Add to Wish List Link to this Book Add to Bookbag Sell this Book Buy it at Amazon Compare Prices. By August 17, the Satsuma army had been reduced to 3000 combatants, and had lost most of its modern firearms and all of its artillery. In either case, his retainer, Beppu Shinsuke, cut off his head to ensure that Saigo's death was honorable. As none of the eyewitness accounts mention a wound to the abdomen, or any fresh sword wound at all, it is unknown if Saig pierced his stomach with his sword. Saig resigned from all of his government positions in protest and returned to his hometown of Kagoshima. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and became home to unemployed samurai after military reforms rendered their . Rebellions by the samurai, which had broken out sporadically since 1868 (Meiji 1), including the 1869-70 conflict between irregular military units and upper rank samurai commanders in the Choshu domain, gained steam with the collapse of the "conquer Korea debate". "Southwestern War") was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. The samurai were armed with traditional weapons including katanas, naginata and yari polearms, yumi bows, and Sengoku era gunpowder weapons such as tanegashima, baj-zutsu, and wooden cannons. After the Restoration the condition of things became less unsettled in Mito, and to some extent also in Choshiu. "Saigo Takamori: The Last Samurai." The influential Satsuma samurai, Saigo Takamori, was away at the time and had no knowledge of these events, but hurried home when he heard the news. The artillery consisted of 28 5-pounders, two 16-pounders, and 30 mortars. The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the Seinan War was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era.. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned, returning power to the Emperor in what came to be known as the Meiji Restoration. Officially, the Meiji Emperor's government had authority over those facilities after 1871, but Satsuma officials actually retained control of them. Call Number: E315 .H64 2006. In 1871 he was left in charge of the caretaker government during the absence of the Iwakura Mission (187173). The eight-month-long Satsuma Rebellion was the last great rebellion of feudal Japan, quite literally the last stand of the disaffected samurai warriors against the new imperial government, put in place by the Meiji Restoration. However, Saig was one of the most vocal and vehement opponents to the negotiated solution, demanding that the Tokugawa be stripped of their lands and special status. Satsuma Rebellion The imperial government in Tokyo expected Saigo to come to the capital by sea or to dig in and defend Satsuma. Saigo soon noted that he had "fallen into their trap and taken the bait" of settling into a siege. Tabaruzaka was one of the most intense campaigns of the war. The Satsuma Rebellion. The major religious activity of this sect is to chant and meditate the true names (Sat-Nam) of God, specially Rama and Krishna. Saig also started an artillery school. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and became home to unemployed samurai after military reforms rendered their status obsolete. In addition, there were 200 artillerymen and 1,200 laborers. To aid in the air of legality, Saig wore his army uniform. His political organizing ran afoul of the new daimyo, however, who had him arrested and banished to a different small island just four months after his return from Amami. to undertake publication of Monumenta Nipponica despite these problems symbolized the founders' commitment to 7. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Later woodcut prints depicted the rebel leader kneeling to commit traditional seppuku, but that would not have been possible given his filariasis and shattered leg. Datasets available include LCSH, BIBFRAME, LC Name Authorities, LC Classification, MARC codes, PREMIS vocabularies, ISO language codes, and more. country. Paperback, 1 edition, Wiley, February 7, 2005. This costly defeat put Saigo on the defensive for the remainder of the rebellion. Read 7 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. [citation needed], In English, the most common name for the war is the "Satsuma Rebellion". Browsing subject area: Satsuma Rebellion, 1877 (Exclude extended shelves) You can also browse an alphabetical list from this subject or from: . The myth stems from the fact that the legions used a phalanx system with spears as primary system before the manipel system was introduced and the Gladius became thr primary weapon for most of the empire. Saig did insist, however, that Japan should go to war with Korea in the Seikanron debate of 1873 due to Korea's refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Emperor Meiji as head of state of the Empire of Japan, and insulting treatment meted out to Japanese envoys attempting to establish trade and diplomatic relations. The rebellion lasted from January 29, 1877, until September . Roughly one-half of the work is devoted to the entire course of the rebellion. The Satsuma rebellion is often presented as an assault by modernity on the noble samurai tradition, but this is an idealized view. ThoughtCo. The Satsuma Rebellion which took place in 1877was the most famous, and the final major instance out of a series of shizoku rebellionsled in the late 1870s by former samuraiof southwestern Japan against the prospect of the Meiji governmentabolishing their elite status and the rice stipends which had traditionally been the samurai's chief or sole In the hostilities which followed he took no part, being content to show his disapproval of the new regime by withdrawing into a retirement from which he never again emerged. Gordon, Andrew. Japan was divided into six military districts: Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Kumamoto, with two or three regiments of infantry, plus artillery and other auxiliary troops, assigned to each district. Saig was defeated and killed at the . https://www.thoughtco.com/the-satsuma-rebellion-195570 (accessed March 1, 2023). Fighting continued into the night. He did not want to rebel, still feeling deep personal loyalty to the Meiji Emperor, but announced on February 7 that he would go to Tokyo to "question" the central government. There are no published reports by eyewitnesses. Then I introduced the leader of the rebellion. Ravina, Mark. 2 See Augustus Mounsey, The Satsuma Re-bellion, London, 1879, p. 274 and appendices. Zargabraath 3 yr. ago. The first prints portraying the rebellion did not appear until early March, likely due to government restrictions on coverage "prohibiting the 'publication in newspapers of material about the Army for Subjugation of the Kumamoto Rebels. The Satsuma Rebellion: An Episode of Modern Japanese History; with Maps - Primary Source Edition. Although the Satsuma Rebellion far exceeded the next largest disturbance, the 1874 Saga Rebellion of 2, 500 samurai, it followed a general pattern of samurai protest. Ravina, Mark. Later, they would have said that he committed seppuku to preserve his status as a true samurai.[7]. when did the meiji restoration enddoes keegan allen have a child 26th February 2023 / in west warwick viewpoint / by / in west warwick viewpoint / by In Kagoshima prefecture (formerly Satsuma domain), the samurai of the 'private-school faction' (referring to graduates of the private school set up by SAIGO Takamori and his disciples), organized by KIRINO Toshiaki, et al., joined forces with the Prefectural Governor OYAMA Tsunayoshi to advance their own policies. To hit the larger army in guerrilla-style strikes expected Saigo to come to the by... Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned, returning power to the capital by sea or to in. Moritsugu is based on the noble samurai tradition, but Satsuma officials actually control... 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