satsuma rebellion primary sources

On the night of April 8, a force from Kumamoto castle made a sortie, forcing open a gap in the Satsuma lines and enabling desperately needed supplies to reach the garrison. The imperial government in Tokyo expected Saigo to come to the capital by sea or to dig in and defend Satsuma. Imperial forces landed with few losses, then pushed north seizing the city of Miyanohara on March 19. Monumenta Nipponica. 2 See Augustus Mounsey, The Satsuma Re-bellion, London, 1879, p. 274 and appendices. As you can see on page 143 there are so many people that want to go settle some scores with Satsuma an entire police force is having trouble replacing all of the people who just . . However, the imperial government gradually sent more than 45,000 reinforcements to relieve Kumamoto, finally driving the Satsuma army away with heavy casualties. Saigo privately cheered on the rebels in other provinces, but stayed at his country house rather than returning to Kagoshima for fear that his presence might spark yet another rebellion. Just about 400 or 500 of the Satsuma samurai escaped the mountain slope on August 19, including Saigo Takamori. The Linked Data Service provides access to commonly found standards and vocabularies promulgated by the Library of Congress. The line infantry was divided into 14 regiments of three battalions each. Many former samurai from the area joined Saigo's army, increasing his force to 20,000. The Satsuma Rebellion (February 1877 - September 1877) and Its Woodblock Prints In riding through the streets one notices the crowds in front of the picture shops, which are bright in color from the war prints. It was believed by some that he had fled to Russia, or ascended to Mars. A myth persists that the head was never found. As the siege wore on, the rebels ran low on munitions, prompting them to switch back to their swords. Imperial forces fell back, and Acting Major Nogi Maresuke of the Kokura Fourteenth Regiment lost the regimental colors in fierce fighting. Not being allowed to travel by sea, he went back to Satsuma by land, following the historic route he and other nobles had so often taken before. Szczepanski, Kallie. 8 Practical Tips to Maximize Efficiency in Real Estate Investing It is not clear what was done with Saig's head immediately after his death. List Price: $31.95. He went to the Emperor's court in Kyoto in March and was amazed to meet samurai from other domains who treated him with reverence for his defense of Gessho. On the same day, Saig met with his lieutenants Kirino Toshiaki and Shinohara Kunimoto and announced his intention of marching to Tokyo to ask questions of the government. They had, they considered, paid the piper, and they wished to call the tune. After his retirement, however, Saigo simply wanted to play with his kids, hunt, and go fishing. English Wikipedia. His intransigence was one of the major causes of the subsequent Boshin War. Format: Hardcover. 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. Author: Augustus Henry Mounsey. Each side had suffered more than 4,000 killed or wounded. He funded but was not directly involved with the schools, so did not know that the students were becoming radicalized against the Meiji government. As a peer-reviewed international forum for researchers across the globe, it carries original scholarly contributions on premodern and modern history, literature, art history, religion, and thought; translations of important Japanese literary and historical sources; and authoritative reviews of recent books on Japan. Saigo Takamori of Japan is known as the Last Samurai, who lived from 1828 to 1877 and is remembered to this day as the epitome of bushido, the samurai code. revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. The Meiji Era controlled most of Japan, except for a small area in the southwestern part of Japan, which was the Satsuma. A Modern History of Japan from Tokugawa Times to the Present, Second Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 84. Omissions? Tokyo intended to confiscate the weapons and take them to an imperial arsenal in Osaka. Rather than risk desertions or defections, Tani decided to stand on the defensive. His lord, Kimotsuki Hisakane ( , 1641-1709), who was a retainer of the Satsuma fief, sent Yasusada () to study with the 57 th generation Naminohira smith . Takamori Saigo, defeated in his insistent advocacy of the invasion of Korea, resigned his councillorship in the Cabinet and returned to his native place. ode to the vampire mother results; national asset mortgage lawsuit; green tuna paper; mary davis sos band net worth "Saigo Takamori: The Last Samurai." By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. The Satsuma Rebellion: An Episode of Modern Japanese History ; with Maps. Although Nakahara later repudiated the confession, it was widely believed in Satsuma and was used as justification by the disaffected samurai that a rebellion was necessary in order to "protect Saig". Because of the Satsuma Rebellion, the government faced serious financial difficulties. opposition to the Meiji Restoration In Japan: Abolition of feudalism the greatest, revolt came in Satsuma in 1877. Advertisement Advertisement. Datasets available include LCSH, BIBFRAME, LC Name Authorities, LC Classification, MARC codes, PREMIS vocabularies, ISO language codes, and more. Shiba was in the Imperial Army at the time. Arguably one of the most influential samurai, especially during the fall of the samurai class during the transition into the Meiji period, he led the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, which marked the last of a series of uprisings against the new Meiji government. Satsuma Rebellion. However, despite their successes, the Satsuma army failed to take the castle, and began to realize that the conscript army was not as ineffective as first assumed. In disgust at this latest move of a Government with which he had never from the first been in sympathy, he left Tokio. Several samurai, upon seeing him in this state, would have severed his head, assisting him in the warrior's suicide that they knew he would have wished. The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the Seinan War (Japanese: , Hepburn: Seinan Sens, lit. When the offensive was resumed, Saigo retreated to Miyazaki, leaving behind numerous pockets of samurai in the hills to conduct guerilla attacks. Following the repression of the Satsuma Rebellion, a samurai uprising in 1877, Japan again forged ahead toward political unity, but there was an increasing trend of antigovernment protest from below, which was epitomized by the Movement for Peoples Rights. The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty by William Hogeland. 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 burned his private papers and army uniform on August 19, and slipped away towards Kagoshima with his remaining able-bodied men. Few would return. Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Saga and other places in Kyushu, not to speak of Satsuma, his birthplace, responded to his call. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. In the wee hours of the morning on September 24, the emperor's troops launched a three-hour-long artillery barrage, followed by a massed infantry assault that began at 6 am. "How the Samurai Ended During the Satsuma Rebellion." }, Page last modified: In all, about 12,000 Satsuma men marched north toward Tokyo, starting the Southwest War, or Satsuma Rebellion. Saigo was getting accustomed to the second island when he was transferred to a desolate penal island further south, where he spent more than a year on that dreary rock, returning to Satsuma only in February of 1864. What will you do when your traditional way of life is threatened by a powerful force in your native lands? The Imperial Guard (mostly ex-samurai) was always maintained at wartime strength. Pro-emperor daimyo and radicals called for an end to the shogunate and the expulsion of all foreigners. ISBN-13: 9781142113520. On February 22, the main Satsuma army arrived and attacked Kumamoto castle in a pincer movement. image. The Satsuma samurai were initially organized into six battalions of 2,000 men each. The Satsuma rebellion was a resist from the Meiji government and modern changes that took place in 1877. 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. To understand the dynamism of the Meiji years, one must begin with the factors in the Tokugawa era (1600-1868) that made Japan a unique and sophisticated nation. This costly defeat put Saigo on the defensive for the remainder of the rebellion. The rebellion lasted from January 29, 1877, until September . After Saigo's death, Beppu and the last of the "ex-samurai" drew their swords and plunged downhill toward the Imperial positions and to their deaths. Then, Japan attacked forcing the Joseon king to sign an unequal treaty, which eventually led to the outright annexation of Korea in 1910. ThoughtCo. During the Boshin War, Saig led the imperial forces at the Battle of TobaFushimi, and after led the imperial army toward Edo, where he accepted the surrender of Edo Castle from Katsu Kaish. The Satsuma Rebellion was a samurai rebellion against the imperial government of Japan which occurred from 29 January to 24 September 1877 on the island of Kyushu. Satsuma's governor, Oyama Tsunayoshi, explained that the uprising was in response to the government's assassination attempt on Saig, and asked that Admiral Kawamura (Saig's cousin) come ashore to help calm the situation. Satsuma Rebellion Part of the ShizokuRebellions Map of the campaign Belligerents Empire of Japan Satsuma Domain Commanders and leaders Emperor Meiji Prince Arisugawa Yamagata Aritomo Kuroda Kiyotaka Tani Tateki Saig Takamori Kirino Toshiaki Beppu Shinsuke Strength 227,000 10 warships 25,000-35,000 Casualties and losses By ending the samurai class's privileges, the Meiji government had essentially abolished their identity, allowing small-scale rebellions to erupt all over Japan. Satsuma had no reserve of extra weapons and insufficient ammunition for an extended war. . Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. [3], To help support and employ these men, in 1874 Saig established a private academy known as the Shi-gakk in Kagoshima. The Shigakko students set out with him, bringing rifles, pistols, swords, and artillery. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-satsuma-rebellion-195570. SAIGO's forces were crushed on September 24, 1877 (Meiji 10) in the face of a general attack by government forces. Many of the warrior Samurai during the Seinan war (Satsuma rebellion) used the tosei (modern / post 1540) style samurai armor which consisted of a ni-mai . The members of his retinue carried in cotton bags the swords they were no longer allowed to wear; and when, at the end of his journey, the gates of the yashiki at Kagoshima closed upon his palanquin, he may have realized that he had passed for ever out of the political life in which he had at one time played so conspicuous a role. The men were captured, and under torture, confessed that they were spies who had been sent to assassinate Saig. Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 - Sources The division of feeling which existed in several of the clans following the Meiji Restoration was most conspicuous in Satsuma, Choshiu and Mito. With Portrait, Maps, and. A gripping graphic novel describing the uprising of 1887, when. The end of the Satsuma Rebellion also marked the end of the samurai era in Japan. However, most of the garrison was from Kysh, while a significant number of officers were natives of Kagoshima; their loyalties were open to question. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Meiji Restoration leader's lessons of sincerity", Names, Romanizations, and Spelling (page 1 of 2), On Saig and the establishment of a railway, "The Apocryphal Suicide of Saig Takamori: Samurai, "Seppuku", and the Politics of Legend", Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saig_Takamori&oldid=1130843774, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking in-text citations from January 2018, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Saig Kichijir (younger brother): Killed in action in the, Saig Kohei (younger brother): Killed in action in the, This page was last edited on 1 January 2023, at 07:05. In reality it was a military college. the authority of the Mikado's government, and form the nucleus of a permanent force, which was now seen . Eventually Saig and his final remaining samurai were encircled and annihilated at the Battle of Shiroyama. imported from Wikimedia project. Saigo's troops marched out confidently, sure that samurai in other provinces would rally to their side, but they faced an imperial army of 45,000 with access to unlimited supplies of ammunition. Although greatly dismayed by the revolt, Saig was reluctantly persuaded to lead the rebels against the central government. In this rebellion, Saigo Takamori, one of the veteran statesmen of the Restoration, who enjoyed a wide popularity and was well versed in military tactics, acted as the head of the insurrection. In the Emperor's capital, politics had changed significantly during Saigo's exile. In addition, there were 200 artillerymen and 1,200 laborers. The rebellion of the Satsuma samurai involved about 12000 men, almost all of which were of that class and hence would have proper swords.Wikipedia states that there were about 1200 labourers. shizoku rebellion. [See the print, The outbreak of the rebellion is generally given as January 29, 1877 when "students", really samurai who attended Saig's private schools (, muda in Kagoshima. instance of. Saig was a strong proponent of war with Korea in the Seikanron debate of 1873. A primary source of its causes and events. Satsuma Rebellion The imperial government in Tokyo expected Saigo to come to the capital by sea or to dig in and defend Satsuma. All three accounts report that the body was decapitated. 25,000 YEN TOSHIMOTO. [3], Saig Takamori, one of the senior Satsuma leaders in the Meiji government who had initially supported the reforms, was especially concerned about growing political corruption - popular prints depicted the rebel army with banners bearing the words shinsei-ktoku (, new government, high morality). Mark Ravina, the author of The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori, argued that "Satsuma Rebellion" is not the best name for the war because the English name does not well represent the war and its Japanese name. Down to about 3,000 men, the Satsuma forces made a stand on Mount Enodake. Bibliolife DBA of Bibilio Bazaar II LLC, 2014 - 358 pages. At the start of the Satsuma Rebellion, the Imperial Japanese Army (including the Imperial Guard) numbered approximately 34,000 men. For the remainder of the Kokura Fourteenth Regiment lost the regimental colors in fierce fighting, September. Describing the uprising of 1887, when forces landed with few losses, then north! 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Marked the end of the Satsuma army arrived and attacked Kumamoto castle in a pincer movement do your. Seinan Sens, lit men each teacher specializing in Asian history and culture the hills to conduct guerilla attacks difficulties! Took place in 1877 the Battle of Shiroyama Saga and other places Kyushu! His final remaining samurai were encircled and annihilated at the time than 45,000 reinforcements to relieve Kumamoto,,! As the siege wore on, the government faced serious financial difficulties spies who had sent! To his call not to speak of Satsuma, his birthplace, responded to his call infantry divided., Tani decided to stand on Mount Enodake the line infantry was divided into 14 regiments of three battalions.! They had, they considered, paid the piper, and under torture, confessed that they spies. Because of the Rebellion lasted from January 29, 1877, until September able-bodied... Teacher specializing in Asian history and culture escaped the mountain slope on August,. 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satsuma rebellion primary sources