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. Saig was initially confident of his ability to take Kumamoto Castle, but he had underestimated the effectiveness of the imperial conscripts defending the castle. Three years later, he began work in the local bureaucracy as an agricultural adviser, where he continued to work through his brief, childless arranged marriage to 23-year-old Ijuin Suga in 1852. The Satsuma samurai fought on with fierce determination; meanwhile, the defenders ran out of artillery shells. His first signature was Sanesada (). Beginning its educational efforts with a small 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. A primary source of its causes and events. At its head was Saig Takamori, a hero of the restoration who had directed the military campaign against the Tokugawa. On December 25, 1866, the 35-year-old Emperor Komei suddenly died. The government, however, refused to negotiate. ISBN-13: 9781142113520. He also married a local woman namedAigana and fathered a son. Initial Steps toward a Constitutional State, Preview of [Report of the Artillery Attack Against (Saigo Forces) in Shiroyama], Larger image of [Report of the Artillery Attack Against (Saigo Forces) in Shiroyama], Next ( Petition by Risshisha to Establish a National Assembly ), Chapter1 Initial Steps toward a Constitutional State, a. Conceptions of the Form of Government circa the Meiji Restoration, Chapter4 Crisis in Constitutional Politics. Saigo, however, had no regard for the conscripted farm boys who made up the imperial army. From Kagoshima Through the Siege of Kumamoto Castle." ISBN-10: 1437338992. Two describe a bullet wound to the hip or thigh. Satsuma Rebellion. During 1867, Saigo and officials from Choshu and Tosa made plans to bring down the Tokugawa bakufu. Meanwhile, the Joseon Dynasty in Korea refused to recognize the Mutsuhito as an emperor, because it traditionally recognized only the Chinese emperor as suchall other rulers were mere kings. Saigo's own daimyo, Hisamitsu, was the only one who publicly railed against the decision, leaving Saigo tormented by the idea that he had betrayed his domain lord. Publish Date: Jan 02, 2010. By May, Saigo's army had surrounded Edo and threatened to attack, forcing the shogun's government to surrender. The survivors were out of ammunition, so had to rely on their swords. This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. The Guard infantry was divided into 2 regiments of 2 battalions each. In peacetime, each company had approximately 160 privates and 32 officers and non-commissioned officers. After his failure to take Kumamoto, Saig led his followers on a seven-day march to Hitoyoshi. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Morale was extremely low, and lacking any strategy, the Satsuma forces dug in to wait for the next Imperial Army offensive. By HORACE WALLER, FRGS, Rector of Twywell, Northampton. Szczepanski, Kallie. He was succeeded by his 15-year-old son, Mutsuhito, who would later become known as the Meiji Emperor. A gripping graphic novel describing the uprising of 1887, when. image. It signaled the beginning of the Japanese Imperial Army's rise to domination in eastern Asia, which would end only with Japan's eventual defeat in World War II almost seven decades later. 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. In the meantime, on March 9 Saig, Kirino, and Shinohara were stripped of their court ranks and titles.[3]. Primary Sources 1. Marching north, his army was hampered by the deepest snowfall Satsuma had seen in more than 50 years, which, because of the similarity to the weather that had greeted those setting out to enact the Meiji Restoration nine years earlier, was interpreted by some as a sign of divine support.[3]. Statements. "How the Samurai Ended During the Satsuma Rebellion." Sophia University was established in Tokyo in 1913 by the Society of Jesus. [10] Statues in Ueno Park, Tokyo and near the ruins of Kagoshima Castle stand in his memory. The traditional explanation of the offensive rifle cartridges causing the initial outbreak of mutiny is only part of the story. The rebels' momentum soon stalled when they settled into a months-long siege of Kumamoto Castle, just 109 miles north of Kagoshima. 0 Reviews. Fighting continued into the night. Saigo soon noted that he had "fallen into their trap and taken the bait" of settling into a siege. In either case, his retainer, Beppu Shinsuke, cut off his head to ensure that Saigo's death was honorable. A famous bronze statue of Saig in hunting attire with his dog stands in Ueno Park, Tokyo. The Satsuma Rebellion : Illustrated Japanese History - the Last Stand of the Samurai by Wilson, Sean and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. 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. On September 1, Saigo and his 300 surviving men moved to Shiroyama mountain above Kagoshima, which was occupied by 7,000 imperial troops. Over the next three days, more than 1000 students staged raids on the naval yards and other arsenals.[3]. With these deaths, the Satsuma rebellion came to an end. The Linked Data Service provides access to commonly found standards and vocabularies promulgated by the Library of Congress. Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. Then, Japan attacked forcing the Joseon king to sign an unequal treaty, which eventually led to the outright annexation of Korea in 1910. During war, the mountain artillery had a nominal strength of 160 men per battery and field artillery had 130 men per battery. The Daimyo of Satsuma was one of the most powerful and aggressive of the . Shiba was in the Imperial Army at the time. ISBN-13: . OutOfFighters 3 yr. ago. Samurai scaled the walls repeatedly, only to be cut down by small arms fire. The Satsuma Rebellion: An Episode of Modern Japanese History ; With Maps. (2021, September 2). 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. During the latter years of the Tokugawa shogunate, just prior to the Meiji Restoration, the Satsuma clan began to invest heavily in armaments, building a new shipyard at Kagoshima, two weapons factories, and three ammunition depots. Author: Augustus Henry Mounsey. The modernization of the country meant the abolition of the privileged social status of the samurai class, and had undermined their financial position. Led by Daniel Shays, the rebel "Shaysites" of . 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. She has taught at the high school and university levels in the U.S. and South Korea. [9], A Japanese hand fan commemorating the event, which survives in the collection of the Staten Island Historical Society in New York, features a depiction of Saig Takamori in a scene labeled (in English) "The Battle Near the Citadel of Kumamoto".[10]. 724 Words; 3 Pages; Themes In Keeper N Me. The Satsuma Rebellion is recommended to all readers interested in Japanese and samurai history. He is popularly known as "The Last Samurai," and proved so beloved that Emperor Meiji felt compelled to issue him a posthumous pardon in 1889. Each battalion was divided into ten companies of 200 men. By May, the rebel army was in retreat southward, with the imperial army picking them off up and down Kyushu until September of 1877. 2 Army, Colt M1861 Navy, and the Russian Model 1857 Six Line muzzleloading rifles that could fire approximately one round per minute. [citation needed]. 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.. Soon 132 branches were established all over the prefecture. It threatened an all-out attack on Choshu, even though it did not have the military might to defeat that large domain. 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. Many native infantryman (sepoys) believed that these new cartridges introduced in early 1857 had been greased by cow and pig fat. Ten years passed after the Restoration, and during that time order was gradually restored within the country. In order to cut Saig off from his base, an imperial force with three warships, 500 policemen, and several companies of infantry landed in Kagoshima on March 8, seized arsenals, and took Satsuma's governor into custody. In disgust at this latest move of a Government with which he had never from the first been in sympathy, he left Tokio. Meanwhile, the remnants of the militaristic faction that supported Saigo's invasion proposal evolved into Japanese right-wing groups such as the genyosha and kokurykai. Here he had established an institution which, in order to disguise its object, was called a "private school." By March, Saigo realized that his rebellion was doomed. The shogun's men were still hunting him, so Saigo went into a three-year internal exile on the small island of Amami Oshima. by W. W. McLaren (page images at HathiTrust) Great Essays. Meanwhile, however, a crisis was developing in the government itself. In New England, merchants and farmers struggled to maintain their businesses in a new economy without established European trade or credit lines. Those men were motivated by growing domestic problems and by the threat of foreign encroachment. After centuries of samurai rule, however, many members of the warrior class were understandably reluctant to give up their status and power. The Shigakko students heard that the Meiji ship was coming and emptied the arsenal before it arrived. Small-scale rebellions broke out around Japan, and the shogun's troops proved shockingly unable to put down the uprisings. The Satsuma Rebellion. Each battalion consisted of four companies. The new conscript levies initially struggled to defeat Saig, and the government found it necessary to enlist former. Their artillery consisted of 28 5-pounders, two 16-pounders, and 30 mortars. Next, I stated the cause of the rebellion and the reaction of the Japanese government. ISBN-10: 1142113523. The rebellion was very expensive for the government, which forced it to make numerous monetary reforms including leaving the gold standard. When an Imperial Navy landing party reached the arsenal at Somuta under cover of night, locals raised the alarm. 1 reference. Datasets available include LCSH, BIBFRAME, LC Name Authorities, LC Classification, MARC codes, PREMIS vocabularies, ISO language codes, and more. From humble beginnings in the capital of Satsuma, Saigo followed the path of the samurai through his brief exile and would go on to lead reform in the Meiji government, eventually dying for his causeleaving a lasting impact on the people and culture of 1800s Japan. Satsuma rebeliion.svg 703 965; 1.09 MB. 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. He hoped to raise the samurai of other domains along the way. His childhood name was Kokichi and he received the given name Takamori in adulthood. This rebellion was led by the restoration hero Saig Takamori and lasted six months. The end of the Satsuma Rebellion also marked the end of the samurai era in Japan. Publish Date: Dec 10, 2008. Scene of Satsuma rebellion, triptych. 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. Feb. 15, 2023. 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. The accounts of his subordinates claim that he stood up and committed seppuku after his injury or that he requested that his friend Beppu Shinsuke assist his suicide. 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. In April of 1871, Saigo was persuaded to return to Tokyo to organize the new national army. However, most of the garrison was from Kysh, while a significant number of officers were natives of Kagoshima; their loyalties were open to question. Szczepanski, Kallie. Szczepanski, Kallie. The remnants of Saig's army retreated before the advancing imperials, who whittled it down relentlessly. There were many causes of the Indian Rebellion. These attacks on the ramparts continued for two days, until Saigo decided to settle in for a siege. 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 Linked Data Service provides access to commonly found standards and vocabularies promulgated by the Library of Congress. 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 receiving reinforcements, the imperial force, now totaling 4,000 men, attacked the rear elements of the Satsuma army and drove them back. 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. Updates? 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