Although much of his history has been lost, recent scholars have discovered clues to the true nature of this illustrious warrior and diplomat. Satsuma was a feudal domain located in modernday kagoshima prefecture, in southwestern kyushu. Both sides are covered, the satsuma samurai and the imperial army, along with meiji. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks. Shogun 2, fall of the samurai as special units of the choshu domain. The members of this class were adherents of kokugaku and believed they were the creators of a new order as grand as that established by japans original founders. The forces defending aizuwakamatsu during the boshin war, and the forces of saigo takamori in the satsuma rebellion also used the term kiheitai to describe themselves. History of modern japan midterm flashcards quizlet. At this time, japan was a closed society, where travel abroad was a capital offence. The meiji era began when a faction of daimyo lords from satsuma and choshu in the far south of japan united to overthrow the tokugawa shogun and return political. In this blog post, gabriele esposito, author of maa 530 japanese armies 18681877, explains the causes behind the two conflicts analysed in his book. The court plans to issue an order to kill yoshinobu to force him to surrender power.
Illustrated japanese history the last stand of the samurai wilson, sean michael, shimojima, akiko on. The satsuma rebellion, known in japan as the war of the southwest. The satcho alliance was against opening the ports to foreign nations. The second crisis, the satsuma rebellion of 1877, was even more serious. And, its accurately descriptive it was a rebellion by the samurai of satsuma and choshu. 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. The meiji era or meiji period was a time of incredible transformation in japanese society. Having abandoned tosa, he was a ronin, an outlaw samurai a status which at once aided and confounded him. Satsuma rebellion the first test of the young meiji government came with the revolt of the powerful satsuma clan based in the southern region of the island of kyushu. A samurai from kagoshima, saigo played a major role during the meiji restoration, then died in 1877 while involved in a samurai rebellion against the government he. 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. Both the choshu and satsuma clans vied for leadership in what became open opposition to the shogunate.
Choshu and satsuma dominated the army, but within this coalition the positions of real power clearly belonged to yamagata and his choshu faction. Choshu and satsuma had only 5,000 troops in the fight, but they had modern weaponry including rifles, howitzers, and even gatling guns. In the second rebellion in 1866, saigo and satsuma remained neutral in the conflict between choshu and the shogunate. After this revolt, he began to negotiate with the leaders of the choshu rebellion to aid them in the future. The satsumachoshu alliance, satsumachoshu domei, or satcho alliance. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. After the government had abolished the samurai class in order to save the huge cost of paying annual stipends to every member of the class, a civil rebellion broke out in the southwestheaded by saigo. In the 1640s, discontent and rebellions were blamed on western influence especially christians.
The imperial armies made up of mostly satcho samurai finally overthrew the japanese shogunate in the boshin war 18671868 this victory led to the meiji restoration. The satsuma and choshu clans had strong resources to back them. The meiji oligarchy was the new ruling class of meiji period japan. Praise sean michael wilson has authored a unique line of mangastyle books on japanese themes. Southwestern war was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the meiji era. Satsumas former samurai were numerous, however, and they had a long tradition of opposition to central authority. New history textbook for middle school students chapter 4. The boshin war began with the tensions in the bakumatsu, the late bakufu, or the end of the tokugawa shoguante. Satsumachoshu alliance by mackenzie bagwell on prezi. Four important fiefs of western japan, satsuma, choshu, tosa, and hizen, had joined to overthrow the feudal tokugawa regime in 1868. Why was satsuma and choshu enough to topple the tokugawa. Satsuma was a major ally the shogunate expected to rely upon to counter that.
Choshu extremely believed in joi or the expulsion of the barbarians and the policy of sakoku, while satsuma believed in kaikoku for practical purposes by taking the opportunity. This is the first real biography, in english or japanese, of saigo takamori the last samurai the great hero of meiji japan. Choshu and satsuma alliance emerged unprecedentedly, especially when the latter assisted in the expulsion of the former from kyoto in 1863. The satsuma rebellion was the last civil war in japan, and this may be the reason why saigo has been dubbed the last samurai. An episode of modern japanese history 1879 augustus henry mounsey on. The boshin war and satsuma rebellion, and which events were used as the starting point for creating the script of. He thought the new regime was the answer for japan, and joined in its administration as one of the leaders. In 1863, five young samurai students of the choshu clan were smuggled out of japan and travelled to england. Japanese leaders decided that they needed a modern army equipped with. The students were placed into the care of alexander williamson 18241904, professor of chemistry at ucl, and his wife emma. This latest edition, the satsuma rebellion, with artist akiko shimojima, portrays the real last stand of the samurai and the central figuresaigo takamori, the subject of nhk televisions yearlong historical drama in 2018with style and accuracy.
Saigo, with some reluctance and only after more widespread dissatisfaction with the meiji reforms, raised a rebellion in 1877. It is impossible to overestimate saigos importance, both during the pivotal meiji period and today. Choshu and satsuma then secretly agreed to work together to destroy the edo shogunate. Choshu extremely believed in joi or the expulsion of the barbarians and the policy of sakoku, while satsuma believed in kaikoku for practical purposes by taking the opportunity to enrich japan to finance its defense. From choshu, was adopted, educated at yoshida shoins school imperial loyalism part of the satcho alliance between satsuma and choshu, which ends tokugawa shogunate meiji restoration after war, had big role in new govt was a sanyoimperial advisor, helped draft 5 charter oath. He is, of course, the model for katsumoto, the main character played by ken watanabe in the tom cruise hollywood movie the last samurai 2003. The satsuma choshu alliance, satsuma choshu domei, or satcho alliance. Antitokugawa faction satsuma and choshu thought otherwise. Click download or read online button to get satsuma rebellion book now. Satsuma and chosu ally together to defeat the tokugawa. Satsuma had a backdoor trading channel capable of supplying modern firearms.
Perry carried with him instructions from president millard fillmore for the government of japan to move away from isolationism. Sean michael wilson has authored a unique line of mangastyle books on japanese themes. Western interpretations include the 2003 american film the last samurai directed by edward zwick, which combines into a single narrative historical situations belonging both to the boshin war, the 1877 satsuma rebellion, and other similar uprisings of exsamurai during the early meiji period. Kiheitai in media edit the kiheitai appeared in an expansion of creative assemblys total war. A force of perhaps 30,000 rebellious samurai had faced down a modern conscript army in the satsuma rebellion and had perished. If the satcho alliance hated the west for ending japans. The second part of this volume covers the socalled satsuma rebellion of 1877. The satsuma rebellion was a resist from the meiji government and modern changes that took place in 1877. Politically, the choshu and satsuma samurai became known as the imperial loyalists, feeling that the emperor komei was the legitimate leader of japan. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company. When the proimperial troops won the twodaylong fight, several important daimyo switched their allegiance from the shogun to the emperor. Okubo was against the chastise korea movement and therefore fought strongly against eto shimpei and saigo takamori during the saga and satsuma rebellions.
Satsuma rebellion essay the origin of the satsuma rebellion in japan lay in the voyage to japan of u. The meiji era controlled most of japan, except for a small area in the southwestern part of japan, which was the satsuma. The uniforms, firearms, and strategies used in the different battles can be further understood through the many diagrams featured in the book. This influential clan was headed by the shimazu family, which had been founded by shimazu tadahisa, son of minamoto yoritomo, in the kamakura period. In japanese, the meiji oligarchy is called the domain clique, hambatsu. Thanks to the resulting satcho alliance, choshu was able to acquire stateoftheart weaponry from satsuma and to use it to decisively defeat the shogunates second choshu expedition. Unlike his comradesinarms from choshu, satsuma and other samurai clans, he was not bound to the service of feudal lord and clan.
Illustrated japanese history the last stand of the samurai. Boshin senso, war of the year of the yang earth dragon, sometimes known as the japanese revolution, was a civil war in japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court. But he soon became disgusted at the rampant corruption that existed among the new elite some bec. Why did saigo takamori strongly support the end of the. I am actually surprised that the satsuma rebellion is not called such in japanese. The last samurai kagoshima city, kagoshima japan travel. An interview with romulus hillsborough, author of samurai revolution, pt. Satsuma rebellion download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
The saga rebellion and other agrarian and samurai uprisings mounted in protest to the meiji reforms had been easily put down by the army. The term rebellion diminishes its scale, since in japanese its known as seinan senso literally southwestern war and was in fact a fullblown civil war, albeit brief. Satsuma was ruled by the shimazu clan, shimazushi, whose fief, the satsuma han. The shogunate, seeing enemies all around it, finally called it quits and relinquished power to the emperor. Satsuma was a major ally the shogunate expected to rely upon to counter that rebellion. This illustrated history book describes the events of the boshin war through the use of photographs and detailed descriptions. It marked the end of the japanese system of feudalism and completely restructured the social, economic, and military reality of life in japan. The satsuma rebellion which took place in 1877 was a revolt against the new imperial government nine years into the meiji era. Choshu had radicalized masses eager to fight the shogunate. This is the same topic as my last documentary, but i revised it to compete at state competition.