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. 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. 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. Saigo was shot through the femur in the last suicide charge and one of his companions cut off his head and hid it from the imperial troops to preserve his honor. However, he was never able to reconcile his love of samurai tradition with the demands of modernizing the nation. Japanese Government Documents, 1867-1889 (special issue of Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan; 1914), by Japan, ed. Blog. [9] On 22 February 1889, Emperor Meiji pardoned Saig posthumously. French newsmagazine Le Monde Illustr / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain. 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 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. The Satsuma Rebellion proved that a conscript army of commoners could out-fight even a very determined band of samuraiprovided they had overwhelming numbers, at any rate. The situation was especially desperate for the defenders as their stores of food and ammunition had been depleted by a warehouse fire shortly before the rebellion began. The Satsuma vanguard crossed into Kumamoto Prefecture on February 14. When the offensive was resumed, Saigo retreated to Miyazaki, leaving behind numerous pockets of samurai in the hills to conduct guerilla attacks. 724 Words; 3 Pages; Themes In Keeper N Me. Although all of the rebels were killed, the imperial troops managed to locate Saigo's buried head. The Satsuma advance guard, 4,000 strong, set out on February 15, marching north. Although the samurai were heavily outnumbered, they made a heroic stand and counterattack against the Japanese Army and showed their legendary skills off to the world in their final fight. 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. Takamori's parents also had to borrow money to buy farmland in order to have enough food for the growing family. The Meiji Era controlled most of Japan, except for a small area in the southwestern part of Japan, which was the Satsuma. 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. Artillery consisted of over 100 pieces, including 5.28 pound mountain guns, Krupp field guns of various calibers, and mortars. The Last Samurai's Katsumoto Moritsugu is based on the iconic Japanese samurai Saig Takamori. The government had just dealt with several small but violent samurai revolts in Kysh, and they found the prospect of rebellion by the numerous and fierce Satsuma samurai, led by the famous and popular Saig, an alarming one. The men were captured, and under torture, confessed that they were spies who had been sent to assassinate Saig. The spy leader confessed under torture that he was supposed to assassinate Saigo. Sources describe him as dressed in an austere yellow kimono . He funded but was not directly involved with the schools, so did not know that the students were becoming radicalized against the Meiji government. revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. [4], Word of Saig's academies was greeted with considerable concern in Tokyo. The Satsuma Rebellion: An Episode of Modern Japanese History; with Maps - Primary Source Edition. Early on February 22, the Satsuma attack began. 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. These attacks on the ramparts continued for two days, until Saigo decided to settle in for a siege. The cavalry regiment consisted of 150 men. 0 Reviews. 1 reference. ISBN-10: 0341798762. [citation needed], In English, the most common name for the war is the "Satsuma Rebellion". Just four days after his return, he had an audience with the daimyo, Hisamitsu, who shocked him by appointing him commander of the Satsuma army in Kyoto. 150,000 YEN UNSIGNED. Founded by a saint named "Birbhan" in 1657 in Narnaul in Haryana. Maebara Ikkaku, from Bumbu komei den (Story of famous figures for military and literary) 20,000 YEN TOSHIMOTO. Ten years passed after the Restoration, and during that time order was gradually restored within the country. Saig resigned from all of his government positions in protest and returned to his hometown of Kagoshima. Saigo Takamori: The Last Samurai. ThoughtCo. He changed his name to Saigo Sasuke, and the domain government declared him dead. In all, about 12,000 Satsuma men marched north toward Tokyo, starting the Southwest War, or Satsuma Rebellion . Saig expected both that a war would ultimately be successful for Japan and also that the initial stages of it would offer a means by which the samurai whose cause he championed could find meaningful and beneficial death. The imperial troops spent several days constructing an elaborate system of ditches, walls and obstacles to prevent another breakout. However, the exact manner of his death is unknown. Browsing subject area: Satsuma Rebellion, 1877 (Exclude extended shelves) You can also browse an alphabetical list from this subject or from: . This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Saig also started an artillery school. 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. shizoku rebellion. The Satsuma Rebellion (also known as "seinan sens" - the Southwestern War) was a turning point in Japanese history. The Satsuma Rebellion book. 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. Down to about 3,000 men, the Satsuma forces made a stand on Mount Enodake. Japan. Here he had established an institution which, in order to disguise its object, was called a "private school." News article in Le Monde Illustr, 1877. date= January 29, 1877 to September 24, 1877 place= Kysh, Japan result=Imperial Victory combatant1= Empire of Japan combatant2=Satsuma domain Each battalion was divided into ten companies of 200 men. ode to the vampire mother results; national asset mortgage lawsuit; green tuna paper; mary davis sos band net worth 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. Primary Sources 1. During war, the mountain artillery had a nominal strength of 160 men per battery and field artillery had 130 men per battery. The Linked Data Service provides access to commonly found standards and vocabularies promulgated by the Library of Congress. Armed uprisings erupted successively in the Chugoku Region (western Honshu) and Kyushu, with the protagonists arguing for going through with the conquest of Korea and restoring samurai privileges. Monumenta Nipponica This provoked open conflict, although with the elimination of samurai rice stipends in 1877, tensions were already extremely high. 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. Tabaruzaka was held by some 15,000 samurai from Satsuma, Kumamoto and Hitoyoshi against the Imperial Army's 9th Infantry Brigade (some 9,000 men). While the year 1868 was crucial to the fall of the shogunate and the establishment of a new government . 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 aid in the air of legality, Saig wore his army uniform. The samurai then attacked imperial facilities around the province, seizing weapons and parading them through the streets of Kagoshima. The Imperial Guard (mostly ex-samurai) was always maintained at wartime strength. 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.. 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. 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. Kumamoto castle, built in 1598, was among the strongest in Japan, but Saig was confident that his forces would be more than a match for Tani's peasant conscripts, who were still demoralized by the recent Shinpren rebellion. Saig was initially confident of his ability to take Kumamoto Castle, but he had underestimated the effectiveness of the imperial conscripts defending the castle. 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. The Siege of Kumamoto Castle lasted until April 12, 1877. 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. In order to concentrate power, Tokyo needed a national military, rather than relying on the domain lords to supply troops. 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. https://www.thoughtco.com/figures-and-events-in-asian-history-s2-3896549 (accessed March 1, 2023). The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the Seinan War ( Japanese: , Hepburn: Seinan Sens, lit. 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. Support for Saig was so strong that Satsuma had effectively seceded from the central government by the end of 1876. By May, Saigo's army had surrounded Edo and threatened to attack, forcing the shogun's government to surrender. This upbringing instilled a sense of dignity, frugality, and honor in young Saigo. Szczepanski, Kallie. The first thing about which historians often comment is the period's stability. He argued that Japan should use diplomacy, rather than resorting to force, and offered to head a delegation himself. Because of the Satsuma Rebellion, the government faced serious financial difficulties., the greatest, revolt came in Satsuma in 1877. 4, Sophia University, JSTOR, 1973. He hoped to raise the samurai of other domains along the way. In the Emperor's capital, politics had changed significantly during Saigo's exile. 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. Made by Takamura Kun, it was unveiled on December 18, 1898. imported from Wikimedia project. 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