ThoughtCo. 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'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. 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. However, a government garrison at Kumamoto Castle stood in the Satsuma rebels' path, manned by about 3,800 soldiers and 600 police under Major General Tani Tateki. It turned out the be the latterthe emperor's government in Tokyo wanted a new, centralized system, not just a collection of more efficient, self-governing domains. They retreated once more to Mount Shiroyama, which stands above the city of Kagoshima, where the rebellion began seven months earlier. Saigo supported a stronger role for the Emperorbut distrusted the others' millennial rhetoric. Szczepanski, Kallie. English Wikipedia. The Satsuma vanguard crossed into Kumamoto Prefecture on February 14. French newsmagazine Le Monde Illustr / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain. 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 Satsuma Rebellion. With an army in place, the Meiji government summoned the remaining daimyo to Tokyo in mid-July, 1871 and abruptly announced that the domains were dissolved and the lords' authorities abolished. 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. Originally, they were a militant sect of Hindu Worshippers. shizoku rebellion. 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. In 1871 he was left in charge of the caretaker government during the absence of the Iwakura Mission (187173). 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. This provoked open conflict, although with the elimination of samurai rice stipends in 1877, tensions were already extremely high. As was the tradition for samurai in the event of their lord's death, Saigo contemplated committing to accompany Shimazu into death, but the monk Gessho convinced him to live and continue his political work to honor Nariakira's memory instead. Although kubo Toshimichi and others were more active and influential in establishing the new Meiji government, Saig retained a key role, and his cooperation was essential in the abolition of the han system and the establishment of a conscript army. He was succeeded by his 15-year-old son, Mutsuhito, who would later become known as the Meiji Emperor. SAIGO's forces were crushed on September 24, 1877 (Meiji 10) in the face of a general attack by government forces. 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. From Kagoshima Through the Siege of Kumamoto Castle", This page was last edited on 11 November 2022, at 04:04. Names, Romanizations, and Spelling (page 2 of 2), Satsuma Rebellion: Satsuma Clan Samurai Against the Imperial Japanese Army, Organization of Imperial and Satsuma Forces, Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office, Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, German preWorld War II industrial co-operation, International Military Tribunal for the Far East, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Satsuma_Rebellion&oldid=1121217754, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Buck, James H. "The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Satsuma Rebellion. Faced with 21,000 imperial army troops, the majority of the rebels ended up committing seppuku (surrendering by suicide). After Oyama departed, a flotilla of small ships filled with armed men attempted to board Takao by force, but were repelled. Rejecting large numbers of volunteers, he made no attempt to contact any of the other domains for support, and no troops were left at Kagoshima to secure his base against an attack. The Satsuma Rebellion: An Episode of Modern Japanese History (1879) Author: Augustus Henry Mounsey. RF HA13E4 - The donjon or central keep of the castle is a reconstruction built in the 1970s of the original sacked and burned during the AD.1877 Satsuma rebellion RM P3P0W0 - Battle of Seinan (1877)from Dainihon Rekishi Nishikie, published between late Edo and early Meiji period, Artist Yoshusai (Toyohara) Chikanobu, Private Collection. Pro-emperor daimyo and radicals called for an end to the shogunate and the expulsion of all foreigners. 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, however, had no regard for the conscripted farm boys who made up the imperial army. Publication Date: 2006. 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. Szczepanski, Kallie. Fearing a rebellion, the Meiji government sent a warship to Kagoshima to remove the weapons stockpiled at the Kagoshima arsenal on January 30, 1877. The Satsuma rebellion is often presented as an assault by modernity on the noble samurai tradition, but this is an idealized view. Japan. The modernization of the country meant the abolition of the privileged social status of the samurai class, and had undermined their financial position. ISBN-13: . https://www.thoughtco.com/the-satsuma-rebellion-195570 (accessed March 1, 2023). They were followed two days later by the rear guard and artillery unit, who left in the midst of a freak snowstorm. Next, I stated the cause of the rebellion and the reaction of the Japanese government. However, Northeastern domains led by Aizu continued to fight on the shogun's behalf until September., when they surrendered to Saigo, who treated them fairly, furthering his fame as a symbol of samurai virtue. 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. By 7 o' clock that morning, all of the Satsuma samurai lay dead. Rather than risk desertions or defections, Tani decided to stand on the defensive. He funded but was not directly involved with the schools, so did not know that the students were becoming radicalized against the Meiji government. "Southwestern War") was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Datasets available include LCSH, BIBFRAME, LC Name Authorities, LC Classification, MARC codes, PREMIS vocabularies, ISO language codes, and more. This rebellion was led by the restoration hero Saig Takamori and lasted six months. Today, building on this tradition, Sophia has developed During war a company's strength was to be increased to 240 privates. The Commandant of Kumamoto Castle Major General Tani Tateki had 3,800 soldiers and 600 policemen at his disposal. revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. By May, the rebel army was in retreat southward, with the imperial army picking them off up and down Kyushu until September of 1877. Szczepanski, Kallie. 150,000 YEN UNSIGNED. 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 . In reality it was a military college. The Death of the Last Samurai 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. At one point, he offered to visit Korea in person and to provoke a casus belli by behaving in such an insulting manner that the Koreans would be forced to kill him. The shogun's men were still hunting him, so Saigo went into a three-year internal exile on the small island of Amami Oshima. But in Satsuma the division of feeling remained unaltered, a circumstance which, added to separatist tendencies that stood in the way of combined action, was, in the sequel, of much benefit to the Government. The cavalry regiment consisted of 150 men. 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. [citation needed], In English, the most common name for the war is the "Satsuma Rebellion". The Japanese people appreciated the fact that he remained loyal to his virtues until his death in 1877. Small-scale rebellions broke out around Japan, and the shogun's troops proved shockingly unable to put down the uprisings. The Last Samurai chronicles the fortuitous rise and tragic fall of Saig. 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. "Saigo Takamori: The Last Samurai." . Ravina prefers the English name "War of the Southwest."[12]. 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. Economic effects of the Satsuma Rebellion resulted in the passing of the Act of February 4, 1877, which reduced the land tax from 3% to 2.5%. 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 proved that a conscript army of commoners could out-fight even a very determined band of samuraiprovided they had overwhelming numbers, at any rate. He also married a local woman namedAigana and fathered a son. However, disgruntled samurai in Satsuma viewed him as a symbol of traditional virtues and wanted him to lead them in opposition to the Meiji state. Corrections? 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