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. Since the OP might be interested, here are the pages from the above reading on the Satsuma Rebellion and its aftermath. He initiated a military advance the following month, on February 15, intending to march on Tokyo, because of "questions I intend to press on the government." 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. 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. This costly defeat put Saigo on the defensive for the remainder of the rebellion. Saig met the noted British diplomat Ernest Satow in the 1860s, as recorded in the latter's A Diplomat in Japan, and Satow was present at the unveiling as recorded in his diary. The traditional explanation of the offensive rifle cartridges causing the initial outbreak of mutiny is only part of the story. The end of the Satsuma Rebellion also marked the end of the samurai era in Japan. 150,000 YEN UNSIGNED. SAIGO's forces were crushed on September 24, 1877 (Meiji 10) in the face of a general attack by government forces. The line infantry was divided into 14 regiments of three battalions each. Samurai scaled the walls repeatedly, only to be cut down by small arms fire. The formal ceremony took place on April 4, 1868, and the former shogun was even allowed to keep his head! He hoped to raise the samurai of other domains along the way. Saigo and his army made a seven-day march south to Hitoyoshi, where they dug trenches and prepared for the imperial army to attack. In 1877, the samurai of the Satsuma Province rose up in the Satsuma Rebellion or Seinan Senso (Southwestern War), challenging the authority of the Restoration Government in Tokyo and testing the new imperial army. The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty by William Hogeland. In its central quarters in that town, and in branches elsewhere, the youth of the clan received a military training. There are no published reports by eyewitnesses. Rebellions by the samurai, which had broken out sporadically since 1868 (Meiji 1), including the 1869-70 conflict between irregular military units and upper rank samurai commanders in the Choshu domain, gained steam with the collapse of the "conquer Korea debate". Kyushu, Kysh region, Japan. This provoked open conflict, although with the elimination of samurai rice stipends in 1877, tensions were already extremely high. In order to concentrate power, Tokyo needed a national military, rather than relying on the domain lords to supply troops. This fighter's primary weapon is a percussion rifle, and the only other 'modern' element of his D: THE SATSUMA REBELLION, 1877 appearance is a white crossbelt supporting a cap pouch on D1: Highranking samurai, rebel army his chest and a cartridge pouch behind his right hip. Instead, he went home to Kagoshima. In Kagoshima prefecture (formerly Satsuma domain), the samurai of the 'private-school faction' (referring to graduates of the private school set up by SAIGO Takamori and his disciples), organized by KIRINO Toshiaki, et al., joined forces with the Prefectural Governor OYAMA Tsunayoshi to advance their own policies. During the siege, many Kumamoto ex-samurai flocked to Saig's banner, swelling his forces to around 20,000 men. Satsuma Rebellion. It began to promote samurai officials based on talent, rather than rank, and also encouraged the development of modern industry. Battle of Tabaruzaka: Imperial troops on the left, rebel samurai troops on the right, Saigo's army clashes with the government's forces. Saigo was disgusted by this treacherous tactic as well. The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the Seinan War (Japanese: , Hepburn: Seinan Sens, lit. . The work is generally accurate and has much of . By this time much uneasiness prevailed. . Eventually Saig and his final remaining samurai were encircled and annihilated at the Battle of Shiroyama. Ravina, Mark J. 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. 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. In all, about 12,000 Satsuma men marched north toward Tokyo, starting the Southwest War, or Satsuma Rebellion . The Satsuma samurai were initially organized into six battalions of 2,000 men each. Upload media. In October, the prime minister announced that Saigo would not be allowed to travel to Korea as an emissary. The schools resembled paramilitary political organizations more than anything else, and they enjoyed the support of the governor of Satsuma, who appointed disaffected samurai to political offices, where they came to dominate the Kagoshima government. The samurai then attacked imperial facilities around the province, seizing weapons and parading them through the streets of Kagoshima. 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. Has part or parts. Satsuma Rebellion. He was settling happily into island life but reluctantly had to leave the island in February of 1862 when he was called back to Satsuma. . Japan was divided into six military districts: Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Kumamoto, with two or three regiments of infantry, plus artillery and other auxiliary troops, assigned to each district. On its march to Kumamoto castle, the army was divided into three divisions; a vanguard of 4,000 men, the main division of 4,000 men, and a rearguard of 2,000 men. Founded by a saint named "Birbhan" in 1657 in Narnaul in Haryana. There, the situation was complicated by the existence of no less than three parties two conservative groups led, respectively, by the old noble Shimadzu, the father of the young ex-daimio, and by the elder Saigo, the latter being at once the most influential and most numerous; and a thirdthe party of reformwhich looked for guidance, among other prominent men, to Okubo, Kuroda, Matsugata, Kawamura and the younger Saigo. imported from Wikimedia project. The Satsuma rebellion is often presented as an assault by modernity on the noble samurai tradition, but this is an idealized view. The Satsuma Rebellion (also known as "seinan sens" - the Southwestern War) was a turning point in Japanese history. The Battle of Shiroyama: The final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion, this battle serves as the basis for the final battle scene in the film. Saigo Takamori: The Last Samurai. They were armed with breech-loading Snider rifles and could fire approximately six rounds per minute. He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Saigo Takamori had led the way in Meiji reforms including the creation of a conscript army and the end of daimyo rule. The artillery battalion was divided into 2 batteries with 130 men per battery. This includes data values and the controlled vocabularies that house them. 0 references. However, the exact manner of his death is unknown. After the Restoration the condition of things became less unsettled in Mito, and to some extent also in Choshiu. He also married a local woman namedAigana and fathered a son. In real life, Saig initially led the Imperial forces and won the four-day Battle of Toba-Fushimi in January 1868. Vol. All three accounts report that the body was decapitated. The head was somehow retrieved by government forces and was reunited with Saig's body, which was laid next to that of his deputies Kirino and Murata. This upbringing instilled a sense of dignity, frugality, and honor in young Saigo. 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. Japan. [3], To help support and employ these men, in 1874 Saig established a private academy known as the Shi-gakk in Kagoshima. Saigo spent a lot of time soaking in hot springs and strenuously avoiding politics. Roused from his seclusion, Saigo felt that this treachery and wickedness in the imperial government required a response. Format: Paperback. Attempts at Constitutional Government > Satsuma Rebellion. A primary source of its causes and events. Saig initially disagreed with the modernization of Japan and the opening of commerce with the West. The Last Samurai's Katsumoto Moritsugu is based on the iconic Japanese samurai Saig Takamori. Down to about 3,000 men, the Satsuma forces made a stand on Mount Enodake. The Battle of Shiroyama ( Shiroyama no tatakai) took place on 24 September 1877, in Kagoshima, Japan. He was succeeded by his 15-year-old son, Mutsuhito, who would later become known as the Meiji Emperor. 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. https://www.thoughtco.com/figures-and-events-in-asian-history-s2-3896549 (accessed March 1, 2023). 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. Datasets available include LCSH, BIBFRAME, LC Name Authorities, LC Classification, MARC codes, PREMIS vocabularies, ISO language codes, and more. Contemporary illustrations show the cavalry armed with lances. 0 Reviews. 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. Early on February 22, the Satsuma attack began. into one of Japan's leading private universities, with a student body of nearly 14,000 and a multinational faculty of some 1,500 as of 2019. She has taught at the high school and university levels in the U.S. and South Korea. 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. Along with troops from Aizu, Saigo's massive army marched on Choshu, where he negotiated a peaceful settlement rather than launching an attack. Saig was a strong proponent of war with Korea in the Seikanron debate of 1873. He led his samurai straight up the middle of Kyushu, planning to cross the straits and march on Tokyo. Call Number: E315 .H64 2006. The Guard infantry was divided into 2 regiments of 2 battalions each. Morale was extremely low, and lacking any strategy, the Satsuma forces dug in to wait for the next Imperial Army offensive. 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. shizoku rebellion. The Tokugawa regime was falling apart, but it had not yet occurred to Saigo that a future Japanese government might not include a shogunafter all, the shoguns had ruled Japanfor 800 years. Financially, crushing the Satsuma Rebellion cost the government a total of 420,000,000 (8,400,000),[5] forcing Japan off the gold standard and causing the government to print paper currency. 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. 1 reference. A myth persists that the head was never found. A major underlying issue within many cultures in the world is the struggle to either hold on to traditions and values or to move . The true story that inspired the 2003 Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai, the Satsuma Rebellion (seinan sens, or "Southwestern War" in Japanese) was an 1877 rebellion of disaffected ex-samurai from Satsuma domain against the newly constituted Meiji government of Japan.Led by an erstwhile member of the government's highest circle, the legendary samurai Saigo Takamori, the . The Commandant of Kumamoto Castle Major General Tani Tateki had 3,800 soldiers and 600 policemen at his disposal. His childhood name was Kokichi and he received the given name Takamori in adulthood. In December 1876, the Meiji government sent a police officer named Nakahara Hisao and 57 other men to investigate reports of subversive activities and unrest. 4, Sophia University, JSTOR, 1973. Szczepanski, Kallie. The rebellion also effectively ended the samurai class, as the new Imperial Japanese Army built on heimin conscripts had proven itself in battle. After months of fighting the Satsuma forces had dwindled to approx 400 . 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. Over the next two years, the government seized land from the elite samurai and redistributed profits to lower ranked warriors. "Southwestern War") was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. 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. Superior Essays. 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