The Satsuma Rebellion: An Episode of Modern Japanese History; with Maps - Primary Source Edition. He was born on May 26 th in the fourth year of Keian (, 1651). Satsuma Rebellion Part of the ShizokuRebellions Map of the campaign Belligerents Empire of Japan Satsuma Domain Commanders and leaders Emperor Meiji Prince Arisugawa Yamagata Aritomo Kuroda Kiyotaka Tani Tateki Saig Takamori Kirino Toshiaki Beppu Shinsuke Strength 227,000 10 warships 25,000-35,000 Casualties and losses Format: Hardcover. 8 Practical Tips to Maximize Efficiency in Real Estate Investing On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. After two days of fruitless attack, the Satsuma forces dug into the rock-hard icy ground around the castle and tried to starve the garrison out in a siege. [11], Modern weapons that were used by the Imperial Army include the Smith and Wesson Model 3, Colt 1851 Navy Revolver, Winchester Model 1873, Enfield Pattern 1853, Mauser Model 1871, as well as the Gatling and Armstrong guns. country. The first thing about which historians often comment is the period's stability. The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the Seinan War ( Japanese: , Hepburn: Seinan Sens, lit. Tabaruzaka was one of the most intense campaigns of the war. When the attack finally came, the Satsuma forces withdrew, leaving small pockets of samurai to hit the larger army in guerrilla-style strikes. By HORACE WALLER, FRGS, Rector of Twywell, Northampton. Faced with 21,000 imperial army troops, the majority of the rebels ended up committing seppuku (surrendering by suicide). As the siege wore on, the rebels ran low on munitions, prompting them to switch back to their swords. After months of fighting the Satsuma forces had dwindled to approx 400 . In reality it was a military college. Szczepanski, Kallie. His childhood name was Kokichi and he received the given name Takamori in adulthood. During 1867, Saigo and officials from Choshu and Tosa made plans to bring down the Tokugawa bakufu. During the battle of Shiroyama, Saig was badly injured in the hip. Although all of the rebels were killed, the imperial troops managed to locate Saigo's buried head. 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. Saigo, however, had no regard for the conscripted farm boys who made up the imperial army. "Southwestern War") was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Tensions with the government mounted after members of the private-school faction raided an ammunitions depot in early 1877 (Meiji 10), and secret agents were dispatched by the government to Kagoshima to spy on them. However, the Satsuma army was able to cut its way free from encirclement. At the start of the Satsuma Rebellion, the Imperial Japanese Army (including the Imperial Guard) numbered approximately 34,000 men. 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. 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. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-satsuma-rebellion-195570. 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. In October, the prime minister announced that Saigo would not be allowed to travel to Korea as an emissary. The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the Seinan War (Japanese: , Hepburn: Seinan Sens, lit. Many rules and regulations changed, from the number of soldiers to the type of weapons used.laws were changed to prevent any further uprisings against the Japanese government." 2. They had, they considered, paid the piper, and they wished to call the tune. After that I provided some background information on the samurai and the armor that they wore. On the night of April 8, a force from Kumamoto castle made a sortie, forcing open a gap in the Satsuma lines and enabling desperately needed supplies to reach the garrison. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/figures-and-events-in-asian-history-s2-3896549. 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. The samurai then attacked imperial facilities around the province, seizing weapons and parading them through the streets of Kagoshima. Despite Yamagata's efforts over the next several days, Saig and his remaining 500 men reached Kagoshima on September 1 and seized Shiroyama, overlooking the city. ThoughtCo. Down to about 3,000 men, the Satsuma forces made a stand on Mount Enodake. Continued by a Narrative of his Last Moments and Sufferings, obtained from his Faithful Servants Chuma and Susi. by W. W. McLaren (page images at HathiTrust) "Saigo Takamori: The Last Samurai." Blog. First I developed my thesis statement. Publish Date: Dec 10, 2008. [7] These state-owned industries had been operating at a loss, and Finance Minister Matsukata Masayoshi decided to sell all of these to politically connected capitalists at a loss, except the railroad, telegraph and military industries. Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Saga and other places in Kyushu, not to speak of Satsuma, his birthplace, responded to his call. 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. Feb. 15, 2023. As commander of Satsuma's troops, Saigo led an 1864 punitive expedition against the Choshu domain, whose army in Kyoto had opened fire on the Emperor's residence. Fearing a rebellion, the Meiji government sent a warship to Kagoshima to remove the weapons stockpiled at the Kagoshima arsenal on January 30, 1877. 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. As with its predecessors, the origins of 1877 lie in the 1873 debate over a proposed invasion of Korea. This rebellion was led by the restoration hero Saig Takamori and lasted six months. 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. A famous bronze statue of Saig in hunting attire with his dog stands in Ueno Park, Tokyo. Battle of Tabaruzaka: Imperial troops on the left, rebel samurai troops on the right, Saigo's army clashes with the government's forces. When the offensive was resumed, Saigo retreated to Miyazaki, leaving behind numerous pockets of samurai in the hills to conduct guerilla attacks. Szczepanski, Kallie. During war, the mountain artillery had a nominal strength of 160 men per battery and field artillery had 130 men per battery. They retreated once more to Mount Shiroyama, which stands above the city of Kagoshima, where the rebellion began seven months earlier. The Satsuma samurai were initially organized into six battalions of 2,000 men each. The following day, Hayashi declared to Oyama that he could not permit Kawamura to go ashore when the situation was so unsettled, and that the attack on Takao constituted an act of lse-majest. On February 19, the first shots of the war were fired as the defenders of Kumamoto castle opened fire on Satsuma units attempting to force their way into the castle. The Satsuma advance guard, 4,000 strong, set out on February 15, marching north. Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned, returning power to the Emperor in what came to be known as the Meiji Restoration. Instance of. (2021, September 2). He did not want to rebel, still feeling deep personal loyalty to the Meiji Emperor, but announced on February 7 that he would go to Tokyo to "question" the central government. Publication Date: 2006. Although the Satsuma Rebellion far exceeded the next largest disturbance, the 1874 Saga Rebellion of 2, 500 samurai, it followed a general pattern of samurai protest. The spy leader confessed under torture that he was supposed to assassinate Saigo. 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. 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. Like all other times in his life, though, his retirement was short-livedin January of 1869, the Satsuma daimyo made him a counselor of the domain's government. The survivors were out of ammunition, so had to rely on their swords. The conflict of opinions between the conservative internal policy party and the strong foreign policy party resulted in a vehement controversy over the question of an invasion of Korea, and finally led to the great Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Other imperial loyalists wrote to him for advice on politics, so despite his exile and officially dead status, he continued to have an impact in Kyoto. While the year 1868 was crucial to the fall of the shogunate and the establishment of a new government . This was the end of the so-called Satsuma Rebellion. 25,000 YEN TOSHIMOTO. Mark Ravina, the author of The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori, argued that "Satsuma Rebellion" is not the best name for the war because the English name does not well represent the war and its Japanese name. image. Page 1 of 17 - About 161 Essays Improved Essays. 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. Publish Date: Jan 02, 2010. After his retirement, however, Saigo simply wanted to play with his kids, hunt, and go fishing. The Satsuma samurai fought on with fierce determination; meanwhile, the defenders ran out of artillery shells. The Satsuma Rebellion (also known as "seinan sens" - the Southwestern War) was a turning point in Japanese history. It is not clear what was done with Saig's head immediately after his death. On September 24, 1877, at 3:45 am, the Emperor's army launched its final assault in what is known as the Battle of Shiroyama. How the Samurai Ended During the Satsuma Rebellion, Overview of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, A Long History of Japanese Women Warriors, The Four-Tiered Class System of Feudal Japan, J.D., University of Washington School of Law, B.A., History, Western Washington University. Over the next two years, the government seized land from the elite samurai and redistributed profits to lower ranked warriors. On his return to Kobe on February 12, Hayashi met with General Yamagata Aritomo and It Hirobumi, and it was decided that the Imperial Japanese Army would need to be sent to Kagoshima to prevent the revolt from spreading to other areas of the country sympathetic to Saig. The influential Satsuma samurai, Saigo Takamori, was away at the time and had no knowledge of these events, but hurried home when he heard the news. After Oyama departed, a flotilla of small ships filled with armed men attempted to board Takao by force, but were repelled. The artillery battalion was divided into 2 batteries with 130 men per battery. A reproduction of the same statue stands on Okinoerabujima, where Saig had been exiled. ISBN-13: 9781142113520. In real life, Saig initially led the Imperial forces and won the four-day Battle of Toba-Fushimi in January 1868. He led his samurai straight up the middle of Kyushu, planning to cross the straits and march on Tokyo. The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the Seinan War (Japanese: , Hepburn: Seinan Sens, lit. Saig Takamori (Takanaga) ( (), January 23, 1828 September 24, 1877) was a Japanese samurai and nobleman. Japan Currency Museum. The conflict effectively ended the samurai class and ushered in modern warfare fought by conscript soldiers instead of military nobles. This provoked open conflict, although with the elimination of samurai rice stipends in 1877, tensions were already extremely high. This document is the report by OYAMA Iwao, who led the attack on SAIGO's army at Shiroyama. Morale was extremely low, and lacking any strategy, the Satsuma forces dug in to wait for the next Imperial Army offensive. The Apocryphal Suicide of Saig Takamori: Samurai, Seppuku, and the Politics of Legend. Journal of Asian Studies 69.3 (2010): 691-721. 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