Sakuradamon Incident (1860)
Native name | 桜田門外の変 |
---|---|
Date | March 24, 1860 |
Location | Sakurada Gate, Edo Castle, present-day Tokyo, Japan |
Coordinates | 35°40′40″N 139°45′10″E / 35.67778°N 139.75278°E |
Type | Assassination |
Motive | Opposition to the signing of the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce |
Target | Ii Naosuke |
Participants | Rōnin samurai |
Casualties | |
Ii Naosuke |
The Sakuradamon Incident (桜田門外の変, Sakuradamon-gai no Hen, or 桜田門の変 Sakuradamon no Hen) was the assassination of Ii Naosuke, Chief Minister (Tairō) of the Tokugawa shogunate, on March 24, 1860 by rōnin samurai of the Mito Domain and Satsuma Domain, outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle.
Context
Ii Naosuke, a leading figure of the
Ii was also criticized for reinforcing the authority of the Tokugawa shogunate against regional
These policies generated strong sentiment against the shogunate, especially among proponents of the Mito school.[4]
Assassination
The assassination took place on March 24, 1860, on the day of the Double Third Festival where all daimyos stationed in Edo (modern Tokyo) were scheduled to enter Edo Castle for meetings. The assassins attacked Ii's entourage just outside the Castle, near the Sakuradamon (Sakurada Gate) when Ii was reaching the premises.[1] Ii had been warned about his safety, and many encouraged him to retire from office, but he refused, replying that "My own safety is nothing when I see the danger threatening the future of the country".[5]
Ii's entourage was composed of around 60 samurai guards and Ii's
The conspirators carried a manifesto on themselves, outlining the reason for their act:
While fully aware of the necessity for some change in policy since the coming of the Americans at
trampling on the picture of Christ, to allow foreigners to build places of worship for the evil religion, and to allow the three Foreign Ministers to reside in the land ... Therefore, we have consecrated ourselves to be the instruments of Heaven to punish this wicked man, and we have taken on ourselves the duty of ending a serious evil, by killing this atrocious autocrat.— Manifesto of the Sakuradamon conspirators.[9]
Accounts of the violent event were sent via ship across the Pacific to San Francisco and then sped by the Pony Express across the American West. On June 12, 1860, The New York Times reported that Japan's first diplomatic mission to the West received the news about what had happened in Edo.[10] The assassination dealt a severe blow to the prestige of the shogunate such that officials refused to admit Naosuke's death for a month, claiming that he was merely injured and was recuperating.[6] The minister's death was only made official in April when the office of Tairo was declared vacant.[6]
Fate and punishment of Ii Naosuke's entourage
Out of the 60 samurai guards defending Ii Naosuke, four died in combat and four died within days from fatal wounds. Those samurai who were killed in action were allowed to keep and pass-on their hereditary samurai names and status (thus privilege) to their heirs.
Survivors, however, all received various degree of punishment for failing to protect the Chief Minister. Two years after the incident in 1862, investigation was completed and verdicts were reached to punish the surviving guards. The seriously wounded, such as Shugoro Kusakari, were exiled to the Sano, Shimotsuke Province and had their stipends reduced. The slightly wounded were ordered to commit seppuku, and all the unharmed were beheaded, with their samurai status revoked.
Consequences
The popular upheaval against foreign encroachment and assassination of Ii forced the Bakufu to soften its stance, and to adopt a compromise policy of
For the following years until the fall of Bakufu in 1868, Edo, and more generally the streets of Japan, would remain notably hazardous for Bakufu officials (as displayed in events such as the attack on
The conflict reached its resolution with the military defeat of the shogunate in the Boshin War, and the installation of the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Despite the defeat of the Bakufu, the new government adopted a policy of trade and diplomatic relations with the Western powers closer to that of Ii Naosuke than that of his assassins.
See also
- Hikone Domain
- Mito Domain
- Mito Rebellion (Tengutō Rebellion)
- Tsuruga: The city which reconciled Mito and Hikone.
- Sakashita Gate Incident: January 15, 1862 Attempted assassination of Rōjū Andō Nobumasa by 6 samurai from Mito Domain.
- Samurai Assassin: 1965 film inspired by the incident.
References
Citations
- ^ ISBN 978-3-930698-93-6.
- ^ Satow 2006, p. 31.
- ^ Satow 2006, p. 33.
- ^ ISBN 9780521269032.
- ^ Murdoch 1903, p. 698.
- ^ ISBN 9781501336027.
- ^ Murdoch 1903, p. 697.
- ^ ISBN 0674003349.
- ^ Murdoch 1903, p. 702.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ISBN 9780191542459.
- ^ Satow 2006, p. 34.
Sources
- Murdoch, James (1903). A History of Japan. Vol. 3. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415154178.
- OCLC 646791008.