Sakuradamon incident (1860)
Encyclopedia
The on 24 March 1860 was the assassination of Japanese Chief Minister (Tairō
) Ii Naosuke
(1815-1860), by rōnin
samurai
of the Mito Domain
, outside the Sakuradamon gate of Edo Castle
.
, was widely criticized for having signed the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce
with the United States Consul Townsend Harris
and, soon afterwards, similar treaties with other Western countries. From 1859, the ports of Nagasaki
, Hakodate and Yokohama
became open to foreign traders as a consequence of the Treaties.
Ii Naosuke was also criticized for having reinforced the authority of the Shogunate against regional Daimyos through the Ansei Purge
. Naosuke made strong enemies in the dispute for the succession of Shogun Tokugawa Iesada
, and because he forced retirement on his opponents, specifically the retainers of Mito
, Hizen, Owari
, Tosa
, Satsuma and Uwajima
.
These policies generated extremely strong sentiment against the Shogunate, especially among proponents of the Mito school
.
Accounts of the violent event were sent via ship across the Pacific to San Francisco and then sped by pony express
across the American West. On June 12, the New York Times reported that Japan's first diplomatic mission to the West
received the news about what had happened in Edo.
in Edo
(modern Tokyo
), just as Ii Naosuke was reaching the premises. Ii Naosuke had already 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".
Altogether 17 Mito rōnin ambushed Ii Naosuke, together with one samurai from Satsuma Domain, Arimura Jisaemon (有村次左衛門). Arimura cut Ii Naosuke's neck, and then committed seppuku
.
The conspirators carried a manifesto on themselves, outlining the reason for their act:
("Union of the Emperor and the Shogun") suggested by Satsuma Domain and Mito Domain
, in which both parties would vie for political supremacy in the years to follow. This had soon amplified into the violent Sonnō Jōi
("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians") movement.
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 (see attack on Andō Nobumasa
) and foreigners alike (Richardson murder
), as the Sonno Joi movement continued to expand. According to Sir Ernest Satow: "A bloody revenge was taken on the individual [Ii Naosuke], but the hostility to the system only increased with time, and in the end brought about its complete ruin".
The conflict would reach its resolution with the military defeat of the Shogunate in the Boshin war
, and the installation of the Meiji restoration
in 1868.
Tairo
Tairō was a high-ranking official position in the bakuhan taisei government of Japan. The tairō would preside over the governing Rōjū council in the event of an emergency. A tairō would be nominated from among a group of samurai families who supported Tokugawa Ieyasu...
) Ii Naosuke
Ii Naosuke
was daimyo of Hikone and also Tairō of Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858 until his death on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Harris Treaty with the United States, granting access to ports for trade to American merchants and seamen and...
(1815-1860), by rōnin
Ronin
A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....
samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
of the Mito Domain
Mito Domain
was a prominent feudal domain in Japan during the Edo period. Its capital was the city of Mito, and it covered much of present-day Ibaraki Prefecture. Beginning with the appointment of Tokugawa Yorifusa by his father, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, in 1608, the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan...
, outside the Sakuradamon gate of Edo Castle
Edo Castle
, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...
.
Context
Ii Naosuke, already a leading figure of the Bakumatsu period and a proponent of the reopening of Japan after more than 200 years of SeclusionSakoku
was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633–39 and remained in effect until...
, was widely criticized for having signed the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce
Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States-Japan)
The , also called Harris Treaty, between the United States and Japan was signed at the Ryōsen-ji in Shimoda on July 29, 1858. It opened the ports of Yokohama and four other Japanese cities to American trade and granted extraterritoriality to foreigners, among other stipulations.-The Treaty:The...
with the United States Consul Townsend Harris
Townsend Harris
Townsend Harris was a successful New York City merchant and minor politician, and the first United States Consul General to Japan...
and, soon afterwards, similar treaties with other Western countries. From 1859, the ports of Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
, Hakodate and Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
became open to foreign traders as a consequence of the Treaties.
Ii Naosuke was also criticized for having reinforced the authority of the Shogunate against regional Daimyos through the Ansei Purge
Ansei Purge
The Ansei Purge was a purge, in 1858 and 1859, of over 100 people from the bakufu, various han, and the Japanese Imperial court...
. Naosuke made strong enemies in the dispute for the succession of Shogun Tokugawa Iesada
Tokugawa Iesada
Tokugawa Iesada Tokugawa Iesada Tokugawa Iesada (徳川 家定 (May 6, 1824 – August 14, 1858) was the 13th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office for only 5 years, from 1853 to 1858. He was physically weak and therefore unfit to be shogun in this period of great challenges...
, and because he forced retirement on his opponents, specifically the retainers of Mito
Mito Domain
was a prominent feudal domain in Japan during the Edo period. Its capital was the city of Mito, and it covered much of present-day Ibaraki Prefecture. Beginning with the appointment of Tokugawa Yorifusa by his father, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, in 1608, the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan...
, Hizen, Owari
Owari Domain
The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated at 619,500 koku, and was the largest holding of the...
, Tosa
Tosa Domain
The was a feudal domain in Tosa Province of Japan during the Edo period. Its official name is . Some from the domain played important roles in events in the late Tokugawa shogunate...
, Satsuma and Uwajima
Uwajima Domain
The was a feudal domain in Iyo Province of Japan during the Edo period. It was ruled from 1608 to 1613 by the Tomita clan. After a brief period as Tokugawa-controlled tenryō territory, the domain passed into the hands of the Date clan. The founder was Date Hidemune , first-born son of Date Masamune...
.
These policies generated extremely strong sentiment against the Shogunate, especially among proponents of the Mito school
Mitogaku
Mitogaku refers to a school of Japanese historical and Shinto studies that arose in the Mito domain, in modern-day Ibaraki prefecture.The school had its genesis in 1657 when Tokugawa Mitsukuni , second head of the Mito domain, commissioned the compilation of the Dai Nihon-shi...
.
Accounts of the violent event were sent via ship across the Pacific to San Francisco and then sped by pony express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
across the American West. On June 12, the New York Times reported that Japan's first diplomatic mission to the West
Japanese Embassy to the United States (1860)
The was dispatched in 1860 by the Tokugawa shogunate . Its objective was to ratify the new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Japan, in addition to being Japan’s first diplomatic mission to the United States since the 1854 opening of Japan by Commodore...
received the news about what had happened in Edo.
Assassination
The assassination took place outside the Shogun's Edo CastleEdo Castle
, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...
in Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
(modern Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
), just as Ii Naosuke was reaching the premises. Ii Naosuke had already 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".
Altogether 17 Mito rōnin ambushed Ii Naosuke, together with one samurai from Satsuma Domain, Arimura Jisaemon (有村次左衛門). Arimura cut Ii Naosuke's neck, and then committed seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
.
The conspirators carried a manifesto on themselves, outlining the reason for their act:
Consequences
The popular upheaval against foreign encroachment and assassination of Ii Naosuke forced the Bakufu to soften its stance, and to adopt a compromise policy of Kōbu GattaiKōbu Gattai
Kōbu gattai was a policy in Bakumatsu Japan aiming at obtaining a political coordination between the Bakufu and the Imperial Court....
("Union of the Emperor and the Shogun") suggested by Satsuma Domain and Mito Domain
Mito Domain
was a prominent feudal domain in Japan during the Edo period. Its capital was the city of Mito, and it covered much of present-day Ibaraki Prefecture. Beginning with the appointment of Tokugawa Yorifusa by his father, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, in 1608, the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan...
, in which both parties would vie for political supremacy in the years to follow. This had soon amplified into the violent Sonnō Jōi
Sonno joi
is a Japanese political philosophy and a social movement derived from Neo-Confucianism; it became a political slogan in the 1850s and 1860s in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, during the Bakumatsu period.-Origin:...
("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians") movement.
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 (see attack on Andō Nobumasa
Ando Nobumasa
was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Iwakidaira Domain. He was a rōjū in the Tokugawa shogunate, and was active in the wake of Ii Naosuke's assassination...
) and foreigners alike (Richardson murder
Namamugi Incident
The was a samurai assault on foreign nationals in Japan on September 14, 1862, which resulted in the August 1863 bombardment of Kagoshima, during the Late Tokugawa shogunate...
), as the Sonno Joi movement continued to expand. According to Sir Ernest Satow: "A bloody revenge was taken on the individual [Ii Naosuke], but the hostility to the system only increased with time, and in the end brought about its complete ruin".
The conflict would reach its resolution with the military defeat of the Shogunate in the Boshin war
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
, and the installation of the Meiji restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
in 1868.