Tokugawa
Shogunate’s second expedition failed due to lack of support from other Domains
in addition to a secret alliance unknown to Edo. Explore the creation of this secret alliance between Choshu and Satsuma that led the collapse of the
Tokugawa Shogunate.
Satsuma-Choshu
Alliance
The
Satsuma-Choshu Alliance or Satcho Alliance surprisingly formed in 1866 despite
both Domains' animosity towards each other. Nevertheless, both came together to achieve one goal – the fall of the Tokugawa
Shogunate. This alliance eventually benefited the Choshu Domain especially with a
Shogunal army violently barging at its doorsteps.
Choshu
and Satsuma Alliance emerged unprecedentedly, especially when the latter
assisted in the expulsion of the former from Kyoto in 1863. Choshu extremely
believed in Jo-i or the expulsion of the barbarians and the policy of Sakoku,
while Satsuma believed in Kaikoku for practical purposes by taking the
opportunity to enrich Japan to finance its defense. The two clans clashed with
each other when Satsuma joined the Bakufu to expel the extremist Choshu from
Kyoto in 1863 and once again in 1864 during the latter domain’s attempted coup.
But the failed August 20, 1864 coup planted the seeds of the alliance.
The planter was Saigo Takamori, a renowned Satsuma samurai leader, who questioned
the authority and the decisions of the Bakufu, showed mercy and kindness to
all of the captured Choshu samurai. He later sent the captives back to their
domain bearing gifts of friendship. In late 1864, Saigo sent emissaries to Choshu proposing an alliance with the Satsuma domains. The leaders Choshu felt suspicious and weary - a samurai from an ally of the Bakufu proposing an alliance. But then, Toga samurais
Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro asked for the Choshu leaders’
reconsideration.
Sakamoto
and Nakaoka both once also deeply believed in Sakoku and Jo-i. Sakamoto for example
attempted to assassinate a Bakufu official advocating Kaikoku and modernization
- Katsu Kaishu. But Kaishu’s charisma persuaded Sakamoto to forgo his
isolationist beliefs for progressive ones. At that point, he worked with Katsu yet continued to hold on to his anti-Tokugawa sentiments. After the failed 1864
coup, both Sakamoto and Nakaoka fled to Choshu along with other extremist and
anti-Tokugawa samurais. There, both
mediated for the alliance between Satsuma and Choshu arguing the benefits of
such connection especially with latter controlling wealth as well as
influence.
Satsuma
prospered after they signed the agreement with the British in 1863 resolving
the issue on the murder of Charles Richardson. The agreement introduced Satsuma
to the British, who viewed the other as more trustworthy than the Bakufu.
Satsuma stood moderately in the issues of opening and saw the
potential of such enterprise for the benefit of Japan. With Choshu’s blockade
of Shimonoseki, many foreign ships passed along the Satsuma Domain and
Kagoshima. Not to mention, its close proximity to Nagasaki gave Satsuma an
opportunity to trade and develop new industries and cultivate western
knowledge. Their contact with foreigners, especially the British, strengthened,
resulting to Satsuma’s separate participation to the International Exposition
in 1867 in Paris despite of Edo’s protest.
In
political terms, after Choshu’s expulsion, Satsuma became the prominent Domain that both supported imperial restoration and critical of the Tokugawa
Shogunate. Many of the Tozama Daimyos looked up to Satsuma and its Lord Shimazu
Saburo. By 1865, the Bakufu began to reassert its authority over Japan with the re-institution of the original form of the Sankin Kotai or alternate attendance
that alarmed Satsuma’s leaders.
An
alliance with Choshu, who also held large tracks of land or koku, and samurais, in
addition to the Kiheitai, was beneficial. Choshu on the other considered the
alliance to find support even discreetly as it faced isolation from other
Domains. Samurai leaders from both sides decided to discuss the alliance.
On
March 7, 1866, after long talks between Kido Koin from Choshu and Okubo
Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori from Satsuma (the Three Great Nobles of the
Restoration) agreed to a secret alliance where they agreed to mutual defense.
This
mutual defense went into effect covertly during the Second Choshu Expedition.
Although Satsuma did not send troops to Choshu to fight for the domain’s
defense, it did not also sent contingents to the Bakufu too. The
decision of non-participation on the Bakufu’s campaign influenced many Tozama
Daimyos to boycott the expedition as well. In addition to this, Choshu also
received weapons from Satsuma, who then purchased it secretly from British
firms in Nagasaki. Even before the alliance, in 1865, Choshu natives Ito
Hirobumi and Inoue Kaoru smuggled weapons in Nagasaki for Choshu.
The
absence of Satsuma and its secret support to Choshu contributed to the failure
of the Second Choshu campaign, which in turned weakened the Bakufu further.
Declining
Shogunate
Shogunate
authority and power to maintain order disintegrated ever since the issue of
open-country aroused. Besides its ineffectivity to prevent assassinations and
other acts of terrorism to its own officials and foreigners, Edo also began to
lose its grasp over peasants in the countryside as well as over city dwellers.
Already,
the assassination of Ii Naosuke marked the decline of the Bakufu’s prestige, it
worsened as the Japanese economy falters while trekked the path towards opening.
With government finances strained by defense and research plus indemnity
payments, samurai stipend dropped bringing massive dissatisfaction among the
warrior class as stated before.
The
inflation caused by rise in exports, stagnating production, and fluctuations in
currency affected commoners and merchants, resulting to riots in the
countryside and other cities. Peasants and urban dwellers attacked money
lenders, blaming them for the ills of the society. Samurais assassinated Bakufu
officials supporting the opening of the country alongside foreigners if they
had the chance.
In
the midst of the Order to Expel the Barbarians in 1863, the Heavenly Chastising
Force or Tenchugumi in Nara revolted in support of the imperial edict. Samurais
and many peasants joined the revolt, which lasted about a year before being
suppressed by the Bakufu.
The
revolts did not ended with the Tenchugumi. Along with the chaos of the Second
Choshu Expedition in 1866, 106 peasant uprising aroused, most complained about
the worsening poverty in the countryside. Reports of urban riot, around 35 in
1866, reached Edo as well.
Drawing of the Ee Ja Nai Ka Dancing Scene |
In
late 1867, a hysteria that many interpreted as a sign of
dissatisfaction of the Bakufu broke out. In Osaka, Edo, and other major cities,
the people danced wildly and festively in the streets of the city while singing
Ee Ja Nai Ka – Who cares?! Stories
suggested that people began to dance when good luck charms rained down on the
city and people rejoicing suddenly danced, sang, and did everything liberally
to the point of some ran naked and committed orgies in the streets. An illustration of the desperation of the people, which made them impressionable.
The
riots, protests, and hysterias reported illustrated the growing uneasiness of
the people in the prevailing condition and the Bakufu’s crumbling power to
maintain order and to provide satisfactory leadership to its people.
Death of the Shogun
and the Emperor
What triggered the final parts of the Bakumatsu was the death of two
prominent figures and symbols of Japan – the Emperor and the Shogun. Their demise meant changes in state
affairs especially in a complex political situation. The changes defined Japan’s path towards end of the Bakumatsu and short but dramatic civil war.
On
August 29, 1866, Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi passed away after months of illness.
His death gave way to the ascension of Hitotsubashi Keiki as the new Shogun
Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Yoshinobu used the death of the late Shogun as a pretext to end
a disastrous Second Choshu campaign. From his new position of power, Yoshinobu
aimed to modernize Japan in all aspect to catch up with west as a means to
protect his country’s independence.
Then
a few months later, on February 3, 1867, Emperor Komei passed away as well. Many
speculated his death to be of divine punishment for conceding to open Japan.
His son, a fifteen year old Prince Mutsuhito, ascended to the throne. He became
the new symbol of imperial restoration and indeed the face of Japan’s
transformation under his reign name Meiji.
With
the death of these important personages of the 1860’s Japanese politics created
a new dynamics in a complicated situation. Their demise energized various
competing and fighting factions to forward their respective agendas, especially for the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance. The alliance used the change as an opportunity to finally ruin the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Explore also:
Bibliography:
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