Why the samurai disappeared: 12 fascinating facts about fearless warriors

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The samurai were some of the most impressive warriors the world has ever known. Fiercely loyal to their lords, they would rather kill themselves than face dishonor. These people were highly trained, battle-hardened career soldiers who were ready to fight to the death in an instant. Or at least it was during the Sengoku period. By the end of the Edo period, many of them had become less militaristic and more bureaucratic. The decline and fall of the samurai came slowly and as a result of many small movements that transformed feudal Japan into a more modern country.

Gradual modernization and major events such as the Satsuma uprising and the creation of Meiji Japan ultimately marked the last days of warrior culture and the end of the samurai lifestyle.

1. Discontent

During the 19th century, many middle and lower class samurai became increasingly unhappy with the structure of Japanese society. At the time, the samurai were the ruling class in Japan. The defining characteristic of this class was that they were career soldiers, although in their functions they performed a variety of common tasks, from bureaucratic to solving farm problems.

The Tokugawa clan was in charge, and they ruled from Edo (present-day Tokyo) as the Tokugawa shogunate. The shogun, who ruled since 1603, was the head of the Tokugawa family, who served as the supreme military ruler. Edicts were passed from the shogun to local daimyos (heads of clans) who ruled their territories like governors. Individual samurai received a salary determined by the military hierarchy.

Status was determined by heredity and rank, and there was a huge difference in wealth and status between the upper class and the lower class samurai. Middle-class samurai increasingly lacked mobility. Although the samurai of the lower class had some mobility, they could not maintain it from generation to generation.

2. The split of Japan

When Commodore Matthew Perry entered Edo Bay in 1853, it marked the beginning of a series of events that changed Japan forever. Perry, accompanied by a heavily armed fleet, was sent by President Millard Fillmore to open trade between Japan and the United States.

In Japan, a rift grew between those who wanted to maintain isolationism and those who wanted to welcome foreigners. At that time, the Tokugawa shogunate was in power. The emperor still existed, but mostly only as a figurehead.

Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi eventually decided to open the ports, but Emperor Komei objected to the treaty. The shogunate ignored the emperor's wishes and opened the ports anyway. Then, in 1863, Emperor Komei broke with the tradition of obeying the shogun by issuing an order to "expel the barbarians."

3. The Choshu clan revolt

Ignoring the emperor's desire for isolationism alone was not enough to end the Tokugawa shogunate, but it angered many samurai, especially in the Choshu clan. The clan was located in the southwestern part of Honshu, relatively far from the shogun's power in Edo. In the Choshu clan, power passed to the samurai, who were unhappy with the shogunate and sought to end him. They were opposed to foreigners and therefore favored the emperor.

Military units in the Choshu clan were formed with the aim of driving out foreign invaders. Soldiers were recruited from the outskirts of the samurai class, and this weakened the traditional samurai hierarchy within the clan.

The clan's discontent reached its climax in 1864. In addition to fighting the foreigners in an attempt to "drive out the barbarians," Choshu rebelled at the Hamaguri gates.

Samurai from the clan tried to seize Kyoto (the emperor's residence) and restore the political power of the emperor, but were repelled by the forces of the shogunate. In retaliation for the attack, the shogunate attempted to take revenge on the Choshu clan.

4. Satsuma clan

The Satsuma clan eventually allied with Choshu against the shogunate. There was indeed widespread support for the emperor, but unlike Choshu, the Satsuma clan had less radical elements.

As a result, the loyalist movement in the Satsuma clan turned into an attempt to restore the emperor's power by political means. By 1866, loyalist elements gained control of the Satsuma clan, and they joined Choshu in an alliance against the shogunate.

In the same year, the two clans united to defeat the second ride of the shoguns to take revenge on Choshu. This led to a significant loss of power for the shogunate. However, shortly after the death of Emperor Komei and Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi, they were replaced by Emperor Meiji and Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu.

5. The end of the shogunate

In 1867, the Tokugawa shogun Yoshinobu officially resigned, effectively abdicating the power of the emperor. This action was part of an effort to keep the Tokugawa clan in an important position in the new government.

Then, on January 3, 1868, a coup d'état took place in Kyoto, and the emperor was restored as the supreme power in Japan as a result of an event called the Meiji Restoration. During this transitional period, the Meiji government continued to cooperate with the Tokugawa government. This upset the hardliners in the Choshu and Satsuma clans, who persuaded the Meiji congregation to revoke the shogun's title and confiscate Yoshinobu's lands.

6. A new era

The Five Articles Oath was the statutory document of the 1868 Meiji Restoration. This short document marked a sharp turn in imperial politics, above all indicating an openness to the international community. This is important, given that one of the starting points of the division between the emperor and the shogun was the emperor's resistance to foreign influence.

The document also emphasized that the common people should be allowed to pursue their own vocation so that there is no discontent. In other words, the walls between social classes began to slowly crumble.

7. Boshin war

The Boshin War was fought between two samurai factions. The former Tokugawa shogun Yoshinobu was outraged that he and his clan were expelled from the new Meiji government, and, in fact, decided to abandon his abdication. This led to a confrontation between the Meiji Imperial forces, including Satsuma and Choshu, and forces loyal to the shogunate.

The war began on January 3, 1868 with a coup d'état in Kyoto.

Yoshinobu moved south to Osaka. Then, on January 27, the shogun's troops marched towards the Satsuma-Choshu imperial alliance at the southern entrance to Kyoto. The shogunate's forces were partially trained by French military advisers and outnumbered the Imperial forces by three times. Despite this, the Imperial forces were well equipped with modern weaponry, including Armstrong's howitzers, Minier rifles, and several Gatling guns.

After a day of fruitless fighting, the Satsuma-Choshu forces were presented with the imperial flag, officially recognized by the emperor by the imperial army. This caused other prominent clans to defect. The demoralized Yoshinobu fled from Osaka to Edo, and the shogunate's forces withdrew.

When the Imperial forces gained the upper hand, they were able to capture Edo. At this point, Yoshinobu was placed under house arrest. The Northern Alliance continued to fight in the name of the shogunate, but was ultimately defeated in the final battle of Hakodate in Hokkaido.

8. Depriving the samurai of power

The end of the shogunate also marked the end of feudalism in Japan and a massive restructuring of the government. During the Meiji Restoration, the emperor adopted a number of Western concepts such as constitutional government. Towards the end of the Boshin War, efforts were being made to completely eliminate the caste system that had existed since the 12th century and replace it with a centralized imperial government.

By the end of the Boshin war, the imperial council consisted primarily of samurai from the Satsuma and Choshu clans, with some members of other prominent clans. By 1869, the daimyo were removed from power, and by 1871 the former possessions were turned into prefectures.

The abolition of the holdings was no small matter, and the plan required the support of many prominent samurai. However, the move caused some friction between the new imperial government and some samurai. Tensions grew as the emperor declared all classes equal (an idea borrowed from newly arrived Westerners), and the samurai class was systematically deprived of privileges and status.

9. Another threat

The Meiji government effectively ended the samurai monopoly on military service. Up to this point, the samurai armies were directly loyal to the local daimyo. With the abolition of the daimyo and their territories, it was necessary to form a national imperial army. This happened in 1872, when the Meiji government introduced universal military service. Every man, samurai or not, had to serve three years of military service. This undermined the very purpose of the samurai class. Many of the samurai who helped topple the shogunate and restore the emperor are now under threat.

10. Withdrawal of swords

There were several edicts directed against the samurai class, but Haitorei's edict was particularly painful. After its adoption in 1876, samurai were forbidden to carry swords.

The sword was the defining symbol of the samurai. In 1588, Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi adopted the katana-gari, which forbade anyone except active samurai to carry swords. At that time, swords were among the kokujins (ruined samurai), ronin (samurai who lost their master), as well as among the poor. The loss of weapons angered many, and some of them used their now illegal swords to raise an armed uprising.

11. The last fight

The Satsuma clan was instrumental in overthrowing the shogunate and restoring imperial power, but the rapid disintegration of their way of life seemed to change their minds about the new government. In 1877, the samurai were ready for battle.

On the island of Kyushu, a small group of rebel samurai led by Saigo Takamori laid siege to Kumamoto Castle. They were forced to retreat when the imperial army arrived, and after several minor defeats, they were surrounded on Mount Enodake. They managed to escape back to their fortress in Kagoshima, but their forces were reduced from three thousand to four hundred. Now these samurai are faced with an imperial army of more than thirty thousand people.

Having occupied Shiroyama Hill outside Kagoshima, the samurai prepared for their final battle. They were surrounded by an imperial army led by General Yamagata Aritomo, who ordered his troops to dig trenches to prevent the rebels from fleeing again.

At three o'clock in the morning on September 23, Imperial forces attacked with artillery supported by warships from the nearby harbor. The rebellious samurai armed with traditional weapons such as swords and spears engaged the armed Imperial forces. By six in the morning, only forty insurgents remained. Saigoµ was seriously injured. A friend helped him to get to a quiet place where he performed seppuku. The remaining samurai then launched a final suicide attack and were destroyed by the Gatling guns.

12. The last samurai

The story of Saigo Takamori illustrates the complex nature of the events leading up to the death of the samuroi. He began his career as an ambassador for the Satsuma clan, where he spent several years in Edo working with the shogun. After a purge that eliminated those opposed to the shogun's policies, including Saigoµ, he fled Edo. He was exiled to the island of Amami Oshima, where he spent three years, married and became the father of two children. Unfortunately, his wife was a commoner, so his family had to stay behind when Saigoµ was recalled to continue serving the Satsuma clan.

Saigoµ led the shogunate's first expedition against Choshu. Later, when Satsuma allied with Choshu, he played a role in the restoration of the emperor, whom he firmly supported. Unfortunately, his decision to try to stop the rebellion against the shogun, which he considered imprudent, was misinterpreted and he was accused of treason. He was later pardoned and participated in the Meiji restoration, becoming an advisor to the emperor.

After the new government began to pass laws against the samurai, Saigoµ felt that the new government was betraying the principles on which it was founded. Westernization and increased openness to foreigners contrasted sharply with the "honor the emperor, drive out the barbarians" movement that started the revolution.

While he collaborated with decisions to abolish holdings and impose conscription, Saigoµ drew a line in the Haitorei Ordinance. He led the Satsuma rebellion and died demonstratively, becoming known as the last true samurai.

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