Martial Neglect and 47 Ronin
Samurai neglected their martial skills and a rebellion lead to mass suicide. Interesting read.....
Japan: From the Japanese Government History by Kan'ichi Asakawa
Another feature of the feudal society of the time which Yoshimune deeply regretted was the general neglect by the samurai of their military practices under a long reign of peace. For this grave fault the shōgun strongly rebuked his vassals, encouraging them to practice equestrian archery, fencing, spear-exercise, swimming, gymnastics (jiūjitsu), and other martial arts, and reviving the long-discarded pastime of pursuing game with hawks on the[147] Kogane plain. Originally fond of such pursuits, he applied himself to them with added ardor in order to popularize them among the samurai. Fencing with the sword was the most practiced and most esteemed of all military exercises. Every member of the feudal class, from the shōgun downward, received regular instruction in this art, and regarded his two swords with the utmost love and veneration, the skill and spirit shown by him in their use being justly a source of pride to Japan. Spears and firearms were also widely employed, and the practice of jiūjitsu—a species of gymnastics based on the laws of balance and reaction and directed to purposes of self-defense—received general attention. Men conspicuous for skill in fencing and other martial exercises built schools and became teachers of their respective specialties. Thus theoretically the military training was very perfect, but as there had been no occasion for the practical exercise of the art of war during many years, the samuraibecame gradually unfit for service in the field, and would doubtless have lapsed into an even worse condition but for the strenuous efforts made by Yoshimune on his accession to power. Subsequently, toward the end of the eighteenth century, Matsudaira Sadanobu, a minister of state, spared no pains to encourage the pursuit of martial exercises, but the continued absence of any practical need of such attainments told steadily upon thesamurai, and toward the close of the shōgunate not only had the nation become comparatively enervated, but also its military systems were old-fashioned and inefficient from foreign points of view. The government then found it necessary to remodel the organization, creating such offices as rikugun bugyō (minister of war) and kaigun bugyō (minister of the navy), adopting the European system, adding cavalry, artillery, and engineers, to the army, and establishing iron foundries and docks for the use of the navy. At the same time, the restrictions imposed upon shipbuilding were removed, and official encouragement was given to the construction of sea-going vessels and to the art of navigation. Thus the foundations of the present army and navy were laid.In order to maintain the demarcation between classes and to preserve social order, strict attention was paid by the government to etiquette and conventional observances, and the study of literature by men of position was encouraged. Nevertheless, instances of rude and disorderly conduct on the part of the people were not infrequent. During the early years of the Tokugawa period, the memory of the nation being still freshly imbued with incidents of battle and bloodshed, both the government and the people regarded the military spirit with the utmost reverence and considered its development essential to the well-being of the state. Samurai of the lowest rank wore two swords whenever they walked abroad, and, one and all, these men of war were disciples[152] of a cult which placed honor and justice at the head of a soldier's characteristics and relegated selfishness to the lowest place. It was a common practice with thesamurai of the time to take their own lives for the purpose of expiating some event which they considered injurious to the prestige of their feudal lord.
A remarkable example of the vendetta occurred in 1702, when forty-seven rōninkilled the enemy of their late lord. The affair had its origin in an act of violence perpetrated by Asano Naganori, feudal chief of Akō, who, being insulted by a rear-vassal Yoshinaka, drew his sword within the precincts of the palace and wounded the offender, for which breach of etiquette he was condemned to take his own life, and his family estate was confiscated, an exceptionally severe sentence, due to the fact that the government of the shōgun was just then exercising every effort to check the rough-and-ready habits of time. Asano's vassals, forty-seven in number, under the leadership of Ōishi Kuranosuke, after a long period of patient watching and much hardship, succeeded in forcing their way into Yoshinaka's residence in Edo and decapitating him. Then they surrendered themselves to the authorities and were sentenced to die by suicide. But their achievement excited the nation's strong admiration, who bestowed upon them the name of gishi, loyal retainers. Their act was later dramatized into one of the greatest of Japanese plays called "Chūshigura," and through all succeeding generations theatrical representations of their loyal conduct never failed to attract deeply sympathetic audiences. Similar deeds were already on record. Early in the Kamakura period, the Soga brothers, Sukenari and Tokimune, killed their father's foe, Kudo Suketsune; and under the Tokugawa rule, Araki Matayemon, the renowned swordsman, together with Watanabe Kazuma, put to death Kawai, the hereditary enemy of his family, at Ueno in Iga. These and other achievements, some filial, some loyal, fired the imagination of the nation. It became a popular creed that orphans, faithful vassals, and even widows should devote their lives to vindicating the memory or avenging the death of parents, chiefs, or husbands, and this conviction was constantly translated into action during the early years of the Tokugawa rule. It was undoubtedly a custom in some respects worthy only of a military feudalism, but its effect in fostering a spirit of chivalry was beyond question.
No rebellion, however, proved more serious and more difficult to repress than the revolt of Saigō in Satsuma. The genesis of this insurrection must be traced to complex circumstances under which the leading statesmen of the new government had been split into two factions, one of which had its central figure in Saigō. The occasion for the rupture was the dispute which arose among the ministers of the crown in regard to the policy to be pursued by Japan toward Korea. Throughout the Tokugawa period it had been customary for Korea, on each occasion of a coronation in that country, to send an ambassador to confirm the friendly relations between the two states. When the restoration took place in Japan her government dispatched an envoy to Korea to convey intelligence of the fact and to renew expressions of amity, but the Koreans refused to recognize the envoy or accept his message, owing ostensibly to the fact that the new term "Great Empire of Japan" was employed in the imperial letter. At a later date the Japanese sent home certain Koreans who had been shipwrecked on the coast of Japan, and took the opportunity of renewing expressions of friendship by the mouths of the officials who escorted the castaways. Korea received the shipwrecked sailors, but declined to receive the officials accompanying them. The youthful government contained men, particularly the Councilors Saigō Takamori, Soyeshima Taneomi, Itagaki Taisuke, Gotō Shōjirō, and Etō Shimpei, who deeply resented the conduct of Korea, and counseled the opening of the peninsular kingdom by force of arms. Other chief officials of the government, headed by Ōkubo Toshimichi, opposed this view, and being supported by the minister of the left, Iwakura, who had just returned from his travels through Europe and America, the peace party carried the day. The advocates of recourse to arms resigned, and a new cabinet was organized, under Iwakura and Ōkubo, which was the first cabinet change in Japan since the restoration. The immediate effects of this change were important. The revolt of Etō has already been related, and the case of Itagaki and Gotō will soon be heard of. The name of Saigō has been mentioned as one of the two heroes whose mutual trust had resulted in averting the great battle imminent in Edo. A man of overmastering sincerity, his position in the Tōkyō government, in which he was commander in chief of the army, had been unique. When[179] he resigned and retired to Kagoshima in Satsuma, and established a private military school, nearly all the ambitious young men of the province flocked to the school. Many came from other prefectures also, for Saigō's reputation as the chief agent in bringing about the restoration was immense, and his simple, great personality commanded universal love and respect. These students, little intent on studies, where animated by a desire to raise Saigō to the leadership of a colossal opposition to the new cabinet, whose policy and conduct they honestly abhorred. When the Hagi and Kumamoto insurrections broke out in 1876 these truculent students maintained correspondence with the rebels, but refrained from openly imitating their example. By and by, some officials of the imperial government who visited the province were seized by the students and tortured into a false confession that they had come with a secret commission to assassinate Saigō. The war department, apprehending dangerous contingencies, now ordered that the powder stored in Kagoshima should be transferred to Ōsaka, but the powder was seized en route by the students, who also managed to possess themselves of the arsenal and implements of war belonging to the naval department in Kagoshima. Saigō earnestly endeavored at first to restore order and discipline among these turbulent disciples, but he finally yielded to the persuasion of his chief followers, who represented that on him devolved the patriotic duty of clearing away disloyal and crafty subjects from the foot of the throne, and who showed him, at the same time, the false confession extorted by torture from government officials. Saigō thereupon circulated a letter throughout the adjacent provinces explaining the necessity of resorting to arms. News of these events reached the emperor in Kyōto, whither he had temporarily gone. He made that city his headquarters, and gave to Prince Arisugawa a commission to quell the rebellion, Yamagata Aritomo, minister of war, and Kawamura Sumiyoshi, vice minister of the navy, being appointed chiefs of staff. The brigades dispatched to the scene of disturbance were commanded by Major Generals Nozu, Miyoshi, and Miura, and Saigō and his fellow-conspirators were stripped of all their ranks and honors.
The insurgents assembled in Kagoshima now numbered some 15,000 pickedsamurai of desperate courage and great skill in the use of their weapons. At the head of this force Saigō set out for Kumamoto on February 15, 1876, and on the 22d of that month[180] he sat down with his whole army before Kumamoto castle, an error of strategy which ultimately enabled the government to confine the insurrection to the Island of Kiushū. Major General Tani Tateki, who held command of the garrison, made a stubborn resistance, though many of thesamurai among his troops went over to the rebels. The imperial army arriving in the province of Higo, endeavored to reach Kumamoto from the northwest via Takase. Severe fighting look place, but the forces of the government pushed steadily on. At point after point the rebels made obstinate stands, especially in the strong position of Tawara-saka, where a great number of lives were lost by both sides, and the whole district was devastated. The government troops, though victorious, found themselves seriously weakened, and the insurgents fought with undiminished desperation. Shortly before this, Yanagiwara Sakimitsu, a senator, was sent by the emperor to Kagoshima to warn Shimazu Hisamitsu, the former feudal chief of Satsuma, and his son, Tadayoshi, against connecting themselves with the insurgents. He was accompanied on this mission by Lieutenant General Kuroda Kiyotaka, an influential member of the Satsuma fief, and the two labored so successfully that the dockyard and arsenal, which had been dismantled by the rebels, were restored to a defensible condition. It now became possible to advance upon the rear of the rebels, and General Kuroda, being appointed chief of the staff, landed a body of troops at Yatsushiro in order to attack Saigō from the south. The insurgents were now assaulted from two directions, but they fought so well that the imperial army could not yet effect the relief of Kumamoto castle, which, having been besieged for over fifty days, was being reduced to straits for want of provisions. The commander of the garrison now managed to send an officer through the besieging army with intelligence of his perilous condition, and on receipt of the message General Kuroda set all his troops in rapid motion, and forced his way to Kumamoto on April 14, the insurgents breaking up into two bodies, one of which retreated into the province of Bungo and the other into the Hitoyoshi valley in Higo, where the country offered excellent facilities for resistance. Upon the retreat of the rebels from Kumamoto, Vice Minister Kawamura Sumiyoshi was sent to Kagoshima, at the head of 8000 men, to attack the rebellion at its root, whereupon Saigō, who was with the Hitoyoshi branch of the rebels, learning that Kagoshima had fallen into the hands of the government's troops, issued orders for a retreat[181] in the directions of Satsuma and Osumi. The Hitoyoshi insurgents then effected their escape with much adroitness into Hiuga province, following three different routes, and the imperial army occupied the Hitoyoshi position on June 1. The Bungo body of insurgents, meanwhile, being hard pressed by the government forces, retired to a strong position at Nobeoka, in Hiuga, and opened communications with the other body, which had fortified itself at Miyazaki in the same province. Several battles and skirmishes ensued, and it was not till the end of July that Miyazaki was reduced, Nobeoka falling on August 14. The rebels now retreated northward to Enotake, where they were closely besieged by the imperial army, but on the 18th of the same month they succeeded, with[182]extraordinary celerity and address, in effecting a retreat right through the besieging lines, and pushing rapidly on to Kagoshima, which place they suddenly attacked and took. The imperial forces were now concentrated about Kagoshima, and after a sanguinary engagement, lasting ten days, the rebels were driven to Shiroyama, where their last fight was fought on September 24. Saigō Takamori committed suicide, and Toshiaki and the other rebel chiefs fell on the field of battle, the rebellion being thus finally crushed. A provisional court was organized in Kiushū under the presidency of Kōno Tokama, a secretary of the senate, for the trial of those taken in the fighting, seventeen of whom were sentenced to death. In this sanguinary struggle the whole of the army and navy had been engaged, the old imperial bodyguard reorganized, a band of swordsmen volunteers enrolled, and a company of policemen, also for sword service, sent to the scene of the fighting. The Japanese sword was used by both armies with great skill and deadly effect. The total number of men engaged on the government side was 60,000, and the entire outlay involved was 416 million yen. At one time, indeed, the affair had threatened to assume almost uncontrollable dimensions, for in the early days of the rebels' valiant fighting ominous signs of disaffection made themselves apparent in the prefectures of Yamaguchi, Kōchi, Fukuoka, and elsewhere. Much as the trouble cost, however, in blood and treasure, its national uses were very great. By it the army and navy gained invaluable experience, and all the institutions of the central government were subjected to the test of severe practice, while the people learned, once for all, that armed efforts to disturb the new order of things were utterly hopeless, and that adverse opinion must be limited to the channels of speech and pen. The treasury, however, found itself seriously embarrassed. It had been obliged to borrow fifteen million yen from the Fifteenth National Bank, and also, most reluctantly, to issue fiduciary notes aggregating 270,000,000 yen in addition to those already issued for the purpose of redeeming the fiat paper of thedaijōkwan, the mimbushō, and the former feudal barons.
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