The Beginning of the End of Feudalism in Japan
The satirical images (above) of the Kurobune (the Black ship) and its commander Matthew Perry (left-below) are Japanese depictions that expressed the anti-foreign sentiment of the time. The picture in the centre-below represents the arrival of Perry’s fleet at the Edo (Tokyo) harbour and on its right is his signature of the Kanagawa Treaty, the first treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate. It sealed the end of Japan’s 213-year policy of national seclusion by opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
On July 8, 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States Navy, commanding a squadron of two steamers and two sailing vessels, sailed into Tōkyō harbour aboard the frigate Susquehanna. On behalf of the U.S. government, Perry forced Japan to open its ports to U.S. merchant ships and demanded a treaty permitting trade with the United States. This was the era when all Western powers were seeking to open new markets abroad for their manufactured goods, as well as new countries to supply raw materials for their industry. Commodore Perry imposed his demands by force, as the Japanese had neither navy, nor modern gunnery with which to defend themselves.
In 1639, Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu (the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu), issued an edict called Sakoku (national seclusion) banning all foreigners from the country (especially Christians) and prohibiting anyone from leaving or entering the Japanese shores, with the threat of death penalty to those who breached the rule. With the exception of some trade with China and Korea and to lesser extent with the Netherlands; who were kept under watch in the artificial Island of Dejima; Japan had isolated itself completely from the outside world. The ban lasted for over two centuries enacted by the Tokugawa Shogunate who swayed the political power of the country during this period, which was named Edo Period.
The humiliating-unequal treaty signed by the Bakufu under duress with the U.S. Commodore Perry was vehemently opposed in the samurai quarters. The fact that the Tokugawa Shogunate was powerless against the encroachment of the foreigners despite the will expressed by the Imperial court was taken as evidence by anti-Tokugawa leaders that the Shogunate must be replaced by a government more able to show its loyalty to the Emperor. The internal hostility materialised into a radical movement, the Sonnō-jōi (Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians). Perry’s small squadron was not enough to force massive changes in Japan, but the Japanese knew that his ships were just the beginning of Western interest in their islands. Russia, Britain, France, and Holland all followed suit and used their fleets to force Japan to sign unbalanced treaties that promised regular relations and trade with them. Sonnō-jōi was thus adopted as the battle cry by many rebellious provinces who disliked the presence of foreigners on Japanese soil, and wanted to reinstate the emperor to power. Domains, such as Chōshū (modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) and Satsuma Province (the western half of the Kagoshima Prefecture) were the main players of the rebellion that brought down the shogun regime.
The Imperial court in Kyōtō, especially the sitting Emperor Kōmei personally sympathised with the sentiment of Sonnō-jōi and began to take an active role in matters of state; breaking with centuries of imperial tradition. The Bakufu was surviving on borrowed time and this was an opportunity to bring back to the Imperial House the political control of the country. Kōmei played his cards shrewdly by issuing in March 1863, the ‘Order to Expel Barbarians’, knowing that the Bakufu was powerless to enforce this order and their inefficiency would stoke further the anger of the population. The order inspired many actions against foreigners in Japan, the most famous incident being the Kanagawa, the killing of the English trader Charles Lennox Richardson.
Richardson was returning to retirement in England, after making a fortune in Shanghai, but had decided to stop over in Yokohama. His group of friends encountered the daimyō of Satsuma, Shimazu Hisamitsu at Tōkaidō road in Kanagawa on a day-out, and Richardson, who got too close to the lord’s palanquin, was killed by the daimyō’s bodyguard. British powers responded by demanding a heavy indemnisation of £100,000 (approximately £12.2 million in 2020) from the Japanese government and £25,000 from the Satsuma Domain for the family of the victim. They also stipulated the two samurai responsible for the murder should be convicted and executed.
The Satsuma Daimyō resisted and months of negotiations followed. The deadline expired, and diplomacy gave way to coercion. Satsuma was bombarded by the Royal Navy, but responded back with lesser technology yet equal determination. The outcome was five fatalities for Satsuma (the area had been evacuated prior to the bombardment) and thirteen for the British Navy. Though Satsuma incurred the larger material loss, as about 5% of its urban area had been destroyed. Satsuma however later negotiated and paid ₤25,000, but never produced or identified Richardson’s killers. A later truce from either parties decided that the matter should be closed.
Ironically, the conflict became the starting point of a close relationship between Satsuma and Britain, who became major allies in the ensuing Boshin War to topple the shogun. In fact, the Satsuma had been in favour of the opening and modernisation of Japan. Although the Kanagawa Incident was unfortunate, it was not characteristic of Satsuma’s policy to kill foreigners. It was rather abusively branded as an example of anti-foreign sentiment, as a justification to a strong European show of force.
The Boshin War (the War of the Year of the Yang Earth Dragon), sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution, was a civil war fought from 1868 to 1869 between the forces of the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the Imperial Court. Its origin can be attributed to the Sonnō-jōi movement, but foreign governments who initially had adopted a policy of no-interference, gradually took sides and allied with both factions.
The Scottish dealer Thomas Blake Glover played a crucial role in the political machinations that brought down the shogun. He sold scores of warships and guns to the rebel domains and helped young samurai to escape the country to learn Western technology in Europe and US. Breaking the stance of neutrality, the American and British military experts got involved in military strategies of the Boshin War. British ambassador Harry Smith Parkes supported the anti-shogunate forces countering the French influence who sided with the Bakufu.
The books below chronicle in detail the conflicts and political machinations of the period, which became known as "Bakumatsu" (the end of the Bakufu), lasting from 1853 to 1868
A thrilling historical novel of Thomas Blake Glover who was instrumental in bringing down the Shogun
The singular life of the 19th-century Scottish merchant who brought the West to Japan is illustrated in this fascinating biography
Using material which has only recently become available, Michael Gardiner’s biography of Thomas Blake Glover offers a balanced view of his legacy
The forces of the Imperial House were better armed and organised to fight the opposing faction. Realising the futility of his situation, the ruling Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, tendered his resignation to the emperor. Yet his apparatus of state continued to exist, meaning that the Tokugawa family and allies remained a prominent force in the evolving political order. This was a prospect hard-liners from Satsuma and Chōshū found intolerable. The campaign started in January 1868, at Toba-Fushimi, which became the first battle casualty. From there it advanced north, Awa, Osaka, Kōshu-Katsunuma, Utsunomiya, Edo, Ueno, Hokuetsu, Hatchōoki, Bonan Pass, Aizu, Noheji, Miyako Bay, Hakodate, and ended in Hakodate Bay in May 1869.
Following the defeat of Aizu, the northern stronghold of the Bakufu, Admiral Enomoto Takeaki of the Tokugawa coalition, fled to the northern island of Ezo (present-day Hokkaido). Several thousand rebel soldiers and a handful of French military advisers and their leader, Jules Brunet, who had formally resigned from the French Army, went with him. On January 27, 1869, the independent “Republic of Ezo” was proclaimed, with a government organisation based on that of the United States, with Enomoto elected as its first president (sosai). Elections were based on universal suffrage among the samurai who had followed him. This was the first election ever held in Japan.
Through Hakodate Magistrate, Nagai Naoyuki, attempts were made to reach out to foreign legations present in Hakodate to obtain international diplomatic recognition. Alas, their response were not encouraging. The Imperial troops soon consolidated their hold on mainland, and in April 1869 dispatched a fleet and an infantry force of 7,000 men to Ezo. They progressed swiftly, won the Battle of Hakodate, and surrounded Goryōkaku, the fortress of the Ezo Republic. Enomoto surrendered on June 26, 1869, turning the Goryōkaku over to Satsuma staff officer Kuroda Kiyotaka on June 27, 1869. Enomoto made a last effort to petition the Imperial Court to be allowed to develop Hokkaidō and maintain the traditions of the samurai unmolested, but his request was denied. Kuroda is said to have been deeply impressed by Enomoto’s dedication in combat, and is remembered as the one who spared the latter’s life from execution. On September 20 of the same year, the island was given its present name, Hokkaidō, the ‘Northern Sea Region’.
Eventually, Admiral Enomoto, joined the Imperial government. Emperor Meiji plaid a policy of reconciliation and pardoned preeminent characters who had fought against his army. Ecnomoto became Minister of the Imperial Japanese Navy and through his influence, the Imperial government not only forgave Brunet’s actions but awarded him a medal in 1881 and another one in 1885, among those the Order of the Rising Sun. The medals were presented at the Japanese Embassy in Paris.
The defeat of Bakufu forces brought down feudalism and introduced Japan to the brave new world of capitalism. During this transition period, southern former samurai leaders such as Takamori Saigō of Satsuma, Hirobumi Itō and Kaoru Inoue of Chōshū cultivated personal connections with British diplomats. Itō and Inoue who had travelled clandestinely to Britain in 1863 (the Chōshū Five) and studied at the University College London became important members of the Meiji administration. Itō was appointed the first Prime Minister of the country in 1885. Itō’s, Inoue’s, and Saigō’s foreign experiences gave them models of political governments and military structures to emulate, and stimulate capitalism in Japan to modernise the country. Their influences were instrumental to assist the sixteen-year old Mutsuhito, aka Emperor Meiji, to build the new Japan. The nation had embraced a phase of transformation and modernisation that had frightened even the most liberal evolutionist of the era. The new Imperial government moved its base from Kyōtō to the former shōgun residence in Edo, which was renamed Tokyo, where they remain to these days.
