| Saga Rebellion | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theShizoku rebellions of theMeiji period | |||||||
 Anukiyo-e of the Saga Rebellion | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Imperial Japanese Navy | Rebels of formerSaga Domain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Yamada Akiyoshi | Hisatake Asakura† | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
c. 5,000 soldiers and policemen[1] c. 5,000shizoku volunteers[2] | 11,000 Saga rebels 3,000 members of the Seikantō Party & Ugoku League | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
147 killed 209 wounded | 173 killed 160 wounded Other leaders were executed in Nagasaki Prison | ||||||
TheSaga Rebellion (佐賀の乱,Saga no ran) was an 1874 uprising inKyūshū against the newMeiji government ofJapan.[3] It was led byEtō Shinpei andShima Yoshitake in their native domain ofHizen.
Following the 1868Meiji Restoration, many members of the formersamurai class were disgruntled with the direction the nation had taken. The abolition of their former privileged social status under the feudal order had also eliminated their income, and the establishment of universalmilitary conscription had eliminated much of their reason for existence. The very rapid modernization (Westernization) of the country was resulting in massive changes toJapanese culture,language, dress and society, and appeared to many samurai to be a betrayal of thejōi (“Expel the Barbarian”) portion of theSonnō jōi justification used to overthrow the formerTokugawa shogunate.
Hizen Province, with a largesamurai population, was a center of unrest against the new government. Oldersamurai formed political groups rejecting both overseas expansionism and westernization, and calling for a return to the old feudal order. Youngersamurai organized the groupSeikantōpolitical party, advocatingmilitarism and the invasion ofKorea.
Etō Shinpei, formerJustice Minister andsangi (Councilor) in the early Meiji government resigned his posts in 1873 to protest the government's refusal to launch a military expedition againstKorea(Seikanron). Etō then assistedItagaki Taisuke in organizing theAikoku Kōtō political party, and in composing theTosa Memorial, a sharp criticism of the government. In January 1874, frustrated by the government's rejection of his efforts, he returned to his nativeSaga where both the traditionists and the Seikantōsamurai rallied to his support.
Alarmed by growing rumors of unrest,Home MinisterŌkubo Toshimichi dispatched his henchmanIwamura Takatoshi to Saga to restore order. Iwamura only made the situation worse with his overbearing attitude. On the ship to Saga, he made an enemy of Shima Yoshitake, the former governor ofAkita Prefecture, who was traveling to Saga at the request ofSanjō Sanetomi. Iwamura so outraged Shima that Shima decided to throw his lot in with Etō and his rebels.
Etō decided to take action on 16 February 1874, by raiding a bank and occupying government offices within the grounds of the old Saga castle. Etō had expected that similarly disaffectedsamurai inSatsuma andTosa would stage insurrections when they received word of his actions, but he had miscalculated badly, and both domains remained calm.
On February 19, Ōkubo set up his headquarters inHakata and issued a proclamation condemning the Saga rebels as traitors. Government troops marched into Saga the following day. After losing a battle on the border of Saga andFukuoka on February 22, Etō decided that further resistance would only result in needless deaths, and disbanded his army.
Etō told his followers that he intended to escape to Kagoshima to obtain help fromSaigō Takamori and his Satsumasamurai. If Saigō refused, he intended to go to Tosa, and if Tosa likewise refused, he would make his way toTokyo to commitseppuku.
Although the Saga rebels were greatly demoralized by Etō's flight,[citation needed] they continued to fight on, with some of the most violent combat occurring in the streets of Saga on February 27. Shima, who announced his decision to die fighting at Saga castle, fled that night for Kagoshima with his staff. Government forces seized Saga Castle on March 1 without further bloodshed.
Arrest warrants were circulated for Etō and Shima, and it is ironic that Etō was on the run as a fugitive from the very police force which he had helped create. Etō was refused support in Kagoshima, and fled to Tosa in a fishing boat, where he was received coldly. While attempting to find a boat to take him to Tokyo, he was apprehended on March 28.
Sympathy for Etō was high, with Sanjo Sanetomi writing to Ōkubo to remind him that Etō's motives were not evil, and withKido Takayoshi likewise writing to suggest that Etō be employed in the upcomingTaiwan Expedition of 1874. However, Ōkubo was adamant that an example be set, and Etō and Shima were tried by amilitary tribunal on April 12, and executed the next day along with eleven other leaders of the revolt. Etō wasbeheaded at Ōkubo's orders, and his severed head placed on public display – considered a demeaning punishment for someone of samurai class. Photographs were taken and were sold in Tokyo; however, the Tokyo government later banned their sale and ordered people who had purchased the photographs to return them. Ōkubo, however, refused to comply and hung a copy of the photograph in the reception room of the Home Ministry.
Although thesamurai uprising in Saga had been suppressed by military force, the issues which led to the uprising remained unresolved. Kyūshū continued to be a hotbed of unrest against the central government through the 1870s, culminating with theSatsuma Rebellion.
