Sozo Sagara

Japanese: 相楽総三 - さがら・そうぞう

Year of death: 3rd March 1868 (March 26, 1868)
Year of birth: Tempo 10 (1839)
A sonno joi patriot during the Meiji Restoration period. His given name was Masamitsu, his pen name was Nobuomi, and he was commonly known as Shirozaemon or Shiro. His pseudonyms included Sagara Sozo, Murakami Shiro, Uchida Shiro, and Futara Jiro. He was born in Akasaka, Edo, as the fourth son of Kojima Hyoma, a local samurai from Kunugi Shinden, Soma County, Shimousa Province (Fujishiro Town, Ibaraki Prefecture). He studied military science and Japanese studies, and opened a private school to educate his students, but in 1861 he left home after receiving 5,000 ryo from his father, and recruited comrades in various parts of the eastern part of the country, including Kozuke, Shinano, Echigo, and Akita. In 1863, he assisted the Kagaigumi in raising an army on Mount Akagi, but failed. The following year, in 1864, he joined the Mito Domain Tengu Party in raising an army on Mount Tsukuba, but descended the mountain midway and returned to Edo. In March 1866, he moved to Tokyo to continue his patriotism, and in the autumn of the following year, he returned to Edo by order of Saigo Takamori, where he formed the Roshitai at the Satsuma residence in Mita and became its leader. He caused a commotion in Edo and its surrounding areas, provoking the shogunate and inciting the Satsuma residence arson incident. This gave the Satsuma clan a pretext for overthrowing the shogunate. In January 1868, he returned to Kyoto, and again received orders from Saigo, where he participated in the formation of the Sekihoutai, the vanguard of the government army, and became the captain of its first unit. Sozo marched forward while announcing the order to halve taxes, which he had proposed and which was adopted by the Dajokan. However, the Meiji government, which was suffering from a shortage of military funds, decided to revoke the order to halve taxes in order to increase its financial revenue, and ordered the Sekihoutai to turn back. However, Sozo and his comrades continued marching along the Tosando road, calling themselves the Guide Corps. They were arrested as "fake government troops" and executed on March 3rd by order of the Government-General in Shimo-Suwa, Shinano Province. <References> Shin Hasegawa, "Souzo Sagara and His Comrades"; Shunsuke Takagi, "History of the Grassroots Movement in the Meiji Restoration"

(Takagi Shunsuke)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治1.3.3(1868.3.26)
生年：天保10(1839)
幕末維新期の尊攘派志士。名は将満,字は信臣,通称四郎左衛門,四郎。変名は相楽総三のほか村上四郎,内田四郎,二荒次郎。下総国相馬郡椚木新田(茨城県藤代町)出身の郷士小島兵馬の4男として江戸赤坂に生まれる。兵学と国学を修め,私塾を開いて門人の教育に当たるが,文久1(1861)年父より5000両を得て家を出,上野,信濃,越後,秋田など東国各地で同志を募る。同3年,慷慨組の赤城山挙兵を援助するが失敗。翌元治1(1864)年には水戸藩天狗党の筑波山挙兵に加わったが,途中で下山し江戸へ帰る。慶応2(1866)年3月上京して志士活動を続け,翌年秋,西郷隆盛の命令で江戸に帰って三田の薩摩屋敷に浪士隊を結成,総裁となる。江戸とその周辺で騒ぎを起こして幕府を挑発し,薩邸焼打ち事件を誘発。これにより薩摩藩は,倒幕の口実を手に入れることになった。明治1(1868)年1月京都に戻ると再び西郷から指令を受け,官軍先鋒隊の赤報隊結成に加わり,その1番隊隊長となる。総三自らが建白して太政官に採用された年貢半減令を布告しながら進軍するが,軍資金の不足に悩む維新政府は,財政の増収を図るため年貢半減令の取り消しを決定,赤報隊に引き返しを命じた。しかし総三および同志たちは嚮導隊と名乗って引き続き東山道を進軍。「偽官軍」として捕らえられ,3月3日,信濃国下諏訪において総督府の命により処刑された。<参考文献>長谷川伸『相楽総三とその同志』,高木俊輔『明治維新草莽運動史』

(高木俊輔)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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