Samurai Rebellion

An armed uprising against the government by disgruntled samurai in the early Meiji period. The Meiji government returned the domains and people to the Emperor in 1869 (Meiji 2), and in 1871 carried out the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures, thoroughly dismantling the old feudal domain system and bringing the local regions under the control of the central government. In November 1871, 261 feudal domains were consolidated into 3 prefectures and 72 prefectures. With the creation of a centralized bureaucratic system, the approximately 400,000 samurai households, excluding the approximately 20,000 who were appointed to the central and local civil and military bureaucracy, were given stipends but were barred from government positions and forced into unemployment. As a result, dissatisfaction with the new government built up among them. This was the underlying cause of the samurai rebellion. Samurai rebellions began as various disturbances in various places, such as the Choshu clan desertion riots in 1869, the rebellion by Kumo Tatsuo and others, the plan to attack Tokyo by Okazaki Kyosuke and others, the Kurume riots by Mizuno Masayoshi and others in 1871, the Atago Michiteru incident, and the Fukuoka samurai incident in 1873, in which samurai demanded promotion to civil service and restoration of stipends. However, full-scale, large-scale rebellions did not begin until after the breakdown of the Seikanron debate in October 1873. The Seikanron debate itself had the policy of "directing the desire for civil war abroad and taking a long-term approach to reviving the nation." As soon as the argument for the Expedition to Korea was put to rest by the government's mainstream leaders, Iwakura Tomomi and Okubo Toshimichi, the pro-Korean councilors, including Saigo Takamori and Itagaki Taisuke, and their confidants, all resigned. In February 1674, over 10,000 Saga warriors, led by Eto Shinpei and Shima Yoshitake, rose up in revolt, demanding the immediate execution of the Expedition to Korea to expand national sovereignty and the restoration of samurai privileges. This triggered the formation of warrior associations all over the country, and in Kyushu in particular, parties were formed in Nakatsu, Akizuki, and Fukuoka, and in Kagoshima, the Private School Party was organized by Saigo and Kirino Toshiaki.

The government issued a decree banning swords in March 1876, and in August it enacted a gold-stipend public bond issuance ordinance, forcing the disposal of stipends. These two measures stripped away all the privileges that remained to the samurai. This triggered the Kumamoto Shinpuren revolt in October 1876, followed by samurai rebellions in Akizuki (October) and Hagi (October), and the Shianbashi Incident (October) in which Nagaoka Hisashige and others attempted to attack the Chiba Prefectural Office and the garrison. Finally, in January 1877, the Kagoshima Shigakkoto, led by Saigo and Kirino, revolted, and the Seinan War was fought, with samurai from all over Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, and Fukuoka responding. The Kokinnoto and Risshisha in Tosa also tried to support Saigo's forces. The fighting continued until September, when the rebels were finally defeated and the samurai rebellions came to an end. The common demand of these rebellions was the conquest of Korea and the restoration of the samurai's privileges, but no consideration was given to the relief of the peasants who had been left without rights.

[Yasushi Goto]

"Research on Samurai Rebellions" by Yasushi Goto (1967, Aoki Shoten) " "Japanese Political Trial History Records: Meiji Period and Pre-Meiji Period" edited by Sakae Wagatsuma et al. (1968, Daiichi Hoki Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治初期の不平士族の反政府武装蜂起(ほうき)。明治政府は1869年（明治2）に版籍奉還、71年に廃藩置県を断行して旧藩体制を徹底的に解体し、地方の末端に至るまで中央政府の統治下に組み入れ、71年11月には261藩を3府72県に統合した。中央集権的官僚制が創出されるとともに、中央・地方の文武官僚に登用された約2万名以外の約40万戸の華士族は、家禄(かろく)は与えられはしたが官職から締め出され、失業に追いやられた。そのため彼らの間には新政府に対する不満が鬱積(うっせき)した。これが士族反乱の底流をなした。士族反乱は、69年の長州藩脱隊騒動、雲井竜雄(くもいたつお)らの反乱、岡崎恭助らの東京襲撃計画、71年の水野正名らの久留米(くるめ)騒動、愛宕通旭(おたぎみちてる)事件、73年の福岡士族の士族の官員取り立てと復禄要求事件など、各地での蠢動(しゅんどう)として開始された。しかし本格的で大規模な反乱は、73年10月の征韓論の決裂以後である。征韓論そのものが「内乱を冀(ねが)ひ候心を外に移し、国を興すの遠略」を方針としていた。征韓論が政府主流の岩倉具視(ともみ)、大久保利通(としみち)らによって葬られるや、西郷隆盛(さいごうたかもり)、板垣退助(いたがきたいすけ)ら征韓派参議とその腹心たちは一斉に辞職した。74年2月には佐賀士族1万余名が江藤新平(えとうしんぺい)と島義勇(しまよしたけ)を首領に仰いで、国権拡張のための征韓の即時断行と武士の特権回復を要求して蜂起した。それをきっかけとして各地に士族の結社が生まれ始め、とくに九州では中津(なかつ)、秋月(あきづき)、福岡で党が結ばれ、そして鹿児島では西郷と桐野利秋(きりのとしあき)らによって私学校党が組織された。

　政府は、1876年3月廃刀令を布告し、8月には金禄公債証書発行条例を定めて秩禄処分を強行した。この二つの措置は、士族に残されていた特権のすべてを奪い取るものであった。これを契機として76年10月には熊本神風連(しんぷうれん)が蜂起し、続いて秋月（10月）、萩(はぎ)（10月）の士族が反乱し、永岡久茂(ひさしげ)らが千葉県庁と鎮台を襲撃しようとした思案橋(しあんばし)事件（10月）が起こった。そして、77年1月にはついに西郷・桐野に率いられた鹿児島私学校党が蜂起し、熊本各地の士族や大分、宮崎、福岡の士族たちが呼応する西南戦争が戦われた。土佐の古勤王党や立志社も西郷軍に呼応しようとして動いた。戦闘は9月まで続き、ついに反乱軍は敗れ、士族反乱は終息する。これらの反乱に共通している要求は征韓断行と武士の特権の回復であり、無権利状態に置かれていた農民の救済はまったく顧みられなかった。

［後藤　靖］

『後藤靖著『士族反乱の研究』（1967・青木書店）』▽『我妻栄他編『日本政治裁判史録　明治・前』（1968・第一法規出版）』

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