Namamugi Incident

An incident in which a Satsuma samurai killed an Englishman at the end of the Edo period. On August 21, 1862 (Bunkyu 2), Shimazu Hisamitsu, who had realized the reform of the shogunate government, left Edo and was on his way back to Kyoto. As the procession passed through Namamugimura, Musashi Province (Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama City), east of Kanagawa-shuku on the Tokaido, four Englishmen, including Richardson, appeared in front of the procession on horseback. Narahara Kizaemon and several others, who saw the four men's actions as disrespectful, attacked them with swords, killing Richardson and seriously wounding the other two. The foreigners residing in Yokohama were enraged and demanded physical retaliation, but the British Chargé d'Affaires Neil tried to resolve the incident through diplomatic negotiations. However, in response to a request for the extradition of the perpetrator through the shogunate, the Satsuma clan pushed through by reporting that the ronin Okano Shinsuke was the perpetrator but was missing. In February of the following year, the envoy demanded that the shogunate submit a formal letter of apology and pay 100,000 pounds in compensation, and that the Satsuma domain pay 25,000 pounds and punish the perpetrators. The shogunate agreed in May, but the Satsuma domain stubbornly refused, leading to the outbreak of the Anglo-Satsuma War in July.

[Izumi Haraguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末、薩摩(さつま)藩士がイギリス人を殺傷した事件。1862年（文久2）8月21日、幕政改革を実現させた島津久光(ひさみつ)は、江戸をたち帰洛(きらく)の途にあった。東海道神奈川宿の東、武蔵(むさし)国生麦村（横浜市鶴見(つるみ)区）に差しかかったところ、行列の前に騎乗のままのリチャードソンらイギリス人4人が現れた。4人の行為を無礼とみた供の奈良原喜左衛門(ならはらきざえもん)ら数名が斬(き)りかかり、リチャードソンは絶命、2人が重傷を負った。激高した横浜在留外国人は実力報復を主張したが、イギリス代理公使ニールは外交交渉による事件解決を図った。しかし、幕府を通じての犯人引き渡し要求に対して、薩摩藩は浪人岡野新助が犯人だが行方不明との届けで押し通した。そこで同公使は、翌年2月、幕府に対して正式謝罪状の提出と償金10万ポンドの支払い、薩摩藩に2万5000ポンドの支払いと犯人処罰を要求した。5月幕府はこれに応じたが、薩摩藩があくまで拒否したため、7月薩英戦争の開戦となった。

［原口　泉］

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