Otsu Incident

The Assault on the Russian Crown Prince. It is also called the Hunan Incident. In 1891 (Meiji 24), on his way to the groundbreaking ceremony for the Trans-Siberian Railroad, the Russian Crown Prince Nikolai Alexandrovich (later Emperor Nikolai II, who died in the revolution) was visiting various countries when he was stabbed and injured by guard Tsuda Sanzo in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture on May 11th during his stay in Japan. Tsuda, who was affected by the "Russian phobia" that was widespread at the time, believed that the Crown Prince had come to Japan to investigate a possible invasion of Japan in the future, and attempted to kill him. Fearing retaliation from Russia, the Japanese side took unusual measures, such as having Emperor Meiji personally visit the injured Crown Prince and even going aboard a Russian ship at his invitation. Prime Minister Matsukata Masayoshi also personally requested the judiciary to sentence the culprit Tsuda to the death penalty. In addition to the seriousness of the matter, the Foreign Minister Aoki Shuzo had given the Russian authorities in Japan a promise that Tsuda would be executed after the incident. However, under the Criminal Code, the death penalty cannot be applied to attempted murder, and the government's proposal to apply the crime of high treason would be a legal contradiction, so the legal community, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Kojima Koken, strongly opposed the government's stance, and in the first and final trial by the Supreme Court, which was held at the Otsu District Court, government interference was eliminated, and the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment on May 27th, as required by law, and the Russian side was satisfied with the result. This case is famous for the fact that it protected the independence of the judiciary in opposition to the lingering unconstitutional ideas of the Meiji government, shortly after the Meiji Constitution was enacted, but it cannot be denied that behind it was a sense of opposition to the clan-based government by the non-Satsuma-Choshu judicial leaders, including Kojima, the "god of law."

[Tanaka Tokihiko]

"The Russian Crown Prince Otsu Shipwreck and the Konan Incident" by Takeshi Osatake (Iwanami Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ロシア皇太子襲撃事件。湖南事件ともいう。1891年（明治24）シベリア鉄道起工式に臨む途中、各国を歴訪していたロシア皇太子ニコライ・アレクサンドロビッチ（後の皇帝ニコライ2世。革命により死）は、滞日中の5月11日、滋賀県大津で警衛の巡査津田三蔵(さんぞう)に切りつけられ負傷した。津田は当時広く蔓延(まんえん)していた「恐露(きょうろ)病」の影響を受け、同皇太子が、他日日本を侵略する目的でその調査のため来日したと信じ、殺害を図ったものである。事件発生によりロシアの報復を恐れる日本側は、明治天皇自らが負傷の皇太子を見舞い、招きに応じてロシア艦内にあえて赴くなど、異例の措置をとった。首相松方正義(まつかたまさよし)も自ら司法部に対し、犯人津田に極刑の判決を下すよう申し入れた。事の重大さに加えて、外相青木周蔵が事件発生後、駐日ロシア当局に、津田は死刑に処せられるはずであるという言質を与えていたからでもある。ところが刑法では、謀殺未遂罪に死刑を適用できず、大逆(たいぎゃく)罪の適用など政府側提案は法律上矛盾を生じるので、大審院長児島惟謙(こじまいけん)をはじめ、法曹界でも政府の態度に強く反発し、大津地方裁判所内で行われた大審院による一審で終審の裁判では、政府の干渉を排除、法規どおり、5月27日無期懲役が被告に宣告され、ロシア側もこの結果に納得した。この事件は、明治憲法施行後まもないころ、明治政府側の非立憲的発想の残存に対抗して、司法権の独立が守られた意味で著名であるが、背後には「護法(ごほう)の神」児島ら非薩長(さっちょう)出身の司法部首脳による、藩閥政府への対抗意識があったことも否めない。

［田中時彦］

『尾佐竹猛著『露国皇太子大津遭難湖南事件』（岩波新書）』

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