bakumatsu

was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. The major ideological-political divide during this period was between the pro-imperial nationalists called and the shogunate forces, which included the elite swordsmen.

Although these two groups were the most visible powers, many other factions attempted to use the chaos of to seize personal power.Hillsborough, ''page # needed'' Furthermore, there were two other main driving forces for dissent: first, growing resentment on the part of the (or outside lords), and second, growing anti-Western sentiment following the arrival of Matthew C. Perry. The first related to those lords whose predecessors had fought against Tokugawa forces at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, after which they had been permanently excluded from all powerful positions within the shogunate. The second was to be expressed in the phrase , or "revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians". The turning point of the Bakumatsu was during the Boshin War and the Battle of Toba–Fushimi when pro-shogunate forces were defeated.Ravina, ''page # needed''.

Background

Frictions with foreign powers

Frictions with foreign shipping led Japan to take defensive actions from the beginning of the 19th century. Western ships were increasing their presence around Japan due to whaling activities and the trade with China. They were hoping for Japan to become a base for supply or at least a place where shipwrecks could receive assistance. The incident in Nagasaki Harbour where the Royal Navy frigate HMS ''Phaeton'' demanded supplies from the harbour chief in 1808 shocked the Tokugawa government, who ordered the ports to be even more tightly guarded.Jansen 2002, p.287 In 1825, the was issued by the shogunate, prohibiting any contacts with foreigners; it remained in place until 1842.

Meanwhile, Japan endeavoured to learn about foreign sciences through ("Western studies"). To reinforce Japan's capability to carry on the orders to repel Westerners, some such as the Nagasaki-based Takashima Shūhan managed to obtain weapons through the Dutch at Dejima, such as field guns, mortars and firearms. Domains sent students to learn from Takashima in Nagasaki, from Satsuma Domain after the intrusion of an American warship in 1837 in Kagoshima Bay, and from Saga Domain and Chōshū Domain, all southern domains mostly exposed to Western intrusions.Kornicki
p. 246
/ref> These domains also studied the manufacture of Western weapons. By 1852 Satsuma and Saga had reverberatory furnaces to produce the iron necessary for firearms.

Following the ''Morrison'' incident involving the ''Morrison'' under Charles W. King in 1837, Egawa Hidetatsu was put in charge of establishing the defense of Tokyo Bay against Western intrusions in 1839.Cullen, pp. 158–159. After the humiliating defeat suffered by Qing China in the First and Second Opium Wars, many Japanese officials realized that their traditional methods would be no match for western powers. To deal with Western powers on equal terms, Western guns were studied and demonstrations made in 1841 by Takashima Shūhan to the Tokugawa government.

A national debate was already taking place about how to better avoid foreign incursions. Some such as Egawa claimed that it was necessary to use the foreigners' techniques to repel them. Others, such as Torii Yōzō argued that only traditional Japanese methods should be employed and reinforced.Jansen 1995, p. 124. Egawa argued that just as Confucianism and Buddhism had been introduced from abroad, it made sense to introduce useful Western techniques. A theoretical synthesis of "Western knowledge" and "Eastern morality" would later be accomplished by Sakuma Shōzan and Yokoi Shōnan, in view of "controlling the barbarians with their own methods".Jansen 1995, pp. 126–130.

After 1839, however, traditionalists tended to prevail. Students of Western sciences were accused of treason (), put under house arrest (Takashima Shūhan), forced to commit ritual suicide (Watanabe Kazan, Takano Chōei), or even assassinated as in the case of Sakuma Shōzan.

Image:Phaeton (frigate).jpg, The Royal Navy frigate HMS ''Phaeton'' demanded supplies while in Nagasaki harbour in 1808.
Image:MorrisonShip.jpg, The American merchant ship ''Morrison'' of Charles W. King was repelled from Edo Bay in 1837.
File:Russians meeting Japanese in Akkeshi 1779.jpg, Russians meeting Japanese in 1779.

Perry Expedition (1853–54)

When Commodore Matthew C. Perry's four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay) in July 1853, the shogunate was thrown into turmoil. Commodore Perry was fully prepared for hostilities if his negotiations with the Japanese failed, and threatened to open fire if the Japanese refused to negotiate. He gave them two white flags, telling them to hoist the flags when they wished a bombardment from his fleet to cease and to surrender. To demonstrate his weapons, Perry ordered his ships to attack several buildings around the harbor. The ships of Perry were equipped with new Paixhans shell guns, capable of bringing destruction everywhere a shell landed.

Japan's response

In response to the Perry Expedition and increasing incursions of foreign warships into Japanese territorial waters, several modern sailing frigates, including and , were constructed on orders of the Tokugawa shogunate of -period Japan by the Satsuma Domain. The was built from 1853 to 1854 at Sakurajima in what is now Kagoshima Prefecture in accordance with a Dutch blueprint. Furthermore, fortifications were established at Odaiba in Tokyo Bay in order to protect Edo from an American incursion. Industrial developments were also soon started in order to build modern cannons. A reverbatory furnace was established by Egawa Hidetatsu in Nirayama to cast cannons.Iida
1980
/ref>

File:ShoheiMaru.JPG,
File:AsahiMaru1856.jpg,
File:DaiRokuDaiba.jpg, Odaiba battery at the entrance of Tokyo, built in 1853–54 to prevent an American intrusion.
File:Japanese coastal wooden cannon 1853 1854.jpg, Coastal wooden cannon built by the at the order of the for Commodore Perry's arrival.
Image:Reverberatory furnace of Nirayama.jpg, reverberatory furnace in Izunokuni, Shizuoka built by Egawa Hidetatsu. Construction began in November 1853 and was completed in 1857; it operated until 1864.
File:Shinagawa Baidai cannon.jpg, One of the cannons of Odaiba, now at the Yasukuni Shrine. 80-pound bronze, bore: 250mm, length: 3830mm
File:KurodaNagahiro.jpg, Marquess Kuroda Nagahiro of Fukuoka. Nagahiro (like his close relative, Shimazu Nariakira) was a serious proponent of technological modernization after Commodore Perry's arrival. He greatly encouraged learning amongst his retainers, and sent them to the best schools of Edo, Osaka, and Nagasaki to absorb the Western knowledge and technical expertise which was entering the country at the time.

The American fleet returned in 1854. The chairman of the senior councillors, Abe Masahiro, was responsible for dealing with the Americans. Having no precedent to manage this threat to national security, Abe tried to balance the desires of the senior councillors to compromise with the foreigners, of the emperor who wanted to keep the foreigners out, and of the feudal rulers who wanted to go to war. Lacking consensus, Abe compromised by accepting Perry's demands for opening Japan to foreign trade while also making military preparations. In March 1854, the Treaty of Peace and Amity (or Treaty of Kanagawa) maintained the prohibition on trade but opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American whaling ships seeking provisions, guaranteed good treatment to shipwrecked American sailors, and allowed a United States consul to take up residence in Shimoda, a seaport on the Izu Peninsula, southwest of Edo. In February 1855, the Russians followed suit with the Treaty of Shimoda.

The resulting damage to the shogunate was significant. Debate over government policy was unusual and had engendered public criticism of the shogunate. In the hope of enlisting the support of new allies, Abe, to the consternation of the , had consulted with the and , further undermining the already weakened .

In the Ansei Reform (1854–1856), Abe then tried to strengthen the regime by ordering Dutch warships and armaments from the Netherlands and building new port defenses. In 1855, with Dutch assistance, the shogunate acquired its first steam warship, the , which was used for training, and opened the Nagasaki Naval Training Center with Dutch instructors, while a Western-style military school was established at Edo. In 1857, it acquired its first screw-driven steam warship, the . Scientific knowledge was quickly expanded from the pre-existing foundation of Western knowledge ().

Opposition to Abe increased within circles, which opposed opening shogunate councils to the , and he was replaced in 1855 as chairman of the senior councilors by Hotta Masayoshi (1810–1864). At the head of the dissident faction was Tokugawa Nariaki, who had long embraced a militant loyalty to the emperor along with anti-foreign sentiments, and who had been put in charge of national defense in 1854. The Mito school—based on neo-Confucian and Shinto principles—had as its goal the restoration of the imperial institution, the turning back of the West.

File:Kanrinmaru.jpg, The , Japan's first screw-driven steam warship, 1855.
Image:NagasakiNavalTrainingCenter.jpg, The Nagasaki Naval Training Center, in Nagasaki, near Dejima.

Earthquakes

The years 1854–1855 saw a dramatic series of earthquakes, known as the Ansei great earthquakes, with 120 major and minor temblors recorded over a less than two-year period including the 8.4 magnitude 1854 Tōkai earthquake on 23 December 1854, the 8.4 magnitude 1854 Nankai earthquake occurring the following day, and the 6.9 magnitude 1855 Edo earthquake, which struck what is today modern Tokyo, on 11 November 1855. Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula was struck by the Tōkai earthquake and a subsequent tsunami, and because the port had just been designated as the prospective location for a US consulate, some construed the natural disasters as demonstration of the displeasure of the gods. As the earthquakes were blamed by many Japanese on a giant catfish (''Namazu'') thrashing about, Ukiyo-e prints depicting ''namazu'' became very popular during this time.

File:Diana Wreckage Illustrated London News 1856.jpg, The wreckage of '' Diana'' following the 1854 Ansei-Tōkai earthquake and tsunami, Illustrated London News, 1856.

Treaties imposed upon Japan

Following the nomination of Townsend Harris as the U.S. Consul in 1856 and two years of negotiation, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed in 1858 and put into application from mid-1859. During the negotiations, Harris had convinced the Japanese negotiators to sign the treaty on the basis it was the best possible terms a Western power would offer.

The most important points of the Treaty were:

* exchange of diplomatic agents.
* Edo, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Yokohama’s opening to foreign trade as ports.
* ability of United States citizens to live and trade at will in those ports (only opium trade was prohibited).
* a system of extraterritoriality that provided for the subjugation of foreign residents to the laws of their own consular courts instead of the Japanese law system.
* fixed low import-export duties, subject to international control
* ability for Japan to purchase American shipping and weapons (three American steamships were delivered to Japan in 1862).

Japan was also forced to apply any further conditions granted to other foreign nations in the future to the United States, under the "most favoured nation" provision. Several foreign nations soon followed suit and obtained treaties with Japan (the Ansei Five-Power Treaties, with the United States (Harris Treaty) on July 29, 1858, the Netherlands (Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the Netherlands and Japan) on August 18, Russia (Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Russia and Japan) August 19, the United Kingdom (Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce) on August 26, and France ( Treaty of Amity and Commerce between France and Japan) on October 9).

Trading houses were quickly set up in the open ports.

Image:Yokohama 1859.jpg, View of Yokohama in 1859.

Crisis

Collapse of the Japanese economy

The opening of Japan to uncontrolled foreign trade brought massive economic instability. While some prospered, many others went bankrupt. Unemployment rose, as well as inflation. Coincidentally, major famines also increased the price of food drastically. Incidents occurred between brash foreigners, qualified as "the scum of the earth" by a contemporary diplomat, and the Japanese.

Japan's monetary system, based on Tokugawa coinage, also broke down. Traditionally, Japan's exchange rate between gold and silver was 1:5, whereas international rates were of the order of 1:15. This led to massive purchases of gold by foreigners, and ultimately forced the Japanese authorities to devalue their currency.Dower p. 2 There was a massive outflow of gold from Japan, as foreigners rushed to exchange their silver for "token" silver Japanese coinage and again exchange these against gold, giving a 200% profit to the transaction. In 1860, about 4 million ryōs thus left Japan,Metzler p. 15 that is about 70 tons of gold. This effectively destroyed Japan's gold standard system, and forced it to return to weight-based system with International rates. The Bakufu instead responded to the crises by debasing the gold content of its coins by two thirds, so as to match foreign gold-silver exchange ratios.

Foreigners also brought cholera to Japan, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Image:YokohamaTradersSadahide1861.jpg, Foreign ships in Yokohama harbor.
Image:YokohamaForeignTradersSadahide1861.jpg, A foreign trading house in Yokohama in 1861.
File:Allegory of inflation during the Bakumatsu era.jpg, Allegory of inflation and soaring prices during the Bakumatsu era.

Political and social crisis

Hotta lost the support of key Daimyōs, and when Tokugawa Nariaki opposed the new treaty, Hotta sought imperial sanction. The court officials, perceiving the weakness of the ''bakufu'', rejected Hotta's request which resulted in the resignation of himself, and thus suddenly embroiled Kyoto and the emperor in Japan's internal politics for the first time in many centuries. When the ''shōgun'' died without an heir, Nariaki appealed to the court for support of his own son, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (or Keiki), for ''shōgun'', a reformist candidate favored by the ''shinpan'' and ''tozama daimyōs''. The ''fudai'' won the power struggle, however, installing the 12 year old Tokugawa Iemochi as ''shōgun'' whom it was perceived Tairō Ii Naosuke would have influence over, ultimately placing Nariaki and Yoshinobu under house arrest, and executing Yoshida Shōin (1830–1859, a leading ''sonnō-jōi'' intellectual who had opposed the American treaty and plotted a revolution against the bakufu) known as the Ansei Purge.

Tairō Ii Naosuke, who had signed the Harris Treaty and tried to eliminate opposition to Westernization with the Ansei Purge, was himself murdered in March 1860 in the Sakuradamon incident. A servant of the French Minister was attacked at the end of 1860.Satow, p.34 On 14 January 1861, Henry Heusken

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases