was a Japanese Nationalist and the leader of the Shinpūren Rebellion. A sickly child, Ōtaguro was raised by his mother's family after the death of his father. In his early years, his health was so fragile that the family's physician even forbade him from reading. Disgusted by the ''

ukiyo is the Japanese term used to describe the urban lifestyle and culture, especially the pleasure-seeking aspects, of Edo period Japan (1600–1867). culture developed in Yoshiwara, the licensed red-light district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), ...

'' lifestyle of contemporary

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

, Ōtaguro became involved with the movement of

Takechi Hanpeita , (October 24, 1829 – July 3, 1865), also known as , was a samurai of Tosa Domain during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. Influenced by the effects of the Perry Expedition, Takechi formed the Tosa Kinnō-tō (土佐勤王党, Tosa Imp ...

. Concerned that his ''

sonnō jōi was a '' yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement soug ...

'' activism would have negative repercussions for his family, he had himself stricken from the records of the Iida clan and was adopted into the Ono family (who later disowned him on charges of negligence). He became a disciple of Hayashi Ōen's school of classical Japanese literature and theology, and followed his mentor into the

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...

priesthood, becoming ''shikan'' of the Isa Ote Jingu shrine at Shinkai.

Shinpūren

After the death of Ōen, Ōtaguro, together with some of his contemporaries, founded the Shinpūren movement, a xenophobic nationalist organisation. In October 1876, members of the group, led by Ōtaguro, staged a revolt against the local government in

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, Miyaza ...

. Their initial success was quickly quashed by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

garrison stationed in Kumamoto, and by the following morning around 120 of the 200 rebels were dead, including Ōtaguro himself.

References

1836 births 1876 deaths Kokugaku scholars Japanese Shintoists Japanese nationalists Japanese rebels {{Japan-bio-stub