was a Japanese Nationalist and the leader of the

Shinpūren Rebellion The was an uprising against the Meiji government of Japan that occurred in Kumamoto on 24 October 1876. The , an extremist Shinto organization of former ''samurai'' of the Kumamoto Domain, were extremely opposed to the Westernization of Japan ...

. 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). Ukiyo culture culture developed in Yoshiwara, the licensed red-light district of Edo (mod ...

'' lifestyle of contemporary

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

, Ōtaguro became involved with the movement of Takechi Hanpeita. 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 sou ...

'' 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 , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

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 Prefectures of Japan, 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 t ...

. Their initial success was quickly quashed by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

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