The , also known as the , was a rebellion against the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

in Japan that took place on 20 August unar calendar: 19th day, 7th month 1864, near the Imperial Palace in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

History

Starting with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, within a few years foreign powers forced the

shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

dynasty to abandon its isolationist policy ''

sakoku is the most common name for the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, and almost all ...

''. The rebellion reflected the widespread discontent felt among both pro-imperial/anti-shogunate and anti-foreigner groups, who rebelled under the ''

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 ...

'' ("revere the emperor, expel the barbarians") slogan.

Emperor Kōmei Osahito (22 July 1831 – 30 January 1867), posthumously honored as Emperor Kōmei, was the 121st emperor of Japan, according to the List of Emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')孝明天皇 ...

had issued an " Order to expel barbarians". Thus, in March 1863, the '' shishi'' rebels sought to take control of the Emperor to restore the Imperial household to its position of political supremacy. During what was a bloody crushing of the rebellion, the leading Chōshū clan was held responsible for its instigation. To counter the rebels' kidnapping attempt, armies of the Aizu and Satsuma domains (the latter led by Saigo Takamori) led the defense of the Imperial palace. However, during the attempt, the rebels set Kyoto on fire, starting with the residence of the Takatsukasa family, and that of a Chōshū official. It is unknown if the rebels set fire to Kyoto as soon as they began to lose, or if their doing so was part of their original strategy, and done as a diversionary tactic. Among the ''shishi'' who died in the incident was Kusaka Genzui. Various courtiers, including

Nakayama Tadayasu Kazoku, Marquess Nakayama Tadayasu (Japanese: 中山忠能, 17 December 1809 – 12 June 1888) was a Japanese nobleman and courtier of the Edo period and then one of the Kazoku of the post-1867 Empire of Japan. He was the father of Nakayama Yos ...

, the Emperor's Special Consultant for National Affairs, were banished from Court as a result of their involvement in this incident.Takeda Hideaki
Nakayama Tadayasu (1809–88)
at kokugakuin.ac, accessed 24 September 2013 Sanjō Sanetomi, due to his association with many of the ''shishi'' that were captured, executed or identified during the rebellion, was forced to flee. The shogunate followed the incident with a retaliatory armed expedition, the First Chōshū expedition, in September 1864.

References

Conflicts in 1864 1864 in Japan 19th-century rebellions Rebellions in Japan Bakumatsu August 1864 Military history of Kyoto Attacks on official residences Residential building arson attacks in Japan Urban fires in Japan 19th-century military history of Japan Attacks on government buildings and structures in Japan Government building fires {{Japan-hist-stub