Changes

*''Japanese'': 生麦事件 ''(Namamugi jiken)''

*''Japanese'': 生麦事件 ''(Namamugi jiken)''

The Namamugi Incident, also known as the Richardson Affair, refers to the death of a British man, Charles Lennox Richardson, and the severe injury of several of his companions, at the hands of samurai from [[Satsuma han]], in the eighth month of [[1862]]. The Satsuma castle town of [[Kagoshima]] was [[Bombardment of Kagoshima|bombarded]] by ships of the British Royal Navy the following year, in response, emphasizing the weakness of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]] to protect Japan from foreign threats. As this is often cited among the chinks in the shogunate's armor which led to its fall, the Namamugi Incident itself has come to be counted among the major events of the [[Bakumatsu period]].

The Namamugi Incident, also known as the Richardson Affair, refers to the death of a British man, [[Charles Richardson|Charles Lennox Richardson]], and the severe injury of several of his companions, at the hands of samurai from [[Satsuma han]], in the eighth month of [[1862]]. The Satsuma castle town of [[Kagoshima]] was [[Bombardment of Kagoshima|bombarded]] by ships of the British Royal Navy the following year, in response, emphasizing the weakness of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]] to protect Japan from foreign threats. As this is often cited among the chinks in the shogunate's armor which led to its fall, the Namamugi Incident itself has come to be counted among the major events of the [[Bakumatsu period]].

==The Incident==

==The Incident==

On the 21st day of the 8th month of Bunkyû 2<ref>14 September 1862 on the Western calendar</ref>[[Shimazu Hisamitsu]], father of the daimyô of Satsuma han, was returning from accompanying an Imperial envoy to Edo, to present the shogun with orders to travel to Kyoto to discuss the matter of [[joi|expulsion of the foreigners]]<ref>Sansom, George. ''The Western World and Japan''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970. p300.</ref>, when he passed through the village of Namamugi, a locale on the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] between Kawasaki and Kanagawa.<ref name=Vaporis>Vaporis. pp34-35.</ref> Foreigners resident or active in the area called this section of the Tôkaidô, lined with pine trees and affording fine views of [[Mt. Fuji]], "the Avenue". On that day, Charles Lennox Richardson, a merchant based primarily in Shanghai, was accompanied by two Yokohama-based merchants, Woodthorpe C. Clarke and William Marshall, and by a cousin of Marshall's, a Mrs. Borrodaile, all four of them on horseback. They had already passed several other groups of samurai on the road that day without incident,<ref name=Vaporis/> though official warnings had been distributed through the foreign communities that daimyô processions would be passing through, and to avoid the road that day.<ref name=daniels1467>Daniels. pp146-147.</ref>

On the 21st day of the 8th month of Bunkyû 2<ref>14 September 1862 on the Western calendar</ref>[[Shimazu Hisamitsu]], father of the daimyô of Satsuma han, was returning from accompanying Imperial envoy [[Ohara Shigetomi|Ôhara Shigetomi]] to Edo, to present the shogun with orders to travel to Kyoto to discuss the matter of [[joi|expulsion of the foreigners]]<ref>Sansom, George. ''The Western World and Japan''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970. p300.</ref>, when he passed through the village of Namamugi, a locale on the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] between Kawasaki and Kanagawa.<ref name=Vaporis>Vaporis. pp34-35.</ref> Foreigners resident or active in the area called this section of the Tôkaidô, lined with pine trees and affording fine views of [[Mt. Fuji]], "the Avenue". On that day, Charles Lennox Richardson, a merchant based primarily in Shanghai, was accompanied by two Yokohama-based merchants, Woodthorpe C. Clarke and William Marshall, and by a cousin of Marshall's, a Mrs. Borrodaile, all four of them on horseback. They had already passed several other groups of samurai on the road that day without incident,<ref name=Vaporis/> though official warnings had been distributed through the foreign communities that daimyô processions would be passing through, and to avoid the road that day.<ref name=daniels1467>Daniels. pp146-147.</ref>

The standard version of what happened as the two parties met on the road relates simply that Richardson did not stop, stand aside, or dismount (let alone prostrate himself) to let the samurai procession pass, or that he even pushed ahead and sought to cut through the procession, for which he was attacked and killed by members of the samurai party.

The standard version of what happened as the two parties met on the road relates simply that Richardson did not stop, stand aside, or dismount (let alone prostrate himself) to let the samurai procession pass, or that he even pushed ahead and sought to cut through the procession, for which he was attacked and killed by members of the samurai party.

Richardson was killed, Clarke badly wounded, Marshall a little less so; only Mrs. Borrodaile escaped relatively unharmed. Richardson is said to have managed to ride away a short distance before falling from his horse and being set upon by a number of samurai.<ref name=Vaporis/> What may have been seen by the samurai as a relatively honorable act of mercy, killing Richardson once he was already on the ground, to spare him further suffering, was represented in British sources of the time as excessively cruel, barbaric, and dishonorable.<ref name=daniels1467/>

Richardson was killed, Clarke badly wounded, Marshall a little less so; only Mrs. Borrodaile escaped relatively unharmed. Richardson is said to have managed to ride away a short distance before falling from his horse and being set upon by a number of samurai.<ref name=Vaporis/> What may have been seen by the samurai as a relatively honorable act of mercy, killing Richardson once he was already on the ground, to spare him further suffering, was represented in British sources of the time as excessively cruel, barbaric, and dishonorable.<ref name=daniels1467/>

While the other three escaped, the samurai wrapped Richardson's body in a straw mat and deposited it next to a pine tree on the roadside.<ref name=Vaporis/>

While the other three escaped, the two men to the American Legation,<ref>''Honjin ni tomatta daimyo tachi'', Futagawa juku honjin shiryokan (1996), 81.</ref> the samurai wrapped Richardson's body in a straw mat and deposited it next to a pine tree on the roadside.<ref name=Vaporis/>

==Aftermath==

==Aftermath==