Changes

Shimazu Hisamitsu was the father of the last [[daimyo]] of [[Satsuma han]], the young [[Shimazu Tadayoshi]], who ruled the domain from [[1858]] until [[1868]]. Despite not being the domain's lord himself, as regent for his son, Hisamitsu governed the domain, and acted prominently on the national level, as if he were.

Shimazu Hisamitsu was the father of the last [[daimyo]] of [[Satsuma han]], the young [[Shimazu Tadayoshi]], who ruled the domain from [[1858]] until [[1868]]. Despite not being the domain's lord himself, as regent for his son, Hisamitsu governed the domain, and acted prominently on the national level, as if he were.

In regards to the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]], which was something of a vassal state under Satsuma's suzerainty, Hisamitsu reversed many of the policies of the previous daimyô, his brother, [[Shimazu Nariakira]].

In regards to the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]], which was something of a vassal state under Satsuma's suzerainty, Hisamitsu reversed many of the policies of the previous daimyô, his brother, [[Shimazu Nariakira]]. Among his first actions as regent were to reverse Nariakira's policies aiming to expand trade with Westerners in Ryûkyû. For the next several years, the domain avoided seeking out any new or additional involvements with Westerners, but continued to support Ryûkyû's [[tribute]] trade with China, and worked to expand connections between Satsuma and [[Choshu han|Chôshû]], a domain in Western Honshû with whom Satsuma had no particular history of close relationship. Hisamitsu pursued this aggressively, establishing a trading office in [[Shimonoseki]] and sending two merchant ships laden with Satsuma goods in [[1859]]; the following year, Chôshû sent representatives to Satsuma to negotiate a trade relationship. A lively trade in Satsuma sugar for Chôshû salt and whalebones, among other goods on both sides, quickly developed. Later that same year ([[1860]]), with the aid of the ''[[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki bugyô]]'', Hisamitsu managed to purchase a steamship, the ''England''.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 186-188.</ref>.

Prior to the fall of the [[Tokugawa Shogunate]], Hisamitsu vacillated between supporting and opposing the shogunate, while certain of his prominent retainers, [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]] chief among them, were staunch in their opposition to the shogunate. In [[1862]], in accordance with orders from [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]] that he aid in eliminating the problem of [[shishi|anti-shogunate rebels]] meeting and plotting in [[Kyoto]], Hisamitsu dispatched a team of samurai from Satsuma to retrieve rebels originating from Satsuma and to bring them back to the domain, resulting in the famous [[Teradaya Incident]]. A fight broke out at an inn in [[Fushimi]] between rebels who had met there to plot against the shogunate, and these samurai dispatched by Hisamitsu to suppress their activities; several were killed before the remaining rebels surrendered.

Prior to the fall of the [[Tokugawa Shogunate]], Hisamitsu vacillated between supporting and opposing the shogunate, while certain of his prominent retainers, [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]] chief among them, were staunch in their opposition to the shogunate. Still, Hisamitsu took steps to encourage an alliance between the shogunate and the Imperial Court, [[kobu gattai|uniting the two]] in order to restore order; to those same ends, he also pressured [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Iemochi]] to travel to [[Kyoto]].<ref>Hellyer, 187.</ref> Doing so in [[1863]], he became the first shogun since [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] in [[1634]] to enter the Imperial city.

 

Meanwhile, the previous year ([[1862]]), in accordance with orders from [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]] that he aid in eliminating the problem of [[shishi|anti-shogunate rebels]] meeting and plotting in Kyoto, Hisamitsu dispatched a team of samurai from Satsuma to retrieve rebels originating from Satsuma and to bring them back to the domain, resulting in the famous [[Teradaya Incident]]. A fight broke out at an inn in [[Fushimi]] between rebels who had met there to plot against the shogunate, and these samurai dispatched by Hisamitsu to suppress their activities; several were killed before the remaining rebels surrendered.

Hisamitsu was also involved in the famous [[Namamugi Incident]] that same year, when a British merchant, Charles Richardson, either refused or was unable to properly make way for Hisamitsu's entourage as it traveled down the road; Richardson was killed, and in response the British Royal Navy [[bombardment of Kagoshima|bombarded Kagoshima]], the chief Satsuma castle town.

Hisamitsu was also involved in the famous [[Namamugi Incident]] that same year, when a British merchant, Charles Richardson, either refused or was unable to properly make way for Hisamitsu's entourage as it traveled down the road; Richardson was killed, and in response the British Royal Navy [[bombardment of Kagoshima|bombarded Kagoshima]], the chief Satsuma castle town.

*Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tuttle Publishing, 2000.  

*Kerr, George. ''Okinawa: The History of an Island People''. Revised Edition. Tuttle Publishing, 2000.  

*Norman, E.H. ''Soldier and Peasant in Japan: The Origins of Conscription''. New York: Institute for Pacific Relations, 1945. pp43-44.

*Norman, E.H. ''Soldier and Peasant in Japan: The Origins of Conscription''. New York: Institute for Pacific Relations, 1945. pp43-44.

[[Category:Samurai]]

[[Category:Samurai]]

[[Category:Bakumatsu]]

[[Category:Bakumatsu]]

[[Category:Meiji Period]]

[[Category:Meiji Period]]