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[[Townsend Harris]], the first American consul to be stationed in Japan, arrived in [[1856]] to take up residence at Shimoda.
[[Townsend Harris]], the first American consul to be stationed in Japan, arrived in [[1856]] to take up residence at Shimoda.
By [[1858]], only a few years later, the Tokugawa shogunate would sign more formal Treaties of Amity & Commerce with [[Harris Treaty|the United States]], [[Dutch-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|the Netherlands]], [[Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|the United Kingdom]], [[Russo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|Russia]], and [[Franco-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|France]]. These treaties opened the ports of [[Yokohama]] and [[Nagasaki]] (in [[1859]]), [[Niigata]] (in [[1860]]), and [[Kobe]] (in [[1863]]), to Western trade and settlement, in addition to Shimoda and Hakodate which were already open. Tairô [[Ii Naosuke]] and ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' [[Hotta Masayoshi]] had considerable support for their decision to sign these treaties, but the move was also deeply unpopular among other factions within the shogunate and without. The Treaty was also opposed by [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]], who also voiced his agreement with [[Tokugawa Nariaki]], [[Shimazu Nariakira]], and others that Nariaki's son [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], and not the young [[Tokugawa Iemochi]], should be named the next shogun. Shogun [[Tokugawa Iesada]] fell ill and died in 1858 with no heirs, and Ii Naosuke saw to it that the lord of [[Wakayama han|Wakayama]], the 12-year-old (young, and thus easily controlled) Tokugawa Iemochi was named shogun.
By [[1858]], only a few years later, the Tokugawa shogunate would sign more formal Treaties of Amity & Commerce with [[Harris Treaty|the United States]], [[Dutch-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|the Netherlands]], [[Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|the United Kingdom]], [[Russo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|Russia]], and [[Franco-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce|France]]. These treaties opened the ports of [[Yokohama]] and [[Nagasaki]] (in [[1859]]), [[Niigata]] (in [[1860]]), and [[Kobe]] (in [[1863]]), to Western trade and settlement, in addition to Shimoda and Hakodate which were already open. Tairô [[Ii Naosuke]] and ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' [[Hotta Masayoshi]] had considerable support for their decision to sign these treaties, but the move was also deeply unpopular among other factions within the shogunate and without. The Treaty was also opposed by [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]], who, when asked by [[Hotta Masayoshi]], also voiced his agreement with [[Tokugawa Nariaki]], [[Shimazu Nariakira]], and others that Nariaki's son [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], and not the young [[Tokugawa Iemochi]], should be named the next shogun. Shogun [[Tokugawa Iesada]] fell ill and died in 1858 with no heirs, and Ii Naosuke saw to it that the lord of [[Wakayama han|Wakayama]], the 12-year-old (young, and thus easily controlled) Tokugawa Iemochi was named shogun.
In 1858-1859, Naosuke then led a series of purges, known as the [[Ansei Purges]], in which over one hundred samurai elites from rival factions were removed from their shogunate positions, or, in the case of ''daimyô'' like Tokugawa Nariaki, were confined to their homes. In a few cases, such as that of [[Yamauchi Toyoshige|Yamauchi Yôdô]], ''daimyô'' were forced to step down as lord of their domain. One of those who lost his position in these purges was Hotta Masayoshi, who despite his support for both the Harris Treaty and for Iemochi (rather than Yoshinobu) being named heir, had been the one who made the disastrous misstep of formally requesting the Emperor's approval, leading to the shogunate having done these two things against formal Imperial opposition.
In 1858-1859, Naosuke then led a series of purges, known as the [[Ansei Purges]], in which over one hundred samurai elites from rival factions were removed from their shogunate positions, or, in the case of ''daimyô'' like Tokugawa Nariaki, were confined to their homes. In a few cases, such as that of [[Yamauchi Toyoshige|Yamauchi Yôdô]], ''daimyô'' were forced to step down as lord of their domain. One of those who lost his position in these purges was Hotta Masayoshi, who was forced to resign for having made the shogunate (and Naosuke in particular) lose face, by seeking and failing to receive Imperial approval for the Treaties, and for the shogunal succession.
These purges fanned the flames of ire against Naosuke, and on 1860/3/3, Naosuke was attacked and killed just [[Sakuradamongai Incident|outside the Sakurada Gate]] of [[Edo castle]], by a group of [[ronin]] who felt he had betrayed the country. [[Henry Heusken]], Dutch advisor to Townsend Harris, was similarly assassinated by the end of that same lunar year (January [[1861]]).
In the wake of the controversial shogunal succession and signing of the Harris Treaty, Ii Naosuke and his faction, and on 1860/3/3, Naosuke was attacked and killed just [[Sakuradamongai Incident|outside the Sakurada Gate]] of [[Edo castle]], by a group of [[ronin]] who felt he had betrayed the country. [[Henry Heusken]], Dutch advisor to Townsend Harris, was similarly assassinated by the end of that same lunar year (January [[1861]]).
In the meantime, in 1860, the shogunate sent its first official overseas diplomatic mission, which met with US President James Buchanan in Washington DC. Another official mission visited several of the courts of Europe and met with heads of state there.
The opening of the ports, along with the tax provisions imposed in the treaties, and other factors, caused a number of significant economic shifts and shocks. As domestic industries and markets were suddenly opened (in a greater way than before) to overseas ones, supply and demand shifted dramatically. Japan faced sudden and severe inflation, as commodities prices and currency values fluctuated. Domestic trade routes changed dramatically, both with changes in technology, and shifts in supply and demand; many regions gained, while other regions which had been prosperous producers of a given good, suddenly lost to competitors. And as a result, the 1860s saw numerous large-scale uprisings and revolts, both by peasants in the countryside, and townspeople in the big cities.
The opening of the ports, along with the tax provisions imposed in the treaties, and other factors, caused a number of significant economic shifts and shocks. As domestic industries and markets were suddenly opened (in a greater way than before) to overseas ones, supply and demand shifted dramatically. Japan faced sudden and severe inflation, as commodities prices and currency values fluctuated. Domestic trade routes changed dramatically, both with changes in technology, and shifts in supply and demand; many regions gained, while other regions which had been prosperous producers of a given good, suddenly lost to competitors. And as a result, the 1860s saw numerous large-scale uprisings and revolts, both by peasants in the countryside, and townspeople in the big cities.
Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi and his supporters began to pursue a policy of ''[[kobu gattai|kôbu gattai]]'', or "unification of Court and Shogunate," using political marriages and other means to bolster the appearance of Imperial support for shogunate policies. In 1861, Iemochi married the Emperor's sister, Princess [[Kazu-no-Miya]]. However, the ''daimyô'' of [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]], [[Choshu han|Chôshû]], [[Tosa han|Tosa]], [[Mito han|Mito]], and [[Aizu han|Aizu]], among others, for a brief time at least, advocated instead a ''kôbu gattai'' which brought more power to the Imperial Court, not just nominally or as a figurehead, but as a real political force, through a council of lords based in Kyoto.
Another chip in the shogunate's power and legitimacy came the following year, in [[1862]], when chiefly due to financial problems, the shogunate decided to temporarily relax ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' obligations for all ''daimyô''. Though intended as a temporary measure, in practice, the shogunate would fall before these obligations were ever put back into place. Regulations restricting ''daimyô'' in their defense spending were also loosened, in order to allow ''daimyô'' to contribute more directly to building up defenses against the Westerners. However, this also meant ''daimyô'' were now freer to build up military forces with which to oppose or resist the shogunate - precisely the thing these policies were meant to prevent when they were first put into place in the early 1600s.
As the divides between the shogunate and its opponents grew wider, Kyoto became a hotbed for rebel activity, as political activists calling themselves ''[[shishi]]'' (often translated as "men of high purpose") began to meet in the city and to plan uprisings or attacks similar to those which had already taken the lives of Ii Naosuke and Henry Heusken. Calling for ''[[sonno|sonnô]] [[joi|jôi]]'' ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians"), these groups, who have been described as [anti-shogunate] rebels, [pro-Imperial] loyalists, and as terrorists, were for the most part operating separately from the ''daimyô''; when the shogunate learned of rebels - most of them from Satsuma - gathering and plotting at the [[Teradaya]] in [[Fushimi]] in 1862, it was a group of chiefly Satsuma samurai who raided the inn, in the name of the shogunate, seeking to capture or otherwise stop the rebels. That same year, ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' [[Ando Nobumasa|Andô Nobumasa]] was [[Sakashitamongai Incident|attacked outside the Sakashita Gate]] of Edo castle (he survived), and after a British merchant named Charles Richardson was [[Namamugi Incident|cut down]] along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] after failing to get out of the way of [[Shimazu Hisamitsu|Shimazu Hisamitsu's]] procession, the British Legation in Yokohama was burned down. The British Royal Navy responded to these two attacks by [[Bombardment of Kagoshima|shelling the Satsuma castle-town of Kagoshima]] the following year. Satsuma and the British would later turn their relationship around, however, with England aiding Satsuma in various ways against the (French-backed) shogunate only a few years later.
In the meantime, independent of shogunate policy, Emperor Kômei declared in [[1863]] that all foreigners should be expelled from the country. Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi then traveled to Kyoto - the first time any shogun entered the city in over two hundred years, since [[1634]] - to discuss the matter. Negotiations came to naught, and Iemochi returned to Edo with the Emperor's expulsion order still standing. While most domains (and shogunal lands) realized that any attacks on foreign ships would only invite severe retribution, Chôshû obeyed the order, and began firing on American and other Western ships, and suffered the consequences.
The shogunate formed two counter-terrorism squads, the [[Roshigumi|Rôshigumi]] and [[Shinsengumi]], aimed at hunting down and eliminating the ''shishi'' rebels. Another raid like that at the Teradaya famously took place at the [[Ikedaya]] in Kyoto in [[1864]], just one month before a group of Chôshû activists tried to take the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]] by force. Their [[Kinmon Rebellion|rebellion]] was stopped by forces chiefly from Satsuma and Aizu domains, an example of the ways in which factional allegiances were complex and often shifting during this brief period. Chôshû domain was declared an enemy of the Court, and ships from Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States contributed to a [[bombardment of Shimonoseki]], Chôshû's main port city. Shogunate and allied samurai forces also launched [[First Choshu Expedition|a punitive mission against Chôshû]] the following year ([[1865]]), forcing the ''daimyô'' to round up and execute those behind the attack on the Imperial Palace, or else be stripped of his domain. He did so, but this would not prove to be the end for radicalism and violence coming out of Chôshû.
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