Fall of Seven Nobles Incident

• Date: 1863/8/18
• Japanese: 七卿落ち (shichi kyou ochi)

The shichi-kyô-ochi (lit. "fall of seven nobles") incident was one in which seven court nobles of the anti-shogunate sonnô jôi ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians!") faction were expelled from Kyoto after being discovered plotting against the kôbu gattai ("Union of Shogunate & Court").

The seven, namely Sanjô Sanetomi, Sanjô Nishisuetomo, Higashikuze Michitomi, Mibu Motonaga, Shijô Takauta, Nishikikôji Yoritomi, and Sawa Nobuyoshi, had previous had their plots defeated by the kôbu gattai faction on at least one prior occasion. On 1863/8/18, they were banished from the Imperial capital, and made their way to Chôshû. One of the places they are known to have stopped and stayed along the way was Tomo no ura (modern-day Fukuyama City, Hiroshima prefecture).

References

• "Shichikyôochi," Digital Daijisen デジタル大辞泉, Shôgakukan.