Changes

* ''Born: [[1828]]''

* ''Born: [[1828]]''

* ''Died: [[1877]]''

* ''Died: [[1877]]''

* ''Japanese'': [[西郷]] 隆盛 ''(Saigou Takamori)''

* ''Japanese'': [[西郷]] 隆盛 ''(Saigou Takamori)''

The military leader of [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]] during the waning days of the [[Tokugawa Bakufu|Tokugawa Shogunate]], Saigô played a pivotal role in the [[Meiji Restoration|restoration of Imperial rule to Japan]]. While his daimyo, [[Shimazu Hisamitsu]], tended to vacillate on his position regarding supporting the shogunate or not, Saigô was resolute in his distaste for the [[Tokugawa clan|Tokugawa]] regime and was determined to completely crush Tokugawa power at almost any cost. Saigô was one of [[Sakamoto Ryoma|Sakamoto Ryôma's]] closest allies and friends, but some historians have speculated that he may have had a hand in Ryôma's assassination by leaking the location of Ryôma's hideout to Bakufu officials. The logic behind this speculation is that Saigô deemed that Ryôma would be a formidable roadblock in his plan to crush the Tokugawa. Surprisingly, Saigô went on to become the commander-in-chief of the Meiji army, laying the groundwork for what became the modern [[Imperial Japanese Army]].  

The military leader of [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]] during the waning days of the [[Tokugawa Bakufu|Tokugawa Shogunate]], Saigô played a pivotal role in the [[Meiji Restoration|restoration of Imperial rule to Japan]]. While his daimyo, [[Shimazu Hisamitsu]], tended to vacillate on his position regarding supporting the shogunate or not, Saigô was resolute in his distaste for the [[Tokugawa clan|Tokugawa]] regime and was determined to completely crush Tokugawa power at almost any cost. Saigô was one of [[Sakamoto Ryoma|Sakamoto Ryôma's]] closest allies and friends, but some historians have speculated that he may have had a hand in Ryôma's assassination by leaking the location of Ryôma's hideout to Bakufu officials. The logic behind this speculation is that Saigô deemed that Ryôma would be a formidable roadblock in his plan to crush the Tokugawa. Surprisingly, Saigô went on to become the commander-in-chief of the Meiji army, laying the groundwork for what became the modern [[Imperial Japanese Army]].  

Saigô supported [[Seikanron|proposals to invade Korea]] in [[1873]], believing that only with China and Korea on her side could Japan hope to successfully resist the West; he expressed in a letter to [[Itagaki Taisuke]] in 1873 that he was willing to go so far as to travel to Korea as an ambassador and arrange for himself to be killed in order to manufacture a justification for invasion.<ref>Schirokauer, et al., 171.; Wm. Theodore de Bary, Tsunoda Ryûsaku, and Donald Keene, ''Sources of Japanese Tradition'', vol 1., Columbia University Press (1964), 147-149.</ref> The invasion was ardently opposed by his younger brother [[Saigo Tsugumichi|Saigô Tsugumichi]], however, among many others, and Saigô left the government. He died leading the [[Satsuma Rebellion]] against the government he helped to establish.

Saigô was born in [[1828]] in the Shita-Kajiya-machi neighborhood of [[Kagoshima]]. His childhood name was Kokichi. He was also known as Kichinosuke, and later took on the [[art-name|pseudonym]] (''gô'') Nanshû. As a youth, he served as ''nise gashira'' (youth leader), and submitted opinions on agricultural administration which attracted the attention of Lord [[Shimazu Nariakira]], who then made Saigô one of his advisors.

 

 

 

 

 

When [[Iwakura Tomomi]], Ôkubo Toshimichi, Katsura Kogorô, and a number of other top government ministers left Japan on [[Iwakura mission|a major mission to Europe and the US]] in 1871, Saigô stayed behind and took over much of the top-level governmental administration.

 

When Iwakura and the others returned in [[1873]], however, a factional dispute emerged which split the government. Saigô supported [[Seikanron|proposals to invade Korea]] at this time, believing that only with China and Korea on her side could Japan hope to successfully resist the West; he expressed in a letter to [[Itagaki Taisuke]] in that year that he was willing to go so far as to travel to Korea as an ambassador and arrange for himself to be killed in order to manufacture a justification for invasion.<ref>Schirokauer, et al., 171.; Wm. Theodore de Bary, Tsunoda Ryûsaku, and Donald Keene, ''Sources of Japanese Tradition'', vol 1., Columbia University Press (1964), 147-149.</ref> The invasion was ardently opposed by his younger brother [[Saigo Tsugumichi|Saigô Tsugumichi]], among many others, and the dispute ended in Saigô voluntarily leaving the government and returning to Kagoshima. There, he established a private academy called the [[Shigakko|Shigakkô]], and began training a new generation of Satsuma political and military leaders.

 

In [[1877]], he led these men and others in the [[Satsuma Rebellion]], the largest ''[[shizoku]]'' (former samurai) uprising against the Meiji government. The rebellion was ultimately unsuccessful, and Saigô died making a last stand at [[battle of Shiroyama|Shiroyama]] in Kagoshima, fighting against the very Restoration government he had fought to establish a decade earlier.

A statue of Saigô, designed by [[Takamura Koun|Takamura Kôun]] and erected in [[Ueno Park]] in [[1898]], faces towards the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]], celebrating him as the leader of the armies which took [[Edo castle]] in 1868; it does not face away from the castle, least of all facing towards Kagoshima, which might suggest Saigô's betrayal of the Imperial state and loyalty to his Satsuma samurai roots.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 91-92.</ref>

A statue of Saigô, designed by [[Takamura Koun|Takamura Kôun]] and erected in [[Ueno Park]] in [[1898]], faces towards the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]], celebrating him as the leader of the armies which took [[Edo castle]] in 1868; it does not face away from the castle, least of all facing towards Kagoshima, which might suggest Saigô's betrayal of the Imperial state and loyalty to his Satsuma samurai roots.<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 91-92.</ref>

==References==

==References==