Changes

*Genro, etc.

*Genro, etc.

A number of the chief government officials took part in a two-year [[Iwakura Mission|mission]] in [[1871]]-[[1873]], in which they toured the United States and a number of European countries, in order to learn about Western modes of government, industry, and education, among other fields, and to consider which to potentially implement in Japan.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, 171.</ref>

A number of the chief government officials took part in a two-year [[Iwakura Mission|mission]] led by [[Iwakura Tomomi]] in [[1871]]-[[1873]], in which they toured the United States and a number of European countries, in order to learn about Western modes of government, industry, and education, among other fields, and to consider which to potentially implement in Japan.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, 171.</ref>

[[File:Yoshitoshi-kumamoto.jpg|center|thumb|800px|"Battle before [[Kumamoto castle]]," by [[Tsukioka Yoshitoshi]], [[1877]], depicting one key battle of the 1877 [[Satsuma Rebellion]]. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.]]

[[File:Yoshitoshi-kumamoto.jpg|center|thumb|800px|"Battle before [[Kumamoto castle]]," by [[Tsukioka Yoshitoshi]], [[1877]], depicting one key battle of the 1877 [[Satsuma Rebellion]]. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.]]

The abolition of the domains had numerous political repercussions, but in terms of foreign relations, one of the most major was that this also severed the traditional relationship between the [[Joseon Dynasty]] Korean royal court, and the [[So clan|Sô]] samurai clan of [[Tsushima han|Tsushima]]. For centuries, the Korean king had considered the Sô his vassal, and all formal diplomatic and trade relations between Korea and Japan were handled via the Sô. The toppling of the Tokugawa order, removing the Sô from their domain of Tsushima, also removed them, unilaterally, from their vassalage to the Korean king. The Korean court protested against this by refusing to engage in formal relations with the Meiji government. Japanese frustrations at attempting to re-establish relations culminated in a [[1873]] debate known as the ''[[Seikanron]]'' (lit. "debate on invading Korea"). [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]], among others, took a militarist view, and sought to launch a punitive mission, militarily invading the peninsula in order to punish the Koreans for daring to be so stubborn. This debate ultimately ended with the anti-invasion faction winning out, and Saigô angrily quitting the government, to return to [[Kagoshima]], where he would later lead a rebellion against the very same government he had helped to establish.

The abolition of the domains had numerous political repercussions, but in terms of foreign relations, one of the most major was that this also severed the traditional relationship between the [[Joseon Dynasty]] Korean royal court, and the [[So clan|Sô]] samurai clan of [[Tsushima han|Tsushima]]. For centuries, the Korean king had considered the Sô his vassal, and all formal diplomatic and trade relations between Korea and Japan were handled via the Sô. The toppling of the Tokugawa order, removing the Sô from their domain of Tsushima, also removed them, unilaterally, from their vassalage to the Korean king. The Korean court protested against this by refusing to engage in formal relations with the Meiji government. Japanese frustrations at attempting to re-establish relations culminated in a [[1873]] debate known as the ''[[Seikanron]]'' (lit. "debate on invading Korea"). [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]], among others, took a militarist view, and sought to launch a punitive mission, militarily invading the peninsula in order to punish the Koreans for daring to be so stubborn. This debate ultimately ended with the anti-invasion faction winning out, and Saigô angrily quitting the government, to return to [[Kagoshima]], where he would later lead a rebellion against the very same government he had helped to establish.

Saigô's [[1877]] [[Satsuma Rebellion]] was only one of a number of [[shizoku rebellions|''shizoku'' rebellions]] which took place in the mid-1870s, but it was the largest, and ultimately the most decisive. Saigô led some 15,000 former samurai (''[[shizoku]]'') in violently protesting the loss of their samurai privileges (chiefly [[stipends]]), among other causes.<ref>[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 206-207.</ref> Their defeat by the Imperial Japanese Army marked the end of any major violent opposition to the new political order, mirroring in a sense the [[1615]] [[siege of Osaka]], and/or [[1637]]-[[1638]] [[Shimabara Rebellion]], which similarly marked the last serious armed opposition to Tokugawa hegemony, some 250 years earlier.

Saigô's [[1877]] [[Satsuma Rebellion]] was only one of a number of [[shizoku rebellions|''shizoku'' rebellions]] which took place in the mid-1870s, but it was the largest, and ultimately the most decisive. With the abolition of the samurai class and the domain system, former samurai (''[[shizoku]]'') lost their regular [[stipends]], the traditional avenues of government service, and their elite status overall. Many felt a deep sense of grievance, feeling they had contributed to effecting the Restoration far more so than any other group (certainly more so than the commoners), and yet were being treated by the new government as if they had no special purpose, and no future.<ref>Jordan Walker, "Archipelagic Ambiguities: The Demarcation of Modern Japan, 1868-1879," ''Island Studies Journal'' 10:2 (2015), 215.</ref> Traditionally, samurai had gained prestige and reputation through military exploits; they were rewarded by their lords for accomplishments on the battlefield, or in the Edo period, for accomplishments in feudal service. The decision to not invade Korea, and to not stand up against Russia militarily in Sakhalin, was seen by many former samurai as the nail in the coffin of this avenue of earning prestige, and personal success, leaving many former samurai feeling they were simply being left to fend for themselves, and that everything they stood for was not only being ignored by the new government, but actively disparaged, or dismantled.

 

Saigô thus led some 15,000 former samurai in violently protesting the loss of their samurai privileges in 1877.<ref>[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 206-207.</ref> Their defeat by the Imperial Japanese Army marked the end of any major violent opposition to the new political order, mirroring in a sense the [[1615]] [[siege of Osaka]], and/or [[1637]]-[[1638]] [[Shimabara Rebellion]], which similarly marked the last serious armed opposition to Tokugawa hegemony, some 250 years earlier.

The Korea issue which sparked Saigô's departure from the government would remain a key element of geopolitical tensions for Japan for nearly the entire remainder of the Meiji period. As the Western powers continued to expand their colonial holdings around the world, Japanese leaders worried that the British, French, or Russians would colonize Korea, thus not only denying Japan access to trade with Korea, but also placing Western imperialist armies (with Korea as base) far too close to Japan for comfort. After the government decided in 1873 against a full invasion of Korea, they then successfully put pressure on the Joseon court in [[1876]] to conclude a formal, modern-style, treaty with Japan. This 1876 [[Treaty of Ganghwa]] linked Japan and Korea within a modern/Western mode of international relations, as mutually independent, sovereign, nation-states, essentially severing, or at least ignoring, Korea's status as a [[tribute|tributary]] state under Chinese suzerainty. Just as Korea had been angered at the removal of its vassal, the Sô clan, the [[Qing Dynasty]] was now angered at this affront to their suzerain-tributary relationship with Korea. Tensions between China, Russia, Japan, and the Western powers over securing a sphere of influence in Korea were a key factor in causing the Sino-Japanese War. This ultimately led too to the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of [[1904]]-[[1905]], which ended in a Japanese victory, and Japanese acquisition of Korea as a colony.

The Korea issue which sparked Saigô's departure from the government would remain a key element of geopolitical tensions for Japan for nearly the entire remainder of the Meiji period. As the Western powers continued to expand their colonial holdings around the world, Japanese leaders worried that the British, French, or Russians would colonize Korea, thus not only denying Japan access to trade with Korea, but also placing Western imperialist armies (with Korea as base) far too close to Japan for comfort. After the government decided in 1873 against a full invasion of Korea, they then successfully put pressure on the Joseon court in [[1876]] to conclude a formal, modern-style, treaty with Japan. This 1876 [[Treaty of Ganghwa]] linked Japan and Korea within a modern/Western mode of international relations, as mutually independent, sovereign, nation-states, essentially severing, or at least ignoring, Korea's status as a [[tribute|tributary]] state under Chinese suzerainty. Just as Korea had been angered at the removal of its vassal, the Sô clan, the [[Qing Dynasty]] was now angered at this affront to their suzerain-tributary relationship with Korea. Tensions between China, Russia, Japan, and the Western powers over securing a sphere of influence in Korea were a key factor in causing the Sino-Japanese War. This ultimately led too to the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of [[1904]]-[[1905]], which ended in a Japanese victory, and Japanese acquisition of Korea as a colony.