Changes

*''Died: [[1887]]''

*''Died: [[1887]]''

*''Japanese'': [[島津]]久光 ''(Shimazu Hisamitsu)''

*''Japanese'': [[島津]]久光 ''(Shimazu Hisamitsu)''

Shimazu Hisamitsu was the father of the last [[daimyo]] of [[Satsuma han]], the young [[Shimazu Tadayoshi]], who ruled the domain from [[1858]] until [[1871]]. 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 [[1871]]. 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.

Hisamitsu was the son of [[Shimazu Narioki]] and [[Oyura no kata]], and was thus a half-brother to [[Shimazu Nariakira]]. He was considered the head of the Echizen (Shigetomi) branch of the Shimazu, and the founder or ancestor of the Tamazato branch. Though supported by his mother, Hisamitsu lost to Nariakira in a succession dispute in [[1851]], and was passed over as lord of the domain. However, when Nariakira died suddenly in 1858, he was succeeded by Hisamitsu's teenage son, Tadayoshi. Hisamitsu then served as regent for a time, and exercised considerable influence over domain policy.

Hisamitsu was the son of [[Shimazu Narioki]] and [[Oyura no kata]], and was thus a half-brother to [[Shimazu Nariakira]]. He was considered the head of the Echizen (Shigetomi) branch of the Shimazu, and the founder or ancestor of the Tamazato branch. Though supported by his mother, Hisamitsu lost to Nariakira in a succession dispute in [[1851]], and was passed over as lord of the domain. However, when Nariakira died suddenly in 1858, he was succeeded by Hisamitsu's teenage son, Tadayoshi. Hisamitsu then served as regent for a time, and exercised considerable influence over domain policy.

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>.

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>.

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.

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.

Meanwhile, Hisamitsu was called to [[Edo]] to contribute to discussions on shogunal policy reforms. The famous [[Namamugi Incident]] took place as he passed through [[Yokohama]] on his way back to Satsuma. 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 the following year, in response, the British Royal Navy [[bombardment of Kagoshima|bombarded Kagoshima]], the chief Satsuma castle town. Yet, in the aftermath of this conflict, Hisamitsu managed to build strong friendly relations with Britain, importing silk spinning technologies, sending [[Satsuma students|students]] to study in England (in violation of the shogunate's [[maritime prohibitions]]), and welcoming British engineers and technicians, who helped design and build the beginnings of "modern" industry in Satsuma.

 

 

 

Hisamitsu returned to Tokyo in [[1873]] at the urging of the [[Meiji government|new government]], and served for a time as advisor to the Cabinet, and as ''[[Sadaijin]]'' (Minister of the Left). However, opposed to the continuing policies of Westernization, he returned to Kagoshima once again.

In the early [[Meiji period]], he remained a staunch pro-samurai conservative, leaving [[Tokyo]] and returning to [[Kagoshima]] in anger and frustration in the early or mid-1870s, after submitting memorials to the Emperor expressing his distaste for reforms and innovations that had been undertaken which undermined the samurai as a privileged class of warriors, as well as reforms to the calendar, the wearing of Western dress at formal state occasions, the employment of foreigners as special advisors to the government, the adoption of foreign modes of military training, the adoption of commoner/citizen [[military conscription]], and the like.

Hisamitsu then retired to Tamazato, where he collected and compiled documents. During the [[Satsuma Rebellion]] of [[1877]], he remained neutral, and waited out the events from [[Sakurajima]]. He was named ''[[kazoku|kôshaku]]'' (Duke) in [[1884]], and died in [[1887]] at the age of 71, in the Tamazato mansion in Kagoshima.<ref>Today, the site of Kagoshima Girls' High School (鹿児島女子高校).[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kagoshima+Girls'+High+School/@31.6127926,130.539534,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x7dbef8d91283ba54 Google Maps]</ref>

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*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.

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