Takamori Saigo

The Japanese rebel and statesman Takamori Saigo (1827-1877) was the military leader of the Meiji restoration. His eventual revolt against the Meiji government in 1877 represented the resistance of the old warrior class to the swift and often ruthless policy of Westernization of Japan.

Takamori Saigo was born the eldest son of a lower-ranking samurai family on Feb. 7, 1827, in Kagoshima, the castle town of the Satsuma domain. As a youth, he showed much interest in both Wang Yangming Confucianism and Zen Buddhism, both of which stressed the importance of acting on individual conscience. After briefly attending the domain academy, he became a minor domain official. A huge man, physically powerful with a dark penetrating gaze and a commanding presence, he attracted the attention of the lord of the domain, Nariakira Shimazu, who agreed with his views that major domestic reforms were necessary to meet the challenge of the West. He acted as courier and confidant to Nariakira until the latter's death in 1858.

After an abortive attempt at suicide in 1858, Saigo remained in retirement until 1864, when he reemerged as a military leader in the domain. He led Satsuma troops in skirmishes with Choshu forces at Kyoto in 1864 and later in the shogunate's expedition against Choshu. Gradually, however, he became convinced that it was in the interest of both his domain and the country that Satsuma act in concert with Choshu to bring an end to continued domination of the country by the Shogun. In 1868 Saigo served as field commander of the imperial forces in campaigns against the military resistance of the shogunate. As a result of this experience, he won a reputation as a great military hero and the universal respect of the samurai who served under him.

Discontent with Meiji

Once the Meiji restoration was accomplished, Saigo found himself in growing disagreement with the leaders of the new imperial government. Although he was appointed minister of war in 1871 and became a field marshal and court councilor in 1872, he opposed the growing centralization of the government, the trimming of the legal and social privileges of the samurai class, and the rapid pace of Westernization. In 1873 he finally broke with the government when some of its members, who had returned from an extended trip to Europe, rejected his plan for an invasion of Korea to provide military glory for former samurai and to enhance Japan's international position.

Saigo returned to his native province, where there was much samurai discontentment with the abolition of their privileges and the shift of power from the feudal domains to the central government. Saigo seems to have remained politically inactive and even resisted pressure by discontented elements in other domains to revolt. But in 1877, when an army of former Satsuma samurai rebelled against the central government's attempts to end Satsuma's semi-autonomous administrative status, he agreed to lead them. On Sept. 24, 1877, he took his life in traditional samurai fashion during the final battle with government troops, which ended the rebellion.

Further Reading

One biography of Saigo in English is a translation of a work by a well-known novelist, Saneatsu Mushakoji, Great Saigo: The Life of Takamori Saigo (1942), which is romanticized and eulogistic. The story of Saigo's involvement in the rebellion of 1877 is treated in a contemporary journalistic account by Augustus H. Mounsey, The Satsuma Rebellion: An Episode of Modern Japanese History (1879).

Additional Sources

Yates, Charles L., Saigo Takamori: the man behind the myth, London; New York: Kegan Paul International; New York: Distributed by Columbia University Press, 1995. □

Saigo Takamori (1828–77) Japanese soldier and statesman. A member of a lowly but prestigious SAMURAI family, he played a central role in the overthrow of the SHOGUNATE and the establishment of the MEIJI imperial state. Showered with the highest honours, he initially retired from public life, but in 1871 was persuaded to return to the government as commander of the Imperial Guard. Fearing for the decline of the samurai way of life in the face of the introduction of conscription, Saigo promoted a war of redemption against Korea, to be triggered by his own murder at Korean hands, but retired in 1873 when this plan was vetoed. Subsequently his private school at Kagoshima became a centre for samurai dissatisfaction, and in 1877 he was forced into rebellion by the actions of his followers. Defeated by government forces under YAMAGATA, he had himself killed by one of his own men.

Takamori Saigo , 1828–77, Japanese soldier and statesman noted for his obstinate conservatism. He was an early opponent of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was exiled (1859–64) but returned to train Satsuma warriors. In 1867 his troops supported the emperor in the Meiji Restoration. In the new government he was an imperial adviser, and in 1873 he advocated war with Korea and opposed the Westernization of Japan. When his advice was rejected, he and a group of dissidents retired from the government. He spent four years training a military force, and in 1877 he led the Satsuma revolt; his samurai followers were defeated by imperial troops, drawn from the peasantry and equipped with modern arms. Saigo committed suicide. He later became a symbol of devotion to principle.

Bibliography: See biography by S. Mushakoji (tr. 1942); M. Sakamoto, The Fall of Shiroyama (1962).

Saigō Takamori (Japanese military leader): see MEIJI.