Shimazu Hisamitsu

Shimazu Hisamitsu

Shimazu Hisamitsu ( Japanese 島 津 久 光 , also called Shimazu Saburō (島 津 三郎); born December 2, 1817 in Kagoshima ; died December 6, 1887 ) was a Japanese nobleman during the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji period . In 1884 he was made a prince .

life and work

After the death of the daimyo of Satsuma, Shimazu Nariakira , in 1858 he was followed by his son Tadayoshi (1840-1897). In fact, Nariakira's half-brother Hisamitsu took power in Kagoshima. He continued to strengthen military power, like Nariakira, filled higher positions with lower samurai if they had special skills.

From 1861 he became increasingly concerned with the whole of Japanese politics and spent a lot of time outside his domain. He used his military in 1862 to limit extreme xenophobia. So he led a troop of over 1000 men to Kyoto and ordered the overactive samurai from Satsuma to return home. This resulted in the " Teradaya incident " named after the inn in Fushimi south of Kyoto, where a number of Satsuma conspirators against the shogunate had gathered. They were killed by Hisamitsu's forces. He himself was a proponent of the "Kōbu gattei" (公 武 合体), ie a balanced distribution of power between the court and the military nobility.

Hisamitsu then went with his troops to Edo, where he installed Tokugawa Yoshinobu as regent for the vacant position of the shogun. On the way back in September 1862, some of his people attacked a group of English people near Yokohama who they believed had not shown adequate respect. The Englishman Charles Richardson was killed and two other Englishmen wounded, which had military and political consequences as the " Namamugi incident ". Back in Kyoto he found the city occupied by samurai from Chōshū and withdrew to Kagoshima.

From 1865 onwards, his influence waned as opponents of any cooperation with the shogunate became more prevalent, but he still played a role in politics. - After the Meiji Restoration , he was persuaded to take up an office in the new government and became "Minister on the Left" (左 大臣, Sadaijin). In the long run, however, he did not like the government's policy, he gave up his office in 1875 and retired completely.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Shimazu Hisamitsu . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X
• Hunter, Janet: Shimazu Hisamitsu . In: Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Kodansha International, 1984. ISBN 4-7700-1193-8 .
• Papinot, Edmond: Shimazu Hisamitsu . In: Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. Reprinted by Tuttle, 1972 edition of 1910 edition. ISBN 0-8048-0996-8 .

Web links

Commons : Shimazu Hisamitsu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Shimazu is the family name, Hisamitsu the first name.