Saigo takamori biography examples

Saigō Takamori (–) is remembered both for his foremost role in the Meiji Restoration that overthrew the shogunate in and for his unsuccessful rebellion against the new government less than a decade later.

Although he died a renegade, a government pardon rehabilitated his reputation.

Saigō Takamori (or Takanaga) (西鄕 隆盛 [隆永], January 23, – September 24, ) was a Japanese samurai and nobleman. He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration.

At years since the Meiji Restoration, the spotlight is again on the “last samurai.”

Straightforward and Emotional

Saigō’s rise to prominence began in when he was recruited by Shimazu Nariakira, the progressive daimyō of the Satsuma domain (now Kagoshima Prefecture), to accompany him to the capital of Edo (now Tokyo).

As a low-ranking official Saigō had dealt with bridge and road construction projects and rice inspection. However, he caught Nariakira’s attention with a series of memoranda on agricultural administration he submitted to the provincial government.

Officially he was employed in Edo as a gardener, but his duties went beyond tending plants. While in the capital, Saigō made contact with major players among the imperial loyalists who opposed the shogunate.

He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Living during the late Edo and early Meiji periodshe later led the Satsuma Rebellion against the Meiji government. Historian Ivan Morris described him as "the quintessential hero of modern Japanese history". His childhood name was Kokichi and he received the given name Takamori in adulthood.

The outdoor career offered convenient cover for Nariakira and Saigō to meet and talk, sidestepping the obstacles they would otherwise face due to their wide difference in rank.

A monument marks Saigō Takamori’s birthplace in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture.

Saigō rapidly built up a network of loyalists hailing from Mito (now Ibaraki Prefecture) and other domains.

He won Nariakira’s confide in with his straightforward and passionate nature, and over time the daimyō came to seek the younger man’s opinions. However, the situation began to change from when Abe Masahiro, a senior councilor in the shogunate who had helped ensure his secure friend Nariakira’s succession as Satsuma daimyō, died.

Nariakira himself died the following year and force in Satsuma passed to his younger brother Shimazu Hisamitsu who ruled as regent. Meanwhile, conservative politician Ii Naosuke seized efficient control of the shogunate, initiating major suppression of reformist forces.

Grieving the loss of his protector Nariakira and facing tough political prospects, Saigō was determined to follow his master to the grave but was persuaded by Gesshō, the chief priest of a Kyoto temple, to flee together to Satsuma.

Once there, however, they threw themselves into the sea at Kagoshima Bay. Gesshō drowned, but Saigō miraculously survived.

In the Hands of Fate

Over the next five years Saigō endured successive periods of exile on the islands of Amami Ōshima and Okinoerabujima.

On Amami, he was allowed a certain amount of freedom and he married a local woman. After a brief reprieve following his return from Amami, though, he was again exiled on a penal island after he angered Hisamitsu with critical words. This period of imprisonment became an opportunity for serious reflection on his life and shaped his character as a thoughtful dude of firm principles.

A statue of Saigō Takamori in military uniform in Shiroyama, where the final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion took place.

Saigō biographer and researcher Iechika Yoshiki argues in his profile of the Satsuma samurai that unlike most people, Saigō fully conquered his dread of death.

The Japanese rebel and statesman Takamori Saigo was the military leader of the Meiji restoration. His eventual revolt against the Meiji government in 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. As a youth, he showed much interest in both Wang Yangming Confucianism and Zen Buddhismboth of which stressed the importance of acting on individual conscience.

Having missing many people he loved and respected, including his parents, Nariakira, and Gesshō, he was not terrified by the prospect of dying and may have seen it as a way to reunite with loved ones.

Iechika suggests that Saigō believed heaven had spared his life for a reason and that he would live until completing his celestial calling.

This philosophy is associated to his famous motto keiten aijin, meaning “Respect heaven and love people.” Saigō’s view was that matters of life and death were above human consideration and should be left entirely to fate.

A portrait of Saigō Takamori beneath his motto “Respect heaven and love people” at Saigō Nanshū Museum in Kagoshima.

A Bloodless Surrender

In Saigō reconciled with Hisamitsu and returned to the political center stage in Kyoto as commander of the Satsuma army.

After repelling anti-shogunate forces from the Chōshū domain (now Yamaguchi Prefecture) as they attempted to enter the urban area, he was promoted to the level of high official. The event, known as the Hamaguri Gomon incident, was Saigō’s first experience of battle and principal an army.

I was stunned. Friends of the Emory Libraries purchased the fifty-one-volume historical encyclopedia of Japanese life and customs for the Asian Studies collection of the Woodruff Library. Saigo Takamori was born into poverty inthe son of a tax official who was a low-ranking urban samurai and his wife, the daughter of a local samurai. Inat the request of the emperor, Takamori and a group of samurai warriors seized control of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and restored the Meiji Empire, ending years of rule by the feudalistic Tokugawa shogunate.

The same year, he became the chief of staff in the shogunate army sent to punish Chōshū. In , however, Satsuma and Chōshū entered an alliance brokered by Sakamoto Ryōma. Saigō took charge of the opposition forces that would ultimately become soldiers of the new Meiji government.

In January , imperial loyalists led by Satsuma and Chōshū proclaimed the restoration of power from the shōgun to the emperor.

Resistance by shogunate supporters sparked the Boshin War later that month. Although the conflict dragged on until the following year, a key victory for the Meiji troops came with the surrender of Edo Castle in the spring of With the fate of the city and the nation in peril were fighting to break out in Edo, Saigō entered the shogunate stronghold with just a handful of followers, seeking to negotiate.

Surrounded by enemy soldiers, he faced the very real prospect of assassination. Discussion and cooperation between Saigō and shogunate leader Katsu Kaishū led to the peaceful handover of the castle, which has been hailed as a “bloodless surrender.”

In Japan, Saigō Takamori, Ōkubo Toshimichi, and Kido Takayoshi are considered the three great figures of the Meiji Restoration.

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

For Iechika, however, Saigō’s Edo Castle success was something the other two members of the trio could never have achieved. He contends that without Saigō, the Meiji Restoration may never have happened, and that because of him, people today view the event favorably.

If the movement had resulted in a bloody, all-out civil war, though, it is likely public sentiment would be very different. Although Saigō was not the shrewd politician that Ōkubo was, he had a affection and spirit that the other man could not match.

The Shiroyama cave where Saigō is said to have spent his final five days before death.

A Film Inspiration

In Saigō joined the Meiji government and in he became army general.

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However, he resigned later that year after losing a debate over his advocated backing of a military expedition to Korea. He returned to his abode in Kagoshima Prefecture, where he spent his time farming and hunting. In , however, he was prevailed upon to head an army of disgruntled samurai in the Satsuma Rebellion.

Defeated back by government forces in battles across Kyūshū, the army made a final stand at Shiroyama in Kagoshima.

Saigō Takamori | Japanese Samurai, Meiji Restoration Leader ...: Saigō Takamori (born Jan. 23, , Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan—died Sept. 24, , Kagoshima) was a leader in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate who later rebelled against the weaknesses he saw in the Imperial government that he had helped to restore.

Saigō involved suicide after his soldiers were defeated. He was

Saigō Takamori’s grave (center) can be found at Nanshū Cemetery in the city of Kagoshima.

Saigō is the likely inspiration for Katsumoto Moritsugu—played by Watanabe Ken—the imaginary leader of discontented warriors in the film The Last Samurai.

The movie laments the passing of bushidō (the way of the samurai) through Katsumoto, as observed by Tom Cruise’s Civil War veteran Nathan Algren (the character has no direct historical equivalent).

Saigō’s association with traditional principles in a modernizing Japan is why he has been called the “last samurai.” Just 12 years after his failed rebellion, he was pardoned by the Meiji government, and in a famous statue of Saigō and his dog was erected in Tokyo’s Ueno Park.

Nearly a century and a half after his death, he remains a popular historic and cultural icon.

The statue of Saigō Takamori with his dog is a landmark in Ueno Park, Tokyo.

(Originally published in Japanese on April 20, Reporting and text by Nagasawa Takaaki.

Photographs by Kusano Seiichirō. Banner photo courtesy of the National Diet Library.)