, sometimes known as , were a group of Japanese political activists of the late

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

. While it is usually applied to the anti-

shogunate , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

, pro-''

sonnō jōi was a ''yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought ...

'' (尊皇攘夷; "Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian ) samurai primarily from the southwestern clans of

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

, Chōshū, and Tosa, the term ''shishi'' is also used by some with reference to supporters of the shogunate, such as the ''

Shinsengumi The was a special police force organized by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect the shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time when ...

''. There were many different varieties of ''shishi''. Some, such as the assassins

Kawakami Gensai was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. A highly skilled swordsman, he was one of the four most notable assassins of the Bakumatsu period. Gensai's high-speed sword discipline allowed him to assassinate targets in broad daylight. Ear ...

Nakamura Hanjirō was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, and an Imperial Japanese Army general of the early Meiji era. Biography Kirino, also known as , was renowned as one of the Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu. His sword style was ''Ko-jigen-ryū'', a ...

Okada Izō was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, feared as one of the four most notable assassins of the Bakumatsu period. He was a member of (Tosa Imperialism party, a loyalist clique of Tosa) in his hometown, Tosa Domain. Izō and Tanaka Shinb ...

, and Tanaka Shinbei, opted for a more violent approach in asserting their views.

, in particular, is recalled as the assassin of

Sakuma Shōzan sometimes called Sakuma Zōzan, was a Japanese politician and scholar of the Edo period. Biography Born Sakuma Kunitada, he was the son of a samurai and scholar and his wife , and a native of (or Shinano Province) in present day's Nagano Pref ...

, a renowned pro-Western thinker of the time. Several assaults on westerners in Japan have been attributed to the ''shishi'' and associated ''

rōnin A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's ...

'' warriors. In a 2013 article, these assassins have been called "early terrorists" (german: frühe Terroristen) since they opted to spread terror among the foreigners. Other more radical ''shishi'', such as

Miyabe Teizō Miyabe (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese volleyball player * Kingo Miyabe Japanese botanist *, Japanese Tendai monk *, Japanese writer *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese speed s ...

, plotted large-scale attacks with little regard for public safety. Miyabe himself was one of the ringleaders of the plot, foiled by the

at the

Ikedaya Incident The , also known as the Ikedaya affair or Ikedaya riot, was an armed encounter between the ''shishi'' which included masterless samurai (''rōnin'') formally employed by the Chōshū, Tosa and Higo clans (han), and the Shinsengumi, the Ba ...

, to burn Kyoto at the height of the

Gion Festival The is one of the largest and most famous festivals in Japan, taking place annually during the month of July in Kyoto. Many events take place in central Kyoto and at the Yasaka Shrine, the festival's patron shrine, located in Kyoto's famous Gion ...

. As mentioned above, ''shishi'' were not necessarily in support of bringing down the shogunate. ''Shishi'' from Mito were responsible for the death of the shogunal

grand councilor The grand chancellor (''zaixiang, tsai-hsiang''), also translated as counselor-in-chief, chancellor, chief councillor, chief minister, imperial chancellor, lieutenant chancellor and prime minister, was the highest-ranking executive official in th ...

Ii Naosuke was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Ha ...

, who was a signatory to treaties that favored foreign nations, and who had placed an underaged boy on the shogunal throne. Other Mito men and women arose in the

Tengutō Rebellion The , also called the Kantō Insurrection or the , was a civil war that occurred in the area of Mito Domain in Japan between May 1864 and January 1865. It involved an uprising and terrorist actions against the central power of the Shogunate in fa ...

, over the next several years. While these were definitely actions against the shōgun's government, they did not oppose the shōgun himself—indeed, the Mito ''shishi'', who were retainers of a relative of the shōgun, believed they were only helping him. Other ''shishi'' had more scholastic leanings. A prime example of this was the scholar

Yoshida Shōin , commonly named , was one of Japan's most distinguished intellectuals in the late years of the Tokugawa shogunate. He devoted himself to nurturing many ''ishin shishi'' who in turn made major contributions to the Meiji Restoration. Early life ...

of Chōshū. He founded the Shokason-juku school, and educated many of the future government leaders of

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Yoshida had connections to many prominent figures of the

Bakumatsu era was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government ...

Kawai Tsugunosuke was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who served the Makino clan of Nagaoka Domain, Nagaoka. Kawai was a senior military commander of Nagaoka forces during the Boshin War of 1868–1869. He escaped to nearby Aizu after his domain's fall; ...

Katsu Kaishū Count , best known by his nickname , was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku ) by Sakuma Shōzan. He ...

, the aforementioned

, and others. The more radical ''shishi'' from Chōshū and

went on to form the core leadership of the nascent

Meiji Government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

. Some, such as

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samur ...

and

Yamagata Aritomo ''Gensui (Imperial Japanese Army), Gensui'' Prince , also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a senior-ranking Japanese people, Japanese military commander, twice-elected Prime Minister of Japan, and a leading member of the ''genrō'', an � ...

, remained prominent figures in Japanese politics and society until the early decades of the 20th century.

References

;Notes ;Works cited * Political organizations based in Japan Meiji Restoration {{Japan-org-stub

See also

References