|
refers to the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867 Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as ''sakoku'' and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the Meiji government. The major ideological-political divide during this period was between the pro-imperial nationalists called ''ishin shishi'' and the shogunate forces, which included the elite shinsengumi swordsmen. Although these two groups were the most visible powers, many other factions attempted to use the chaos of Bakumatsu to seize personal power.〔Hillsborough, ''page # needed''.〕 Furthermore, there were two other main driving forces for dissent: first, growing resentment on the part of the tozama daimyo (or outside lords), and second, growing anti-western sentiment following the arrival of Matthew C. Perry. The first related to those lords who had fought against Tokugawa forces at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and had from that point on been excluded permanently from all powerful positions within the shogunate. The second was to be expressed in the phrase ''sonnō jōi'', or "revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians". The turning point of the Bakumatsu was during the Boshin War and the Battle of Toba-Fushimi when pro-shogunate forces were defeated.〔Ravina, ''page # needed''.〕 == Foreign frictions == (詳細はwhaling activities and the China trade. They were hoping for Japan to become a base for supply or at least a place where shipwrecks could receive assistance. The violent demands made by the British frigate ''Phaeton'' in 1808 shocked many in Japan.〔Jansen 2002, p.287〕 In 1825, the was issued by the Shogunate, prohibiting any contacts with foreigners; it remained in place until 1842. Meanwhile, Japan endeavoured to learn about foreign sciences through rangaku ("Western studies"). To reinforce Japan's capability to carry on the orders to repel Westerners, some such as the Nagasaki-based Takashima Shūhan managed to obtain weapons through the Dutch at Dejima, such as field guns, mortars and firearms.〔 Domains sent students to learn from Takashima in Nagasaki, from Satsuma Domain after the intrusion of an American warship in 1837 in Kagoshima Bay, and from Saga Domain and Chōshū Domain, all southern domains mostly exposed to Western intrusions.〔Kornicki, (p. 246 )〕 These domains also studied the manufacture of Western weapons. By 1852 Satsuma and Saga had reverbatory furnaces to produce the iron necessary for firearms.〔 Following the Morrison Incident involving the ''Morrison'' under Charles W. King in 1837, Egawa Hidetatsu was put in charge of establishing the defense of Tokyo Bay against Western intrusions in 1839.〔Cullen, pp. 158–159.〕 After the victory of the British over the Chinese in the 1840 Opium War, many Japanese realized that traditional ways would not be sufficient to repel Western intrusions. To resist Western military forces, Western guns were studied and demonstrations made in 1841 by Takashima Shūhan to the Tokugawa Shogunate.〔 A national debate was already taking place about how to better avoid foreign domination. Some like Egawa claimed that it was necessary to use the foreigners' techniques to repel them. Others, such as Torii Yōzō argued that only traditional Japanese methods should be employed and reinforced.〔Jansen 1995, p. 124.〕 Egawa argued that just as Confucianism and Buddhism had been introduced from abroad, it made sense to introduce useful Western techniques.〔 A theoretical synthesis of "Western knowledge" and "Eastern morality" would later be accomplished by Sakuma Shōzan and Yokoi Shōnan, in view of "controlling the barbarians with their own methods."〔Jansen 1995, pp. 126–130.〕 After 1839, however, traditionalists tended to prevail. Students of Western sciences were accused of treason (''Bansha no goku''), put under house arrest (Takashima Shūhan), forced to commit ritual suicide (Watanabe Kazan, Takano Chōei), or even assassinated as in the case of Sakuma Shōzan. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「bakumatsu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|