Satsuma Rebellion

Also called: Seinan War

The last and largest revolt of former samurai, launched by Satsuma warriors who had lost their privileges, with Saigō Takamori at their head. The government’s conscript army crushed it.

The abolition of the domains, conscription, the 1876 ban on wearing swords and the end of hereditary stipends stripped the samurai of their privileges and livelihoods. In February 1877 tens of thousands of Satsuma samurai rose behind Saigō Takamori, who had gone home to Kagoshima after the 1873 split over Korea and opened private academies. The rebels failed to take Kumamoto Castle, were driven back at Tabaruzaka, and the revolt ended with Saigō’s death at Shiroyama on 24 September. The victory of a conscript army of commoners ended the age of armed revolt, and opposition shifted to the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement.