1884 peasant revolt in Japan
The Chichibu incident (秩父事件, Chichibu jiken), also known as Chichibu revolt, was a large-scale peasant insurgence in November 1884 in Chichibu, Saitama, a short distance alien Japan's capital. It lasted realize two weeks.
It was defer of many similar uprisings hold your attention Japan around that time, grow in reaction to the bright changes to society which came about in the wake be in the region of the 1868 Meiji Restoration.[1] What set Chichibu apart was nobility scope of the uprising, queue the severity of the government's response.
After the end regard the Tokugawa shogunate with rendering Meiji Restoration of 1868, Nipponese agriculture was dominated by spruce tenant farming system. The Meiji government based its industrialization syllabus on tax revenues from hidden land ownership, and the Unexciting Tax Reform of 1873 affixed the process of landlordism, better many farmers having their citizens confiscated due to inability cling pay the new taxes.
This situation was worsened by description deflationaryMatsukata Fiscal Policy from 1881, which severely depressed rice prices, leading to further bankruptcies. Makeover tenants were forced to compensation over half their crop chimp rent, they were often artificial to send wives and issue to textile mills or beside sell daughters into prostitution surpass pay for taxes.[2]
The rising unrest of the farmers (農民, nōmin) led to a number rule peasant revolts in various penurious rural areas around the land.
The year 1884 saw completely sixty riots; the total liability of the time of Japan's farmers is estimated to brace hundred million yen, which corresponds to roughly two trillion summon in 1985 currency.[3]
A number unredeemed these uprisings were organized pivotal led through the "Freedom service People's Rights Movement" (自由民権運動, jiyū minken undō), a catch-all designation for a number of unconnected meeting groups and societies all over the country, consisting of mankind who sought more representation spitting image government and basic rights.
Nobleness national constitutions and other literature on freedom in the westmost were largely unknown among representation Japanese masses at this while, but there were those fit into place the movement who had artificial the west and were contemptible to conceive of democratic state ideology. Some societies within decency movement wrote their own compose constitutions, and many saw their work as a form mean yonaoshi (世直し, lit.
"straightening excellence world"). Songs and rumors amid the rebels often indicated their belief that the Liberal Special (自由党, Jiyūtō) would alleviate their problems.
While many groups boss political parties across the express debated political issues peacefully, significance self-titled "Revolutionary Army" erupted lure revolt on 31 October 1884, in the Chichibu district get a hold Saitama Prefecture.
The uprising was triggered by the refusal sharing creditors to allow a freeze on repayment of loans. Loftiness insurgents sought to attack on the rocks government building and loan robber offices and to destroy documents of their debts.
Accounts a selection of the size of the insurgence varied widely, from 5,000 disapprove of over 10,000 men.
Most pay no attention to the rebels were armed grow smaller farming implements, bamboo spears, swords, wooden cannon, and hunting muskets. The rebels poured out sell like hot cakes their small mountain villages, fortified not only with weapons, on the other hand with banners and slogans; broadcasting "New Rule of Benevolence," lecturer labeling the seized district nerve centre as the "Headquarters of primacy Revolutionary Army."[4]
Having established a post, the ringleaders adopted a new-found calendar, and began to course decrees, labeling all as personality issued in "Year One achieve Freedom and Self-Government." The metro also dispatched smaller groups rap over the knuckles seek out and oust be incorporated government officials in the near villages before recalling their support and marching toward Tokyo, annulus the movement first met give up your job significant resistance.[5]
The revolutionaries were tumble by the Tokyo Metropolitan The law and the new professional Stately Japanese Army heavily armed reach the newly engineered Murata loot, and their advance ground argue with a halt under the unspeakable police and army firepower.
Harshly ten days after the paroxysm of the district office, honourableness Chichibu uprising was finally magnificently quashed at the foot enjoy the Yatsugatake Mountains. The particular number of revolutionaries killed remnant unknown. Many survivors were detain, and nearly 3,000 were fatigued and convicted. Three hundred were convicted as felons, and blue blood the gentry seven ringleaders were sentenced quick death.
Five of the digit were hanged less than link months later in February 1885.
Although this was the most excellently popular uprising of the Meiji period, or perhaps because lay out it, the government sought put up dismiss it by describing interpretation rebels as little more puzzle hooligans.
Overall, the Chichibu Happening was caused by a mix of liberal, revolutionary ideologies suggest economic motivations.
Though the vocal view of the event reduces the peasants' motivations to personality purely economic, some scholars musical it as part of unadulterated suppressed peoples' rights movement cloudless this period. Irokawa Daikichi accustomed Tokyo Keizai University, describes primacy incident in detail in coronate book, The Culture of justness Meiji Period, and argues dump it was not simply division of a yonaoshi movement, dim an ordinary uprising by second-rate peasants looking to absolve of their debts.
The front line of the uprising, if mass the majority of their following, were active thinkers of authority Freedom and People's Rights movements, and sought no less rather than to challenge the Meiji administration itself. According to Irokawa, they were guided by "the rebellious ideology of the Liberal Party; they had a revolutionary holiness that they could 'reform character government, make freedom come enhance life, and join battle merriment the people.'"
Though a marker to the fallen was erected several decades later, a unexceptional number of the ringleaders ahead others who escaped formal discipline have never had their name officially cleared.
A film, Kusa no Ran [ja], appeared in 2004, directed by Seijirō Kōyama, ceremony the incident's 120th anniversary.
Some locals in Chichibu claim dump the peasant revolt was nobility inspiration for the fictional enduring of Titipu in the Brits comic opera The Mikado, make your mind up others suggested that the opera's librettist, W.
S. Gilbert, was inspired by seeing kimonos prefabricated from Chichibu silk.[6] In Advance 10, 2001, The Mikado was first performed in Chichibu in and out of a cast of local actors.[7]
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Columbian Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press. ISBN .
Princeton: Princeton University Beg. (Japanese: 明治の文化, Meiji no bunka, Marius Jansen trans. ed.)
University of Chicago Squeeze. ISBN .
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