Saigō Tsugumichi

Imperial Japanese Army

Saigō Tsugumichi (西郷 従道^?, also read Saigō Jūdō) (1 June 1843 – 18 July 1902) was a Japanese politician and admiral in the Meiji-period.^[2]

Biography

Early life

Saigō was born in Shimokajichō, Kagoshima, the son of the samurai Saigō Kichibe of the Satsuma domain. His siblings included his famous older brother Saigō Takamori. Saigō changed his name many times throughout his life for various reasons. Besides the two listed above, he also sometimes went by the nickname "Shingō". His real name was "Ryūkō", or "Ryūdō". It is also possible that he went by the name "Ryūsuke".

(After the Meiji Restoration, Saigō went to a government office to register his name. He intended to register orally under his given name Ryūkō (alternately Ryūdō). However, the civil servant misheard his name as "Jūdō", and he therefore became "Jūdō" (従道) under the law. He did not particularly mind, so he never bothered to change it back. The name "Tsugumichi" arose as an alternate Japanese pronunciation for the characters of his name)

At the recommendation of Arimura Shunsai, he became a tea-serving Buddhist monk for the daimyo of Satsuma, Shimazu Nariakira. After he returned to secular life, he became one of a group of devoted followers of Arimura. As a Satsuma samurai, he participated in the Anglo-Satsuma War. He later joined the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate.^[2]

He was a commander of the Satsuma army fighting in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi as well as other battles on the imperial side of the Boshin War.

Imperial Japanese Army

In 1869, two years after the establishment of the Meiji government, Saigō went to Europe with General Yamagata Aritomo to study European military organizations, tactics and technologies. After his return to Japan, he was appointed a lieutenant-general in the new Imperial Japanese Army. He commanded Japanese expeditionary forces in the Taiwan Expedition of 1874.^[2]

In 1873, his brother Saigō Takamori resigned from the government, over the rejection of his proposal to invade Korea during the Seikanron debate. Many other officials from the Satsuma region followed suit, however, Saigō Tsugumichi continued to remain loyal to the Meiji government. Upon the death of his brother in the Satsuma Rebellion, Saigō Tsugumichi became the primary political leader from Satsuma. In accord with the kazoku peerage system enacted in 1884, he received the title of count (hakushaku).^[3]

Government official

Saigō held a string of important positions in the Itō Hirobumi cabinet, including Navy Minister (1885, 1892-1902).^[2]

As Minister of Internal Affairs, Saigō pushed strongly for the death penalty for Tsuda Sanzō, the accused in the Otsu Scandal and threatened Kojima Korekata should the sentence be more lenient.

In 1892, he was appointed to the Privy Council as one of the genrō. In the same year, he also founded a political party known as Kokumin Kyōkai (国民協会, The People's Co-operative Party).^[2]

In 1894, Saigō was given the rank of admiral, in recognition of his role as Navy Minister. The same year, his peerage title was elevated to that of marquis.^[3]

In 1898, the Imperial Japanese Navy bestowed upon him the honorary title of "fleet admiral". He died in 1902.

Saigō’s former residence (once located in Meguro, Tokyo) is registered as an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government, and is now located at the Meiji-mura historical park outside of Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture. Saigō also owned a cottage in Yanagihara (present-day Numazu), Shizuoka Prefecture. Saigō Tsugumichi was also the first person in Japan to own a race horse.

Saigo died in 1902, and his grave it at the Tama Cemetery in Fuchū, Tokyo.

Notes

References

• Craig, Albert M. (1961). Chōshū in the Meiji Restoration. Harvard University Press.  OCLC 482814571
• Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd.  10-ISBN 850435693/13-ISBN 9781850435693; OCLC 59974268
• Jansen, Marius B.; Gilbert Rozman, eds. (1986). Japan in Transition: From Tokugawa to Meiji. Princeton University Press.  10-ISBN 0691054592/13-ISBN 9780691054599; OCLC 12311985
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Ravina, Mark (2003). The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori. Whiley. ISBN 0471089702. 

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Japanese-language Wikipedia article ja:西郷従道, retrieved April 6, 2006

External links

• National Diet Library. "Saigo, Tsugumichi". Portraits of Modern Historical Figures. http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/86.html.