Saigō Takamori's Role In Japanese Politics

Saigō Takamori was born on on 1827/12/7 in the Castletown of Kagoshima, an isolated area within the Satsuma domain under the control of the Shimazu clan which had established themselves as the oldest living clan in Japan at the time of his birth. The Shimazu clan were of notable prestige in that they were the only clan that received foreign ambassadors in a time when, under the orders of the Tokugawa Shogunate (the shogunate was a council of military commanders led primarily by a single domain), Japan strictly prohibited international travel. Saigō was part of this renowned ancestry and throughout his life, whether by circumstance or fate, became an important part in Japanese politics both internally and internationally. More importantly, he …show more content…
His political influence on the Imperial Court was indisputable, however, and he was eventually freed from exile to return as a commander of Satsuma’s army. He was considered a strong proponent to solving the chaos that had become of the Imperial Court that had begun to boil over with indecisiveness and incompetency. Open rebellion threatened the Shogunate and imperial radicals – terrorists belonging primarily to the Choshu domain – began to openly attack foreign entities, inciting increased aggression from international …show more content…
This time, he elected to force the imperial court to approve of the destruction of the Shogunate, rather than openly declare war on them. The Imperial Court would eventually rule in favor of Saigō’s motivations, having pardoned the Choshu for their previous attempt at a coup and dissolving the Shogunate. Thus, war between the former Shogun and the newly formed Imperial Army began immediately. Despite being outnumbered, under Saigō’s command, the Imperial Army rapidly flourished in the