Yonaoshi Ikki (Social reform uprisings) (世直し一揆)
Yonaoshi Ikki refers to a rush of uprisings that the Japanese society experienced from the later Edo period to the early Meiji period.
Summary
In the later Edo period, uprisings in local domains became frequent because of the unstableness of the society. Particularly in the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, when Japan opened itself to the West and concluded the Ansei Treaties (a series of treaties signed in 1858 [during the Ansei era], with the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Netherlands and France on the others), the export of raw silk and tea became active, and this caused the surge of the prices of commodities. People at that time also suffered from the heavy tax burden that resulted from the worsening economy of the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) and local domains. Especially since the Bunkyu era (1861- 1864), the political situation in Japan grew tense, and the domains began to accumulate a stockpile of rice for emergency, and as a consequence the market became short of rice in spite of its rich harvest. In 1864, when Kyoto saw the Kinmon Incident (the war waged by Choshu Domain for regaining its force in Kyoto, which resulted in its defeat), this tendency was accelerated, and when the Edo bakufu decided to set out the Choshu Expedition, the rice price rose nationwide. After this, destructive riots in urban areas and uprisings in provinces became frequent. The riots and uprisings reached their peaks twice; the first one was when Edo bakufu implemented the second Choshu Expedition in 1866, and the second one was during the Boshin Civil War in 1868.
Having no ideological and political background, most of the destructive riots and uprisings simply aimed at requiring the relief from hardships of life, and demonstrating their displeasure against the taxation and conscription imposed anew, and all of them ceased in the end when suppressed by Edo bakufu, domains, or the Meiji government. However, these revolts resulted in hindering the military action of the Edo bakufu and the domains, because the main targets of the revolts were directed to those who had been the authority of taxation until then, such as the Edo bakufu and the domains, as well as the people related to the authorities, such as village officers and chartered merchants. It cannot be denied that this disorder indirectly helped the Satsuma and Choshu Domains (which constituted the new government) gain momentum to establish their dominance over Japan during the period from the Choshu Expedition to the Boshin Civil War (regardless of the intention of the uprising participants).
And so, when the force of Edo bakufu completely collapsed, and the shogunate and domain system was consecutively put an end by "Hanseki-hokan" (the return of the domain registers to Meiji Emperor) and "Haihan-chiken" (the abolition of feudal domains and establishment of prefectures), the new government became the target of aggression, which were manifested as the uprising against the liberation order of the discriminated classes, 'blood tax uprising' (the uprising against the compulsory military service), and the peasant uprising against the land-tax reform.
Choshu Expedition and Uprisings in 1866
Osaka and its peripheral
In Osaka, where warehouses of rice and other products stood densely, the price of rice continued rising from around 1862, and since Iemochi TOKUGAWA entered Osaka-jo Castle as Seii Taishogun (literally, 'great general who subdues the barbarians') in 1864, major cabinet members of the Shogunate, territorial lords, hatamoto (direct retainers of Edo bakufu), and their vassals also came to live in Osaka, and its population increased rapidly. Once the Edo bakufu decided to dispatch its punitive force against Choshu Domain for the Kinmon Incident, Choshu Domain enforced a naval blockade as its countermeasure at Kanmon-kaikyo Strait which was under its control, and this blockade inevitably close off the sea route from the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions to Osaka via Kanmon-kaikyo Strait and Seto Inland Sea. In the face of the blockade, the Edo bakufu started to secure rice stockpiling in Osaka, where the bakufu was placing its substantial stronghold for the second Choshu Expedition, and this caused the surge of the rice price even ten times as high as a decade before in Osaka. As a result, residents in and around Osaka had difficulty even in securing everyday rice.
On June 13, 1866 (表記の変更), housewives in Nishinomiya City made a protest against a rice dealer, which triggered an uprising, and it spread quickly to other neighboring cities including Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture, and on July 25 (表記の変更), a destructive riot broke out in Osaka City. The destructive riot in Osaka lasted for three days, in which the stores of rice dealers and influential merchants, like Konoike family, were attacked. After that, a rush of uprisings spread to Izumi and Nara Provinces, and the situation was described as 'within 39.2 k㎡ from Osaka, there was no place freed from an uprising.' ("Bakumatsu Chinjishu" [Curious Incidents in the Last Days of the Tokugawa Shogunate]).
Edo and its peripheral
Edo was not directly affected by the Choshu Expedition and the naval blockade, but it saw the surge of the rice price just like in Osaka, although its appreciation rate was four times as high as a decade ago, and naturally the discontent of Edo citizens was mounting rapidly. On July 10, 1866 (表記の変更), a destructive uprising began at a posting station, Shinagawa-juku, and from the next day, similar destructions successively occurred in the streets of Edo and Naito Shinjuku as well. Destructive riots in Edo were smaller in scale than those in Osaka, but Edo machi-bugyo (the town magistrate of Edo) could not put them under its control, and they sporadically continued until July 17 (表記の変更).
For this blunder, someone stuck a bill outside the gate of the magistrate's office, which sarcastically said, 'Administrative service has sold out.'
There were many trading merchants who had business with the West in Edo and during the riots, such merchants were also attacked. And on October 26, 1866 (表記の変更), about three months later from the riots, the then envoy from the United States, Robert B. Van Valkenburg was stoned by Edo citizens in front of Kaminari-mon Gate when he lost his way, and he had a brush with the guardian samurai of the area. These incidents showed that the public security of Edo was getting worse.
On July 24, 1866 (表記の変更), a large-scale uprising called Bushu Yonaoshi Ikki broke out in 15 counties of Musashi Province including Chubu Country and in two counties of Kozuke Province, and the total number of the participants is said to have reached up to 100-odd thousands. During the seven days before the uprising was suppressed by the Edo bakufu army on July 30 (表記の変更), it had grown into a massive riot, in which it is said that people from more than 200 villages took part and 520 houses of village officers and wealthy merchants were destroyed. Later, it was also revealed that some of the group attempted a raid on the settlement for foreigners in Yokohama City, and the attempt, along with the above mentioned attack on the U.S. Envoy, made the foreign envoys nervous.
These successive incidents made the foreign envoys demand the Edo bakufu to take some measures against the rising rice price and to relieve the poor people
Almost at the same time as the above incidents, in two lands of tenryo (bakufu-owned land), Date and Shinobu Counties of Mutsu Province, an uprising Shindatsu Sodo (or Shindatsu Ikki) occurred, demanding the abolition of a new contribution imposed to the producers of raw silk and seat paper called 'Kiito narabini Sanshushi Kaiin' (enforced in 1865). During the six days from July 25, the people attacked the houses of village officers, and jinya (regional government office) and daikansho (local governor's office) located in Kori, and in continuation, they rushed into the castle town of Fukushima-jo Castle, which was the center of the neighboring Fukushima Domain. Fukushima Domain dispersed the revolt with its saber-rattling, but fully accepted the their demands for fear that the insurgence would be radicalized.
Around Choshu Domain
As Choshu Domain was the target of the Expedition, some neighboring domains, among others, the domains near to Omori Ginzan Silver Mine (bakufu-owned land), and Hamada and Kokura Domains, both of which were ruled by "fudai daimyo" (a Japanese territorial lord in hereditary vassal to the Tokugawa family), were obliged to shoulder heavy burdens by the bakufu, including the provision of places and services for stationing the bakufu troops. On August 27 (表記の変更), the army of Choshu Domain captured Hamada-jo Castle, which caused the flight of the regional governor of Omori Ginzan (silver mine) dispatched from Edo bakufu on August 30 (表記の変更), and after Kokura-jo Castle was abandoned by Kokura Domain on September 1(表記の変更) (occupied by the army of Choshu on September 19 [表記の変更]), various uprisings broke out simultaneously within Kokura Domain. The insurgents drove out the army of Matsue Domain (stationed there as reinforcements to the bakufu army) and the army of the Ando family of Kishu Domain (later Kii Tanabe Domain) serving as the guardian of Omori Ginzan. On the other hand, the insurgents in Iwami Province were suppressed by the army of Choshu Domain occupying there, and those in Buzen Province were suppressed by the army of Kawara Domain (former Kokura Domain), which once withdrawn to the regional office, jinya, but succeeded in its counterattack after renewing its offensive. But in November, Tsuyama Domain in Mimasaka Province, Kitsuki Domain in Bungo Province, and Tatsuno Domain in Harima Province saw the uprisings of peasant and others who could not bear heavy burdens such as military service, any more. These domains were located on the route of the Edo bakufu's Choshu Expedition, so the disorder in these domains became a hindrance to the movement of the bakufu army. Incidentally, in the uprising in Tatsuno Domain the insurgents beat the reinforcements dispatched from Ako Domain.
Others
Considering these uprisings and destructive riots, some of the influential Japanese territorial lords, such as Yoshinaga MATSUDAIRA, Nagamichi ASANO, and Mochihisa SHIMAZU, presented a proposal to the Edo bakufu to stop the Choshu Expedition. Coincidentally, Shogun Iemochi TOKUGAWA suddenly died on July 20August 29 (表記の変更). In spite of Iemochi's death, Yoshinobu TOKUGAWA, who executed the state affairs for Iemochi, wanted to continue the Choshu Expedition, however, the notice that the strongholds of bakufu in Hamada and Kokura had fallen broke him down and he decided to stop the Choshu Expedition on August 30 (表記の変更) under the pretext of Iemochi's demise.
Meanwhile, the then envoy from Britain, Harry Smith Parkes, who heard the news that destructive riots occurred in Osaka while he was traveling in the Kyushu region, anticipated that the public movement, if and when converged with Joi-ha (supporters of expulsion of the foreigners), would be the second Taiping Rebellion (the widespread civil war in China from 1850 to 1864), so he recommended Nagasaki bugyo (Nagasaki magistrate) Yoriyuki NOSE and others to import rice from Qing Dynasty of China. In spite of the efforts of Parkes as well as Magistrate Nose and other officials, their recommendation was set aside amid the confusions after Iemochi's death, and it was not long before the assault against the U.S. envoy Van Valkenburg occurred. And so, Parkes, together with the French envoy Leon Roches and others, urged Edo bakufu to permit the import of rice. Finally, the bakufu permitted the import of rice on November 20 (表記の変更), responding to the external pressure. In the next year, 1867, a huge amount of rice equivalent to 870,000 bales (traditional unit for rice, 1 bale equals to 60 kilograms) was imported from Qing and other countries, and accordingly the rice price fell and uprisings and riots came to a temporary lull.
Boshin Civil War and uprisings in 1868
When the Boshin Civil War broke out in 1868, insurgence associated with the social reform movement flared up again in local provinces. However, in western Japan, partly because there was no big battle after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, no large-scale uprising was provoked neither. Meanwhile in the provinces of eastern Japan, many places suffered as battlefields during the Boshin War, large-scale uprisings broke out.
In the northern Kanto region
On February 8, 1868 (表記の変更), soon after the details of the Battle of Toba-Fushimi were informed to Edo, Washiro SHIBUYA, of the Kanto Torishimari Shutsuyaku (public security authorities of Kanto region under Edo bakufu), decided to conscript peasants from villages all over the Kanto region, no matter whether the village was of a shogunal demesne or a private territory. And so, large-scale uprisings occurred in Kozuke, Shimotsuke, and Musashi Provinces. On March 5, 1868 (表記の変更), the peasants from Musashi and Kozuke Provinces advanced toward Iwahana jinya (regional government office), at which Shibuya worked. Astonished to hear that, Shibuya withdrew his order on March 8 (表記の変更). Nevertheless, from the mid-March, large-scale uprisings recurred in villages of the three provinces, demanding the expulsion of some village officers for the reason that they acted wrong in recruitment to decide whom to draft. Particularly in Kozuke Province, the uprising that occurred in Tago County on March 15 (表記の変更) involved surrounding areas and increased its force, and Yoshii Domain, Nanukaichi Domain and Obata Domain 'surrendered' to the uprising force one after another. Iwahana Jinya was abandoned on April 2 (表記の変更), and the uprisings in Kozuke Province and in northern part of Musashi Province reached their peaks when Hanyu Jinya surrendered to the new army. It is said that the domains exempt from the control of the uprisings in the Kozuke Province were only three; namely, Takasaki Domain, Maebashi Domain, and Isesaki Domain. In the mid-April (表記の変更), uprisings occurred in Shimotsuke Province, too. Around that time, the new government sent its Tosando army (the army in charge of the Tohoku region and a part of Chubu region) to the northern part of Kanto region, and while issuing the order on April 3 (表記の変更) to the domains in the region to control the uprisings in cooperation with the army, the government itself formulated a plan to support the operation. As a result of the efforts to suppress the uprisings in line with the plan, the new government gradually achieved to calm them down from the mid-April to May(表記の変更). Later, the domains in the northern Kanto region, which had received the support of the new government in suppressing the uprisings, united in allegiance to the new government.
Hokuetsu-Ou region
In June(表記の変更), an uprising occurred in Uonuma County, Echigo Province, where there was an enclave of Kuwana Domain, a domain of Sabaku-ha (supporters of the Shogun). The new government army, which proceeded into the country, accepted the reduction of nengu (land tax) by half because land tax reduction was the cause of the disturbance, and in time the uprising calmed down. In September (表記の変更), another uprising occurred in Muramatsu Domain, demanding the expulsion of village officers, and it was also suppressed by the joint operation of the domain and the new government army. In this region, the uprisings were mainly seen in Echigo-Nagaoka Domain and Aizu Domain, which had been the principal battleground of the Hokuetsu War and the Aizu War, respectively.
In Nagaoka Domain, when Nagaoka-jo Castle surrendered on July 8 (表記の変更), the uprising occurred protesting against the disposition of rice by the new government and the compulsory recruitment of laborers by the domain. The uprising that broke out in a wide range of Yoshida and Maki areas from July 9 (表記の変更) spread to the whole area of the domain, and the participants reached as many as 7,000 at its peak. In response, Nagaoka Domain called back some of its own military units that were fighting against the new government army, and the domain finally managed to suppress the uprisings on August 14 (表記の変更). However, the reduced military power of the domain due to this operation made it difficult for the domain to mobilize even its labor force and the plan to recover Nagaoka-jo Castle lead by Tsugunosuke KAWAI was largely delayed, which consequently worked favorably to the new government. In fact, it can be said that the failure of Tsugunosuke KAWAI was not caused by the weapons of the new government army but by the uprising in the territory which made him miss an opportunity to carry out his plan.
When Aizu Wakamatsu-jo Castle surrendered to the new government on November 6 (表記の変更), an uprising known as Aizu Yonaoshi Ikki broke out (particularly the insurgence was intense in the areas that escaped from having been involved in the Aizu War), and it extended to almost all the territory of the domain. The people of the domain, who had been suffering from the heavy tax since the feudal lord of the domain, Katamori MATSUDAIRA's assumption of Kyoto Shugoshoku (Military Governor of Kyoto), exploded their frustration all at once in this revolt, which completely destroyed the ruling organization of the domain.