Politics and the Samurai Class Structure in Satsuma, 1858-1868

Bibliographic Data

ID3608082
AuthorsW G Beasley (corresponding author)
Year1967
Volume1
Issue1
Pages47-57
Publication date1967-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x00000068
OpenAlexW2131063496
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited7

All historians would agree that one decisive factor in the overthrow of the Tokugawa Bakufu was the alignment against it in 1867 of several of the great domains (han), and the failure of the Shōgun to rally any comparable support among the rest. In the wider sense the reasons for this are complex, as well as being a matter of some controversy. Nevertheless, the proximate causes are obvious enough. In the anti-Bakufu domains, notably Satsuma and Chōshū, power had fallen into the hands of samurai groups which sought the destruction of the régime. In a number of others, similar groups wielded sufficient influence to prevent the daimyō or his senior officials from giving whole-hearted backing to the Tokugawa. Clearly, therefore, the study of how this came about, that is, of the nature and processes of domain politics, is important to an understanding of the Meiji Restoration

Ancient history · Economic history · Meiji period · Meiji Restoration · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law

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