Saigo Takamori was a samurai who helped bring about the modern Japanese state in 1868 with the Meiji Restoration. He led its government for a time but retired after falling out over what he perceived as corrupt politics. A few years later he led the last rebellion against the Japanese state, the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion or Seinan (Southwest) Civil War. He was given the epithet “the last true samurai” after dying in the war’s final battle. This story is part of a tour around Kyushu to learn about the war where it happened.
After breaking the siege of Kumamoto Castle and a months-long campaign chasing the rebels across Kyushu the rebels were encircled and outnumbered more than 10-to-1. The 1877 Satsuma Rebellion / Seinan Civil War was ready to be brought to a close. The rebels held the high ground but pressed by such a superior force there was no other way for the war to end except with a final clash here, in the fields of Wadagoe near Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture.
Though the rebellion’s final battle would be fought by a few hundred against tens of thousands on Kagoshima’s Shiroyama a month later, Wadagoe was the last time Saigo Takamori fielded his rebel army and also the only time he directly led troops in combat during the entire campaign. Gen. Yamagata Aritomo personally headed the imperial army against him.
Can we please take a moment to appreciate that this battle in a remote corner of Kyushu pitted one man who was once part of the leadership that functioned as a prime minister would today against a future two-time prime minister? It was Japan’s only prime minister battle in modern history.
Saigo’s remaining 3,500 troops were positioned on and around a ridge running along the Kitagawa River and opposed by 50,000 imperial troops. They fought on Aug. 15, 1877 in a battle that lasted from around 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. when the rebel forces fell back to Tawarano at the foot of Mt. Enodake.
Though surrounded by an army posed for a coup de grace Saigo likely wasn’t concerned about being captured here as he had one last card to play. His army had retreated to the vicinity of a small hill containing Ninigi-no-Mikoto’s tomb.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto is the mythical divine ancestor of the Japanese Imperial family who descended from the heavens to bring Japan under his rule by order of his grandmother, the sun goddess Amaterasu. He possessed the three sacred treasures the imperial family still claims to possess to this day. (The treasures are not viewable by the public) His great-grandson Jimmu would become Japan’s first emperor.
Because of this, neither side would dare fire a shot on this sacred soil. Saigo made the Kodama Kuma residence beside the hill his personal headquarters.
For the next two days Saigo and his commanders debated whether they should end their war in a final battle or surrender. Finally on Aug. 17, Saigo decided to dissolve the army and allow his troops to decide how they would face the end, whether to fight, flee or surrender.
There was no more rebel army, but the war was still not over. Saigo and several hundred followers escaped the imperial noose about them and fled over Mt. Enodake to return home and make their final stand on Kagoshima’s Shiroyama.
His former headquarters still stands and is now the Saigo Takamori Memorial Museum. If not for the rows of banners proclaiming “THE LAST SAIGO” and existence of that rarest of rare things, parking in a residential neighborhood, it would look like any other country house.
Despite the appearance, this is a good little Saigo and Satsuma Rebellion museum with artifacts from Saigo’s stay. The first thing that caught my eye when walking into the courtyard is the little earthen plot where Saigo burned his field marshal’s uniform and personal papers. The loss of these papers essentially removes any concrete evidence of how Saigo saw the war and details of his personal actions, which today leaves us with large gaps in the historical record. (Also, contrary to what you may have seen in certain historical videos on Youtube, this is where he burned these things and not at Shiroyama) Given Saigo’s living legend status I am willing to believe the owners of this house precisely marked every piece of ground his feet touched on their property and any item of theirs he personally handled, though the museum does give off a slight tourist trap vibe with its Saigo arm-in-arm with Ninigi-no-Mikoto photo op spot.
Where Saigo burned his uniform and documents
There is next to no English translation at the museum, but photography is allowed so I was able to use my phone and Google translate pretty much everything. What I couldn’t translate well I asked my wife to help with.
Saigo relics at the museum include the pillow he used, his calligraphy ink pot, lacquerware used to serve him and his leaders, and a pair of his zori, hand-made straw sandals. (After retiring he took up straw sandal making as a personal hobby) They’ve also a high quality recreation of his field marshal’s uniform, similar to the one seen in the NHK taiga drama, Segodon. (I saw that replica on this trip as well so could compare) Battle relics include a small collection of firearms, ammunition, swords and banners carried by Saigo’s forces.
The museum’s centerpiece is the hall in which Saigo held his final council and recreates the atmosphere of that meeting with life-like mannequins seated around a table and audio.
The reason for Saigo’s choosing this building as his headquarters, Ninigi-no-Mikoto’s tomb, is still on the small hill behind the home. Not being of a Shinto persuasion, my wife informed me I could see it by myself. Given its historical value and place in Japanese history, it feels out of place overlooking a sparse rural neighborhood.
Because of the translation time I spent about two hours in the museum. Like other local museums covering bigger topics, there’s many little bits of information that flesh out more on this part of the war you want get in places or books that have to paint in broader strokes and that’s what I appreciate about them.
As well as the museum two other walking distance residences that housed Saigo’s troops and his field hospital are also still standing, though they too have been modernized since the war. I still felt it was worth walking to them because I have that kind of compulsion.
The field hospital in particular has a personal story related to Saigo as it is where his 17-year old son Saigo Kikujiro had his right leg amputated under the knee. Kikujiro had served his father since the rebellion began and was wounded in the right foot during the last battle. Being unable to flee with him, Saigo entrusted Kikujiro to a longtime confidant and they surrendered to the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy force sent against the rebellion, his uncle and Saigo’s younger brother Adm. Saigo Judo. (He would also go on to hold several prominent positions in the Meiji government) When Saigo Takamori’s grandson visited Nobeoka it was confirmed that one of the two women who cared for Kikujiro while recuperating here was Saigo’s wife, Ito.
Kikujiro was the son of Saigo and his Amami Oshima wife, Aikana. He was born on the island in 1861 and went to live with his father when he was nine. He studied in the United States for a few years before returning to Japan prior to the rebellion. Later in life Kikujiro would become mayor of Kyoto. He passed away in 1928.
Either on the way in or out, if you’ve come this far you need to go a little further and visit the Wadagoe overlook about 15 minutes down the road and up a hill. This is close to where Saigo directed his forces from during the battle. Today it’s farmer’s fields and a rural community, the flat landscape itself without dramatic alteration since the battle.
The battlefield today
On our way out of Nobeoka we also stopped at Hyuga’s Mimitsu historical district, a traditional Edo-era fishing village and home of the original Japanese navy. It was from here the first emperor Jimmu launched his navy. We came late in the afternoon after most shops had closed but were still able to see a pair of merchant house museums.
Saigo Takamori portrait from the Japan National Diet Library
About Saigo Takamori
Saigo Takamori was born Jan. 23, 1828 in Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain. The son of a samurai tax clerk in the poorest samurai district of Kagoshima, I don’t imagine anyone that day would expect this boy to be one of the men most responsible for leading Japan out of the centuries long Edo-era. Born Saigo Kichinosuke (Japanese at the time often changed their names throughout their lifetimes to reflect changes in station or auspicious personal events); he lived rather humbly but for unknown reasons caught the eye of his daimyo, the forward thinking Shimadzu Nariakira, which would begin his rise to prominence. Leading imperial forces he would win victories in the Boshin War and after the peace was won even briefly was part of the leadership which led the nation, a position that would today be handled by the prime minister. During his time in politics Saigo would help bring about the end of the class system and the old domains to create a modern Japan.
After a falling out with the government over what he perceived as corrupt politics, Saigo would resign his political and military positions to return home and lead military academies. At the time Japan was for various reasons experiencing insurrections, especially on Saigo’s home island of Kyushu. Fearing the charismatic retired Saigo may use his military academies to stage one of his own the government attempted to disarm Kagoshima Prefecture and sent spies into his military academies which created a self-fulfilling prophecy. A captured and tortured spy admitted their true purpose was to assassinate Saigo and this set off an army of angry and well-armed samurai into rebellion with Field Marshal Saigo at their head, intending to travel to Tokyo and “question the government.” Shots were fired at Kumamoto Castle which began an armed conflict that lasted from Feb. 19, 1877 until its defeat at Kagoshima Sept. 24, 1877. On that day Saigo and his remaining 40 men died like samurai charging 20,000 imperial troops on Shiroyama hill, just a few miles from where he had been born.
In 1890 Saigo’s name was cleared of wrongdoing by the Emperor and in 1898 his statue was erected in Tokyo’s Ueno Park. He is buried at the Saigo Nanshu Cemetery in Kagoshima, surrounded by the followers that fell with him at Shiroyama and many more who died fighting for him during the rebellion. Despite the many leaders who came from it, Saigo is the enduring symbol of Kagoshima.
ADDRESSES
Saigo Takamori Memorial Museum
6727 Kitagawamachi Nagai, Nobeoka, Miyazaki 889-010
09824629602
Wadagoe Battlefield Overlook
JM8M+M6 Nobeoka, Miyazaki