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The History Behind Rurouni Kenshin
“In the past and in the future, people are sold for slaves, killed by bandits. I cannot save anyone, but bury the corpses. The smell of blood is as common as the smell of white plums,” Seijuro Hiko.
In 1588, Hideyoshi's Sword Hunt removes all weapons from the hands of peasants and non-samurai, sharply demarcating the warrior-elite and disarmed commoners.
In October 1600 at Sekigahara, the forces of Ieyasu Tokugawa defeated the forces of Western Japan(and much of Kyushu). Among the defeated are the Choushuu and Satsuma clans.
In 1603, Ieyasu was invested as shogun by the Emperor. The Tokugawa Shogunate lasted from 1600 to 1868 -- most of those years in total seclusion from Western Influences, but for the Dutch traders who were allowed a small trading station on the tiny island of Deshima in the harbor of Nagasaki. And Christianity was almost completely eliminated by 1650.
According to historian Albert Craig in The Choushuu in the Meiji Restoration, a Choushuu tradition was for domain elders and inspectors to appear before the daimyo on the first day of the new year and ask, "Has the time come to begin the subjugation of the bakufu?" and the reply was, "It is still too early; the time has not yet come." Mothers in Choushuu would have their sons sleep with their feet to the east, a form of insult to the bakufu, and tell them "never to forget the defeat at Sekigahara, even in your dreams."
In Satsuma, every year of the 14th day of the 9th month, the samurai would dob their armor and go to Myoenjin, a temple near Kagoshima, to meditate on the battle of Sekigahara.
Then came the kurofune, the Black Ships. It could be said that the Meiji Revolution had its origins in the unopposed arrival of the Black Ships into Edo Bay in 1853. Commodore Perry carried President Fillmore’ request for trade and diplomatic relations with the Japanese. The squadron of four warships were powered by steam engines (with guns set so they could sweep the beach) and presented a quiet threat that the bakufu (military government) could neither ignore nor oppose. When Perry returned a year later with eight ships, the Shogunate signed a preliminary treaty committing Japan to direct relations with the States.
In 1858, Masayoshi Hotta, the effective head of government and senior member of the bakufu's Council of Elders, tried to defuse opposition to the treaty by seeking approval of the imperial court. The Court rebuffed him and he was forced to resign. Naosuke Ii then took over and ordered the signing of the Harris Treaty (referring American diplomat Townsend Harris). The Shogunate gave in to a full treay of amity, commerce, and navigation with the States, and later with sea-faring European countries.
In 1860, Naosuke Ii was assassinated.
In 1862, bakufu relaxes sankin-kotai (alternate attendance to Edo) and its regulations against domains being demilitarized in the face of Western aggression.
In 1862, Satsuma retainers kill an English merchant.
In 1863, English warships shell and burn Satsuma's castle town of Kagoshima in retaliation.
In 1863, the Shogun travels to Kyoto and displays all his weakness to the Imperial Court -- no Shogun had gone to Kyoto since 1634. On behalf of the bakufu, Keiki Tokugawa accepted a court directive to drive the foreigners out of Japan by June 1863 -- a directive he had no intention of keeping, mostly because he had no way of keeping it.
In 1863, all the daimyo but Choushuu work to suppress antiforeign radicalism. The Choushuu decide to carry out the Imperial order for the expulsion of foreigners on its own. They fire on foreign ships in the Straits of Shimonoseki.
In 1864, Choushuu gun batteries are destroyed by a flotilla of English, French, Dutch, and American warships.
In 1864, the Choushuu radicals challenge the Aizu-Satsuma protective cordon around the imperial palace. The Choushuu suffer a bloody defeat and are branded an "enemy of the Court" by the Emperor.
Isolated, the Choushuu become the obsession of the bakufu, who send 21 daimyo to mobilize against them.
Choushuu become fragmented internally. Conservatives cooperate. Three domain elders who led the attack on Kyoto commit suicide.
In 1864, sankin-kotai regulations restored unsuccessfully. The larger daimyo fail to return to Edo. Not satisfied with Choushuu's chastisement, the bakufu want to reduce the size of the domain and demand that the daimyo and his son be sent to Edo for formal and public penance.
In 1864, Edo disptaches troops to Kyoto with the goal of exerting more direct control over the Court. The retainers from Satsuma, Aizu, and Edo pull out because of these new demands.
At this time, the bakufu was trying to become stronger militarily by obtaining Western technology, training, and equipment. This alarmed Satsuma leaders who feared they were next on the list after the Choushuu.
When the bakufu-led alliance attacks the Choushuu at home and are less than enthusiastic. The Choushuu hand them their hats. A truce ends the fighting when Iemochi Tokugawa dies in Osaka.
In 1866, Satsuma and Choushuu join forces.
In 1867, Shogun Keiki resigns.
In December 1867, Toshimichi Okubo, a Satsuma retainer, convinced a group of radical nobles that the young emperor should be restored to power. Takamori Saigo, another of the Three Great Imperialists, was also a Satsuma retainer. Another familiar name from RK is Aritomo Yamagata, a Choushuu retainer.
In 1868, the Restoration activists, men who were mostly of lower samurai origins, seize the palace in Kyoto.
Toba-Fushimi near Kyoto is fought in January 1868. The Restoration War (or Boshin Civil War or Boshin senso [so named for the zodiacal cycle) had begun and would end in Spring 1869. Toba-Fushimi was the first and most decisive battlles. On Janurary 3, the old Shogunate army tried to attack Kyoto from Osaka to defeat those of the Satsuma clan. However, they were met by those from Satcho at Toba-Fushimi. The next day, the Shogunate army was defeated and forced to retreat.
It is with the Choushuu that Kenshin thows in his lot in 1864, joining the kiheitai.