Samurai Gun Assassin: When bullets beat blades

Guns became part of samurai culture From the moment they first arrived in Japan, to the time when there were no more samurai around. Even so, during feudal Japan it was most commonly seen in large-scale battles, usually at the hands of infantry. Many samurai e.g. The devil himselfOda Nobunaga admired the power of arquebuses, muskets, and pistols, but personally preferred to fight and die by the blade. There are, however, a few recorded exceptions, each of which went down in history with a bang.

Teradaya Incident (1866)

gun: Smith & Wesson No. 2 Army Revolver

Samurai Ryoma Sakamoto is one of the main reasons why there are no more samurai. In 1866, he successfully negotiated an alliance between the Satsuma and Choshu domains (today’s Kagoshima and Yamaguchi prefectures), ultimately overthrowing the Tokugawa shogunate, which had ruled Japan since 1603. This allowed the emperor to regain political power (i.e. the institution had lost Mid 14th century) and ushered in Japan’s modernization period when the feudal system and the samurai class were abolished.

However, the shogunate did not disappear easily. In the final years of its existence, the feudal military dictatorship attempted to arrest and assassinate Sakamoto. One example is the incident at the Teradaya Inn on the outskirts of Kyoto.

On March 9, 1866, local shogunate officials rushed into the hotel upon learning of Sakamoto’s stay, but according to legend, the innkeeper’s adopted daughter jumped out of the bathtub to warn the samurai about the attack.

Prioritizing the precious time he had gained, Sakamoto readied his sword and Smith & Wesson revolver without even putting on his pants. The two samurai and their companion and bodyguard Shinzo Miyoshi faced back to back against 10 opponents.

These were experienced warriors, and Sakamoto’s hands were quickly chopped to the bone. To fight off his attacker, he began firing blindly until only one bullet remained. He used Miyoshi’s shoulder to steady his hand and managed to kill an opponent in the final round.

Eventually, the two managed to escape. Sakamoto and the innkeeper’s daughter Ryo (commonly known as Ryo) eventually got married and traveled to Kirishima Hot Spring for the first honeymoon in Japanese history.

Sakurada Gate Incident (1860)

gun: Japanese Made Colt 1851 Navy Revolver

During the Ansei Purge, which took place between 1858 and 1860, the Tokugawa shogunate imprisoned, executed, or exiled anyone who did not support his authority. The organization is led by Naosuke Ii, who often searches for “traitors” across Japan with extreme prejudice.

Naosuke did a lot He fought against his enemies through highly unpopular political decisions, such as the signing of the Harris Treaty, which opened the country’s ports to the world on very unequal terms for Japan. He also signed treaties without the emperor’s permission, angering royalists, nationalists and even some in his own camp.

It was only a matter of time before someone took action against him. However, few expected this to be literal. On March 24, 1860, near the Sakurada Gate (Sakurada Gate) of Edo Castle, Naosuke’s sedan chair was attacked by 17 samurai from the Mito Domain (now Ibaraki Prefecture, which was hit particularly hard during the Ansei Purge) Surrounded by Arimura Chizaemon, a member of the Satsuma Domain.

After disposing of Naosuke’s guards, Jizaemon fired at the sedan with a Colt revolver, said to be a replica of a gift from the United States to the shogunate, and thus, for a man accused of bowing to foreign troops For people, this is a very symbolic weapon. Covered in blood and mortally wounded, Naosuke crawled out of the box, was decapitated by Jizaemon, and then committed suicide by disembowelment.

Naosuke’s contemporaries did not shed many tears for him, and the assassination soon became the subject of a series of conversations. Ukiyo-e The painting titled “Righteous Men of Modern Times” (““The Legend of Venus Mingyi”).

Assassination of Mimura Iechika (1566)

gun: arquebus

Feudal lord Ukita Naoe has gone down in history as a historical figure. The three major villains of the Warring States Periodmainly because later chroniclers tried to fit history into some comprehensible narrative structure.

Which is weird, because if you’re going to accuse someone of being a villain, it would be for something big like inventing a new type of murder, which Naoe probably did. It is said that he may have masterminded the first assassination using firearms in Japanese history when he ordered the killing of the rival feudal lord Mimura Ichichi.

History is unclear why Naoe chose the brothers Endo Toshimitsu and Hidekiyo for this mission. Both men were formidable warriors, but over the years they began to prefer matchlocks to swords, becoming experts on this primitive firearm, which they soon saw firsthand was still an unreliable tool.

On February 5, 1566, they sneaked into Kozenji Temple where Mimura and his commander were stationed. Rideau poked a hole in the paper of the screen door and took aim with his “shortened” matchlock (sometimes incorrectly called a pistol), when suddenly his matchlock went off.

Xiuqing was thinking a lot, pretending to be a guard, and went to the bonfire in the yard to make a fire. Returning to the sniper’s lair, he ignited his matchlock and Toshitomi successfully shot Mimura.

In the ensuing chaos, the brothers miraculously escaped from the temple and were appointed fief generals of Naoe’s army for their efforts. In the end, their stories teach us that killing does Just kill the right person and pay the price. It’s not a good lesson, but it’s history for you.

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