The real last samurai
B
orn as Saigo Kokichi, on January 23, 1828, in Kajiya-cho,
Kagoshima in the Satsuma domain (present-day Kagoshima
Prefecture). He was the eldest of seven children in a
destitute Satsuma samurai family. He nevertheless received the
austere education and stern military education Satsuma was
renowned for. From boyhood Saigo was distinguished by his size
and physique – he was 180 cm, nearly six feet tall and weighing
some 200 pounds. A giant among his contemporaries, he appeared
frightening at first glance, with his large, piercing eyes and bushy
eyebrows, but actually had a friendly and unassuming manner.
Possessing all the samurai virtues,
he attracted friends and followers
in great numbers. He was impatient
with details, making decisions quickly
and preferring action over argument;
his natural disposition was probably
reinforced by his education, which
included training in Zen Buddhism and
the Neo-Confucianism of the Chinese
philosopher Wang Yang-ming, who
espoused sincere convictions and
forthright action. He received the
given name of Takamori in adulthood,
and wrote poetry as Saigo Nanshu.
He served as a low-ranking samurai
official in his early career and was
recruited as a bodyguard to the
Satsuma Daimyo, Shimazu Nariakira in
the Kobu gattai movement (promoting
closer ties between the Tokugawa
shogunate and the Imperial court) in
Edo in 1854.
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CUTTING EDGE
When Commodore Matthew C. Perry
arrived in Edo Bay in 1853 causing
a major political crisis in Japan the
shogunate took the unprecedented
step of summoning the daimyo in
order to ask for their advice. Nariakira
argued for a nationwide defense
effort by strengthening the military
organisation of each domain and for
closer ties between the shogunate and
the imperial court. He appointed Saigo
as the retainer in charge of promoting
his political plans.
Saigo had always been an opponent
to the Tokugawa shogunate, so when
Ii Naosuke, the Tairo (Regent) of the
shogunate, initiated a massive and
ruthless purge – the Ansei Purge –
against those opposing his policies,
Saigo escaped to Satsuma where he
tried to commit suicide by jumping