Sagara Sozo and the Sekihotai (1868): The "False Imperial Army" Incident and the Arms of an Irregular Corps

Sagara Sōzō

Sagara Sōzō, whose real name was Kojima Shirōzaemon Masamitsu, was born in Edo as the son of a gōshi (rural samurai). He studied kokugaku (National Learning) and military science, and from 1861 onwards worked as a shishi (activist) centered in the Kantō region. He cherished the ideal of revering the emperor and expelling foreign barbarians, and is said to have been involved in plans for an armed uprising in Edo during the Keio era. When the shogunal forces were defeated at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi and the new government army began moving eastward, Sagara moved to form new units with the support of Saigō Takamori of the Satsuma domain and the court noble Iwakura Tomomi.

The Formation of the Sekihōtai and the Proclamation of Halved Land Tax

On the 8th day of the first month of Keio 4 (February 1, 1868), the "Sekihōtai" was formed at the Kongōrin Temple on Mount Matsuo in Ōmi Province, and Sagara Sōzō became its commander. As a vanguard of the new government forces, the Sekihōtai advanced along the Tōsan Route while proclaiming throughout various regions what was said to be a decree halving land taxes, which Sagara himself had proposed and had adopted. This proclamation was intended to win the support of farmers exhausted by warfare toward the new government, and it is said to have been welcomed by farmers wherever it was announced. This sōmō unit served the role of opening up regions of strong resistance from the old shogunate forces and facilitating the advance of the new government army's main force.

The Ignominy of False Imperial Forces and Execution

However, the new government had not issued official written authorization to the Sekihōtai for halving land taxes due to financial reasons, and with a change in policy, it reversed its position and withdrew the proclamation. When the Sekihōtai reached Shimosuwa in Shinano Province, the new government abruptly reversed course and arrested Sagara and other leaders on the grounds that they were "false imperial forces that had claimed the name of imperial troops and had unauthorized proclaimed a halving of land taxes." Sagara Sōzō and seven other leaders were exposed to the cold for three days without proper interrogation, and were subsequently beheaded. Sagara was 30 years old at the time of his death. It was passed down through the years as an incident in which the new government used a sōmō unit for its own political schemes and discarded them when it became inconvenient.

The Nature of Sōmō Units and Arms of the Time

Sōmō units like the Sekihōtai were composed broadly of gōshi, rōnin, and volunteer soldiers from farming villages, and unlike regular domain troops, their equipment was not standardized. It was an era in which those carrying ancestral uchigatana and wakizashi, those bearing spears, and those shouldering modern rifles—all mixed together—where bearing a sword regardless of rank or origin had become a means of displaying pride as an activist. At this stage of the Boshin War, the main weapons of regular forces were already transitioning to rifles and artillery, but in irregular units like sōmō units, traditional swords remained important equipment; moreover, in executions, even though the age had changed, the traditional custom of beheading with a sword continued to be employed, which further emphasized the tragic nature of this incident.

• Irregular sōmō units that included gōshi, rōnin, and those from farming villages regardless of origin
• Equipment was mixed with uchigatana, wakizashi, spears, and modern rifles without standardization
• Even in the modern warfare era, executions were carried out using the traditional custom of beheading with a sword

Honor Restored and What the Sakigake Mound Conveys

Two years after the deaths of Sagara Sōzō and others, in the 3rd year of Meiji (1870), surviving comrades built a mound in Shimosuwa, Shinano Province, named it "Sakigake Mound," and paid respects to their spirits. Though they remained branded as rebels for a long time, efforts to restore their honor by descendants and related parties came to fruition, and in the 3rd year of Showa (1928), the rank of Shōgoi was posthumously granted to Sagara Sōzō. The Sekihōtai incident conveys to the present day the coldheartedness of power at the turning point from the late Edo period to the Meiji era, as a tragedy of sōmō units that were used for the cause of the Restoration and then discarded. The figures of those who bore swords and threw themselves into the transformation of the era transcend mere weapon history and can be said to be mirrors reflecting the late Edo period itself.

What the Sekihōtai Incident Raises

The Sekihōtai incident was also symbolic of the unstable position commonly held by irregular units called "sōmō units" organized in various regions as the new government forces advanced eastward. While tasked with the role of collecting support for the new government by first proclaiming a farming-village policy of halving land taxes, when that promise conflicted with the government's financial policy, those who were discarded first were Sagara Sōzō and others who wielded swords and exercised command in the field. Apart from the Sekihōtai, sōmō units that were disbanded or punished through similar circumstances are said to have existed in various places, and the sacrifices made by unnamed activists in the shadow of the Restoration's cause remain a less visible aspect that continues to be researched today.

The restoration of Sagara Sōzō's honor only came to fruition in the Showa era, 60 years after the Meiji Restoration, and the very length of that journey speaks to how much the process of establishing the new government was influenced by political considerations. The ideals of those who bore swords and rose up from the sōmō, and the reality of those ideals being trampled by political expediency, constitute an important facet in considering the relationship between swords and humanity during the transition from the late Edo period to Meiji.

The Kongōrin Temple on Mount Matsuo in Ōmi Province, where the Sekihōtai had its base, was positioned close to a transportation junction that connected Kyoto and the eastern provinces via the Tōsan Route, and the location held significance for the role it served as a vanguard unit of the new government forces. The bodies of Sagara and seven others executed at Shimosuwa were initially not even permitted formal funeral rites, but later their comrades and local volunteers carried out memorial services for them, and today related documents and historical sites are preserved in Shimosuwa town.