The Satsuma-British War

The Satsuma-British War: Retaliation for the Namamugi Incident and Artillery Fire in Kinko Bay

On August 15–16, 1863 (July 2–3 in the lunar calendar), the Satsuma-British War—a clash between the Satsuma domain and the British East Asian Squadron in Kinko Bay—stands as one of the most dramatic events in which the expel-the-barbarians movement of late-Edo Japan collided head-on with the modern military power of Western nations. The direct catalyst for this war was the "Namamugi Incident" that had occurred the previous year, in 1862.

The Namamugi Incident: The Killing of a Foreign National That Sparked the Crisis

On August 21, 1862 (lunar calendar), when the procession of Shimazu Hisamitsu, acting guardian of the Satsuma daimyo, was passing through Namamugi village on the Tōkaidō (present-day Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama), a British merchant named Charles Richardson, who attempted to cross the procession while mounted, was cut down by a domain samurai. Two other British nationals were also wounded. This incident became the first major case in which the expel-the-barbarians movement actually cost the lives of foreigners, and the British government demanded substantial reparations from both the Shogunate and the Satsuma domain (100,000 pounds from the Shogunate, 25,000 pounds from Satsuma) as well as punishment of those responsible. While the Shogunate complied with the reparations, the Satsuma domain stubbornly refused payment.

The Arrival of the British Fleet: Stringent Reparation Demands and Rising Tensions

In July 1863 (lunar calendar), seven ships of the British East Asian Squadron under Admiral Augustus Kuper appeared in Kinko Bay and issued an ultimatum to the Satsuma domain. The three demands were: ① payment of reparations, ② punishment of those responsible for Richardson's death, and ③ an apology. The Satsuma domain rejected these demands, and negotiations broke down. On July 2 (lunar calendar), the British fleet captured three Satsuma steamships (Tenyōmaru, Aotakamaru, and Hakuhōmaru) in a surprise attack. In response to this provocative act, the Satsuma artillery batteries immediately opened fire, and the war began.

The Course of the Artillery Battle: Fierce Combat Between Satsuma Batteries and British Vessels

The Satsuma artillery positions, deployed along Kinko Bay, consisted of over thirty cannon, most of which were Western-style cast-iron guns. The British fleet encountered far more intense resistance than initially expected. Under the fierce bombardment of the Satsuma batteries, the British flagship HMS Euryalus suffered severe damage, and the ship's captain, Colonel Josling, and vice-captain, Lieutenant Wilmont, were killed by direct cannon fire—a shocking turn of events. The British fleet suffered thirteen dead and approximately fifty wounded in total. The British fleet retaliated by bombarding Kagoshima city, burning the Satsuma domain's warehouses, factories, and the Shūseikan (a modern industrial complex of the Shimazu family). The three Satsuma steamships that had been captured were also burned. Satsuma's losses were five dead (some accounts say seven), numerous wounded, and partial destruction of the city.

The Burning of the Shūseikan: An Ironic Paradox of Modernization

The Shūseikan, destroyed by the British bombardment, was a modern industrial complex built by Shimazu Nariaki, the Satsuma daimyo, in the late Edo period, and contained Japan's first Western-style factories, ironworks, and glass manufacturing facilities—pioneering advanced installations. The Shūseikan was a symbolic location where Japan pursued independent modernization, and its destruction by Western warships delivered a profound shock to Satsuma's expel-the-barbarians faction. However, ironically, this very destruction became the greatest teacher to Satsuma of the "impossibility of expelling the barbarians." The Shūseikan was rebuilt after the war (present-day Shōkoshūseikan Museum), and Satsuma shifted its course toward more comprehensive adoption of Western technology and modernization.

The Strategic Significance of the Satsuma-British War: From Expel-the-Barbarians to Opening and Overthrowing the Shogunate

As a result of the Satsuma-British War, the Satsuma domain paid reparations (25,000 pounds, in reality using funds loaned by the Shogunate), and Anglo-Satsuma relations improved rapidly. From 1864 onward, Satsuma purchased modern steamships and weapons from Britain and learned military technology from British military advisors. Satsuma's leaders drew from the fact that merely seven British warships had inflicted such damage the conclusion that "expelling the barbarians is impossible, and Japan must adopt foreign technology and realize a program of enriching the nation and strengthening the military, or face extinction." This recognition led to the subsequent Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance (1866), the Taisei Restoration (1867), and Satsuma's active involvement in the Meiji Restoration (1868).

The Satsuma-British War and the Japanese Sword: From Symbol of Expel-the-Barbarians to Catalyst for Modernization

The combat of Satsuma samurai in the Satsuma-British War starkly demonstrated the era's limitations of the Japanese sword as a weapon. In the artillery battle of Kinko Bay, the tachi and katana of Satsuma samurai proved entirely useless. The protagonists of the battle were cannon, steamships, and Western military technology. Yet this recognition did not negate the value of the Japanese sword. Satsuma's warrior culture had fostered the Satsuma Jigen-ryū (自顕流), a distinctive swordsmanship school, and its fierce sword technique of the opening strike—one so potent that "never receive the Jigen-ryū's initial blow" became a saying other domains feared—was the very essence of the Satsuma warrior spirit. Even after the Satsuma-British War, Satsuma samurai continued to wear their swords and practice Jigen-ryū techniques.

In the modern military buildup that Satsuma pursued after the war, the sword remained a spiritual pillar of the warrior class. In the subsequent Seinan War (1877), the formidable prowess in close combat demonstrated by Satsuma Jigen-ryū swordsmen was the ultimate expression of this Satsuma sword culture. In Japanese sword history, the Satsuma-British War marks not "the end of the sword's era as the protagonist" but rather "the turning point at which sword-bearing samurai became the agents of modernization." The Satsuma warriors, defeated before cannon and steamships, did not abandon their swords; rather, while wielding them, they learned Western technology and assumed the role of leading Japan's modernization.

Komatsu Taigaku became a key official in Anglo-Satsuma negotiations after the war and personally conducted diplomatic affairs while bearing his sword. Similarly, figures such as Saigō Takamori, Ōkubo Toshimichi, and Godai Tomoatsu—Satsuma men of purpose—took the experience of the Satsuma-British War directly as their foundation for the path of enriching the nation and strengthening the military. The swords they carried are preserved today in museums and collections throughout Japan, transmitting the sword culture of late-Edo Satsuma to the present day.

Godai Tomoatsu (1836–1885), later known as a businessman who contributed to Osaka's economic development, was captured by a British warship during the Satsuma-British War and held as a prisoner of war. This captive experience led him to study in Britain and learn modern economics, eventually contributing to the founding of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce (predecessor organization) and laying the modern economic foundations of Japan. The peculiarly late-Edo experience of being imprisoned aboard a British steam warship while bearing a sword proved formative in creating a man of the modern age.

Satsuma's Christian Heritage and Swords: The Genealogy of Satsuma Blade Tradition from the Sengoku Period to the Late Edo Period

The Satsuma domain had active trade with Portugal since the Sengoku period and is famous as the place where the musket was first introduced to Japan (Tenshō 12, 1543). Yet simultaneously, Satsuma swordsmiths developed their own distinctive traditions, and blades of the Satsuma Shin-Tō school (Satsuma-den) possessed a unique style combining functionality and sharpness. The Satsuma sword culture, nurtured alongside Satsuma Jigen-ryū swordsmanship, continued unbroken into the late Edo period. Most of the Satsuma samurai who fought in the Satsuma-British War carried swords in this Satsuma tradition as they stood at the artillery batteries along Kinko Bay.

Impact on Posterity: How the Satsuma-British War Transformed Late-Edo Politics

Although the Satsuma-British War was a brief armed conflict, its historical impact was profound. First, Satsuma's foreign policy fundamentally shifted from expelling the barbarians to opening to the West and overthrowing the shogunate. Second, the rapprochement between Satsuma and Britain became a remote cause of the formation of the Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance. Third, Britain came to regard Satsuma as a powerful force opposed to the Shogunate and gained a degree of influence over Japan's internal politics.

Within Kagoshima city today, historical sites remain that transmit traces of the Satsuma-British War's artillery battle. The Shōkoshūseikan Museum (site of the former Shūseikan) was registered in 2015 as a constituent asset of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Meiji Japan's Industrial Revolution Heritage." The castle walls still bearing traces of cannon fragments and the bay where British warships anchored convey the turbulence of the late Edo period to our time. Four years after the Satsuma-British War, in Meiji 1 (1868), the Boshin War, led by the Satsuma domain, toppled the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Meiji Restoration was achieved. The Satsuma-British War stands at the origin as one of the greatest turning points of the late Edo period.

Incidentally, the "Shūseikan Machinery Works" (the stone factory building that still stands), completed in Keiō 1 (1865), was the modern reconstruction of the old Shūseikan destroyed by the Satsuma-British War's artillery fire, and it remains standing today next to the Shōkoshūseikan Museum. The Satsuma people rebuilt what the flames of the Satsuma-British War had burned—using Western technology—a symbolic fact that succinctly narrates the essence of the Meiji Restoration.