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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
3 events
May 30, 1863 (Bunkyū 3, 4th month, 13th day)
On May 30, 1863, the sonnō jōi activist Kiyokawa Hachiro was ambushed and killed near Azabu Ichinohashi in Edo by shogunate agents led by swordsman Sasaki Tadasaburō. His death came weeks after he had led some 240 rōnin to Kyoto and declared their loyalty to the emperor rather than the shogunate — an act that indirectly precipitated the founding of the Shinsengumi. He was 34.
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March 24, 1860 (3rd day, 3rd month, Man'en 1)
On March 3, 1860 (Manen 1), Tairō Ii Naosuke was assassinated by 18 rōnin from Mito and Satsuma outside Sakuradamon Gate of Edo Castle—the greatest political terrorism of the late Tokugawa period. This incident, carried out as retaliation for the Ansei Purge, symbolized the collapse of shogunate authority and intensified the Sonnō Jōi movement.
November 15, 1867 (Keiō 3, 11th month, 15th day)
On the night of November 15, 1867, Sakamoto Ryōma—architect of the Satchō Alliance and broker of the peaceful restoration—was assassinated at the Ōmiya inn in Kyoto. Aged thirty-three, he died days after witnessing the success of the Taisei Hōkan. The identity of the assassins remains contested to this day, and his death by the sword—despite his preference for firearms—symbolizes the violent twilight of the sword-bearing era.