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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
33 events
7th–12th month, Genji 1 (1864–1865)
In the 8th month of Genji 1 (1864), the Tokugawa shogunate organized a large-scale punitive expedition against the Chōshū Domain, which had fired on the imperial court during the Kinmon Incident. With Saigō Takamori serving as mediator, the Chōshū Domain apologized and submitted, and the campaign ended without bloodshed.
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March 24, 1860 (3rd day, 3rd month, Man'en 1)
On March 24, 1860 (the 3rd day of the 3rd month of Man'en 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.
October 24, 1876 (Meiji 9)
In October 1876, a group of reactionary samurai called the Shinpūren (League of the Divine Wind) raided Kumamoto Garrison using only swords and spears, rejecting firearms as spiritually impure. The uprising was crushed within hours, but its ideological intensity — anti-modernization, Shinto fundamentalism, sword-as-sacred-object — made it one of the strangest episodes in Meiji Japan.
July 4, 1868 (Keiō 4, 5th month, 15th day)
On July 4, 1868 (Keiō 4/5/15), the Shōgitai — former Tokugawa loyalists entrenched at Kan'eiji temple on Ueno hill — were crushed by imperial forces in a single day. The battle was the first urban combat of the Boshin War in Edo and ended organized Tokugawa resistance in the city.
May 3, 1868 (11th day of the 4th month of Keiō 4)
On the 11th day of the 4th month of Keiō 4 (May 3, 1868), negotiations between Saigō Takamori and Katsu Kaishū resulted in the bloodless surrender of Edo Castle, averting a general assault on the million-strong city. This decision stands as one of history's most remarkable bloodless transfers of power, sparing Japan's largest city from devastating urban warfare.
January 3, 1868 (9th day of the 12th month of Keiō 3)
Issued in the name of Emperor Meiji on the 9th day of the 12th month of Keiō 3 (January 3, 1868), the Imperial Restoration Proclamation abolished the offices of regent and shogunate and declared the establishment of a new government with three posts. That same night, the Kogo-sho Conference decided Tokugawa Yoshinobu must resign his offices and return his domains, marking the effective end of the Edo shogunate.
October–November 1868 (8th–9th months of Keiō 4)
The decisive battle between Aizu domain and the new government army in the 8th–9th months of Keiō 4 (October–November 1868), part of the Boshin War. The fierce fighting around Tsuruga Castle (Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle), together with the tragedy of the Byakkotai, has been handed down as a battle symbolizing "the last stand of the samurai."
November 9, 1867 (14th day of the 10th month of Keiō 3)
On the 14th day of the 10th month of Keiō 3 (November 9, 1867), the 15th shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned political authority to the imperial court. This act brought the 265-year Edo shogunate to an end and enabled the transfer of power to the new Meiji government — one of the most decisive turning points in Japanese history.
July 8, 1864 (5th day, 6th month, Genji 1)
On the night of July 8, 1864 (Genji 1/6/5), the Shinsengumi burst into the Ikedaya inn in Kyoto, attacking a secret gathering of loyalist activists. The raid by Kondō Isami, Okita Sōji, and Hijikata Toshizō became the most famous sword-fighting event of the Bakumatsu era.