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Batailles, incidents et événements historiques liés aux sabres japonais
21 événements
18th day, 8th month, Bunkyū 3 (October 1, 1863)
On August 18, 1863, an alliance of Satsuma and Aizu forces seized the gates of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, expelling the Chōshū domain's radical sonnō-jōi faction from court influence. Seven nobles who had allied with Chōshū fled to that domain — the 'Seven Nobles' Exodus' — in a pivotal realignment that set the stage for the Kinmon Incident and the subsequent Chōshū expeditions.
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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.
August 21, Bunkyū 2 (September 14, 1862)
On August 21, 1862, British merchant Charles Lennox Richardson was cut down by Satsuma retainers while riding his horse through the procession of Shimazu Hisamitsu near Namamugi village on the Tōkaidō. Three other British nationals were wounded. The incident became the defining example of sonnō-jōi violence against foreigners and led directly to the Anglo-Satsuma War of 1863.
15th day, 1st month, Bunkyū 2 (February 13, 1862)
On January 15, 1862 (Bunkyū 2), six Mito rōnin attacked Andō Nobumasa, a senior councilor (rōjū), outside the Sakashitamon Gate of Edo Castle. Though Nobumasa survived with minor wounds, the incident demonstrated the rising power of the sonnō-jōi faction and the weakening of bakufu authority, becoming a major political upheaval. The direct motivation is attributed to opposition to the kōbu gattai policy brought about by the imperial princess Kazunomiya's marriage to Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi.
January 27–30, 1868 (3rd–6th day, 1st month, Keiō 4)
In January 1868, the opening battle of the Boshin War pitted Satsuma-Chōshū forces against the Tokugawa shogunate army. The imperial coalition's modern weaponry overwhelmed the shogunate troops; Tokugawa Yoshinobu fled to Edo. The battle marked the final twilight of the samurai age and signaled the transition from blade to rifle in Japanese warfare.
June 7 – late August, Keiō 2 (July–August 1866)
In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate mobilized over thirty domains to suppress Chōshū after the domain's forces had entered Kyoto at Kinmon (1864). However, Chōshū's newly reorganized militia forces under Takasugi Shinsaku — and backed covertly by Satsuma following Sakamoto Ryōma's mediation — defeated the shogunate armies on all four fronts. The shogunate's military weakness was exposed, setting the stage for the Taisei Hōkan (return of governing power) and the Meiji Restoration.
January 21, 1866 (Keiō 2)
On January 21, 1866 (Keiō 2), a military secret agreement was concluded between the Satsuma and Chōshū clans through the mediation of Sakamoto Ryōma and Nakaoka Shintarō. One of the most influential political alliances in Japanese history, it enabled the overthrow of the shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.
1858–1859 (Ansei 5–6)
In 1858–1859, Tairō Ii Naosuke launched a sweeping purge of opponents who contested the shogunate's succession dispute and the Harris Treaty with the United States. Over 100 activists, scholars and daimyo were punished; Yoshida Shōin and Hashimoto Sanai were executed. The crackdown directly provoked the Sakuradamon assassination of Ii in 1860.
August 20, 1864 (19th day, 7th month, Genji 1)
In July 1864, Chōshū domain warriors stormed the Hamaguri-gomon Gate of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, triggering the Kinmon Incident. The resulting fires destroyed much of Kyoto (the 'Dondonyake'), Chōshū was branded an imperial enemy, and the Shinsengumi participated in the suppression. This violent collision of political factions marked the definitive militarization of Bakumatsu politics.
August–December 1864 (Genji 1)
In August 1864, the Tokugawa shogunate organized a massive punitive expedition against Chōshū domain after the Kinmon Incident. Through mediation by Saigō Takamori, Chōshū submitted and apologized, ending the campaign without bloodshed.
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.
c. 1860 (Man'en 1), the period traditionally cited for Kondō Isami's reported acquisition of a "Kotetsu" blade
Shinsengumi commander Kondō Isami is said to have favored a blade by the celebrated smith Nagasone Kotetsu, ranked among the finest "saijō ō-wazamono." However, genuine Kotetsu blades were already scarce and forged signatures rampant in his era, and the prevailing view holds that Kondō's sword was likely a blade of the Minamoto Kiyomaro lineage with a falsely inscribed Kotetsu signature.
August–September 1868 (Keiō 4)
The climactic siege of Aizu domain in August–September 1868, part of the Boshin War. The defense of Tsuruga Castle (Aizu-Wakamatsu) and the tragedy of the Byakkotai youth corps became enduring symbols of samurai loyalty at the end of the feudal era.
July 4, 1868 (Keiō 4, 5th month, 15th day)
On May 15, 1868, 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.
May–September 1868 (Keiō 4)
From May to September 1868 (Keiō 4), Nagaoka Domain of Echigo participated in the Boshin War as a member of the Ōuetsu Alliance, fighting against Imperial government forces. Domain elder Kawai Tsugusuke deployed Gatling cannons to devastate the government forces, conducting fierce operations that earned him the title 'the last samurai.'
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.
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.
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.
July 8, 1864 (5th day, 6th month, Genji 1)
In June 1864, 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.
March 13, 1863 (Bunkyū 3, 2nd month, 4th day)
Formed in 1863 from the rōnin corps under Kyoto's Military Protectorate, the Shinsengumi was an elite swordsmen force that suppressed loyalist activists in late-Edo Kyoto. Under Captain Kondō Isami and Vice-Captain Hijikata Toshizō, they were feared for their martial prowess and strict code. Their legacy represents the final flowering of the Japanese sword in live combat.