- Etō Shimpei
nihongo|Etō Shimpei|江藤新平|Etō Shinpei;
18 March 1834 -13 April 1874 ), was aJapan ese statesman during the earlyMeiji period , remembered chiefly for his role in the unsuccessfulSaga Rebellion .Early Life & Meiji Bureaucrat
Etō was born into a "
samurai " family in Saga, inHizen province (present-daySaga prefecture ). During theBoshin War to overthrow theTokugawa bakufu , he served as a general in the imperial army.After the
Meiji Restoration , Etō was appointed to a number of posts, including that ofMinister of Justice in 1872, and was responsible for drafting Japan's first modernpenal code the "(Kaitei Ritsurei)." In 1873, he became a "sangi" (Councilor) in theDaijō-kan , but resigned the same year, after the "Seikanron " proposal made bySaigo Takamori to invadeKorea was rejected.Anti-government agitator & rebel
After resigning from the government, Etō returned home to his native Saga, and gathered together a group of dissaffected former "samurai" who were unhappy with the current regime. He formed the
Aikoku Koto political party which criticized the government and called for the formation of a national assembly. Receiving little support, he then resorted to armed insurrection (theSaga Rebellion ), gathering some 3000 followers, attacking a local bank for funds, and capturing government offices. The revolt was quickly suppressed by government forces underOkubo Toshimichi , and Etō, along with 13 other ringleaders, was executed.Reference and further reading
*Duus, Peter. "The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910 (Twentieth-Century Japan - the Emergence of a World Power, 4)." University of California Press (1998). ISBN 0-520-21361-0.
*Hane, Mikiso. "Modern Japan: A Historical Survey". Westview Press (2001). ISBN 0-8133-3756-9
*Harries, Meirion. "Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army". Random House; Reprint edition (1994). ISBN 0-679-75303-6
*Najita, Tetsuo. "Japan: The Intellectual Foundations of Modern Japanese Politics". University Of Chicago Press (1980). ISBN 0-226-56803-2
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