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The Purge of Yamauchi Yōdō: In 1865, the Thirty-Seven-Year-Old Hanpeita Committed Seppuku
In the coup of August 18, 1863, the Loyalist faction fell from the court, and in Tosa too, the suppression of the Loyalist Party by former lord Yamauchi Yōdō began. After about two years in prison, on May 11, 1865, Hanpeita was ordered to commit seppuku. The end of the Tosa Loyalist Party.
On May 11, 1865 (Keiō 1), inside the prison at Minami Kaisho in the Tosa castle town of Kōchi.
Takechi Hanpeita was ordered by the Tosa domain to commit seppuku. Thirty-seven.
At the seppuku, he cut not the ordinary one-cut abdomen but a three-cut abdomen (cutting the abdomen horizontally three times), as transmitted.
An extremely difficult protocol showing warrior pride, an end symbolizing Hanpeita's substance as a martial artist.
The Coup of August 18, 1863 — the Fall of the Loyalist Faction
On August 18, 1863 (Bunkyū 3), at the Kyoto imperial palace, the public-and-military-cooperation faction (Satsuma and Aizu domains) seized the court, and a coup (the coup of August 18) occurred that expelled from Kyoto seven imperial-loyalist expel-the-barbarian radical court nobles (Sanjō Sanetomi and others) and the Chōshū domain.
By this coup, the political foundation of the Tosa Loyalist Party, which had been moving domain politics by using the court, collapsed.
Former lord Yamauchi Yōdō decided on the purge of the Loyalist Party.
The Two Years in Prison
In September 1863, Hanpeita was arrested. Simultaneously, more than 170 Tosa Loyalist Party members were imprisoned and interrogated.
The imprisoned Hanpeita continued to give testimony insisting on being a lone offender to protect his comrades.
At the same time, in prison he left many letters, self-portraits, and calligraphy.
His prison letters include appeals to Ryōma, Yōdō, his wife, and his mother, and have become precious materials transmitting the thought and spirituality of Bakumatsu shishi.
After two years of interrogation, Yamauchi Yōdō finally ordered seppuku.
The Three-Cut Abdomen Seppuku
On May 11, 1865, seppuku within the prison. Hanpeita is transmitted to have cut the abdomen three times — from right to left, from left to right, and from bottom to top.
Ordinary seppuku is a one-cut abdomen (one horizontal cut), with an assistant taking off the head.
The three-cut abdomen is a protocol extremely difficult to execute alone, and considered the highest form showing the spiritual power and skill of the one committing seppuku.
Together with the execution of multiple Loyalist Party members including Okada Izō at the same time, the Tosa Loyalist Party was substantially destroyed.
The history of the Loyalist Party lasting three years and eight months ended on this day.
"Takechi Zuizan takes his own life in prison. Transmitted to have cut a three-cut abdomen."
PRIMARY SOURCES & ARCHIVES
- PRIMARY
Takechi Zuizan-Related Documents
National Diet Library Modern Political History Materials Room
Includes prison letters and records at the time of seppuku
- SCHOLARSHIP
Biography of Takechi Hanpeita
Matsuoka Tsukasa / Shin-Jinbutsuōraisha
Empirical examination of Yamauchi Yōdō's suppression and the seppuku
- ARCHIVE
Kōchi Prefectural Sakamoto Ryōma Memorial Museum
Kōchi City, Kōchi Prefecture
Holds Hanpeita prison materials
Visit archive →
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