Namamugi Incident
The Namamugi incident, also known as the Kanagawa incident and Richardson affair, was a political crisis that occurred in the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Bakumatsu on 14 September 1862.
Charles Lennox Richardson, a British merchant, was killed by the armed retinue of Shimazu Hisamitsu, the regent of the Satsuma Domain, on a road in Namamugi near Kawasaki. Richardson's murder sparked outrage among Europeans for violating their extraterritoriality in Japan, while the Japanese argued Richardson had disrespected Shimazu and justifiably killed under the Kiri-sute gomen rule. British demands for compensation and failure by the Satsuma to respond resulted in the Bombardment of Kagoshima in August 1863.
Course of events
On 14 September 1862, four British subjects: the Shanghai-based merchant Charles Lennox Richardson, two Yokohama-based merchants Woodthorpe Charles Clark and William Marshall, and Marshall's sister-in-law Margaret Watson Borradaile, were travelling on the Tōkaidō road in Japan en route to visit the Kawasaki Daishi temple near Kawasaki. Richardson had recently announced his retirement from the world of business, and was visiting the temple with his friends en route back to England with his fortune. The four British subjects had departed the treaty port of Yokohama at 2:30 pm by boat, crossing Yokohama harbour to Kanagawa village, to join their horses which had been sent ahead. They were travelling north through the nearby village of Namamugi when they encountered the large, armed retinue of Shimazu Hisamitsu, the regent and father of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the daimyō of the Satsuma Domain. Shimazu was heading in the opposite direction to the British subjects, who continued to ride along the side of the road without dismounting until they reached the main body of the procession, which occupied the entire width of the road. Richardson, leading the Britons, rode close to Shimazu's procession and did not dismount despite being gestured repeatedly to do so. Richardson was subsequently slashed and mortally wounded by one of the Satsuma bodyguards. Clark and Marshall were also severely wounded by the Satsuma but Borrodaile was not harmed, and the three rode away as fast as they could. Richardson fell from his horse and Shimazu gave the order for todome — the coup de grâce — to be given, with several samurai proceeding to hack and stab at Richardson with swords and lances. A post-mortem examination of Richardson's body showed ten mortal wounds, and he was buried in the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery, between the later graves of Marshall and Clark.Consequences of the Namamugi Incident
The Namamugi Incident caused a new political crisis in Japan during the Bakumatsu, the period after the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate had ended its historic isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku and allowed the entry of foreigners. Japanese and Westerners were outraged by Richardson's death, with these groups almost unanimously supportive and opposed to the killing, respectively.Japanese reports accused Richardson of continuing to ride in the middle of the road, even trying to get between Shimazu's litter and his bodyguards. In Japan, the samurai had a legal right known as kiri-sute gomen which allowed them to kill anyone of a lower class for perceived disrespect, which would have justified the killing by Shimazu's retinue. The Japanese instanced Eugene Van Reed, an American who had dismounted and bowed before a daimyōs train, as evidence that the insolent attitude of the Britons caused the incident. Van Reed's conduct had appalled the Western community, who believed that Westerners should hold themselves with dignity before the Japanese, being at least the equal of any Japanese person. There were also later suggestions that Richardson whipped Chinese people while horseback riding in China, and according to the Japan Herald "Extra" of Tuesday 16 September 1862, he had been heard to say just before the incident, "I know how to deal with these people". Richardson's uncle was reportedly not surprised about his nephew's demise, but blamed him for being reckless and stubborn. Frederick Wright-Bruce, the British envoy to China, remembered Richardson as an arrogant adventurer.
The incident sparked a scare in Japan's foreign community, which was based in the Kannai district of Yokohama. Westerners argued that British nationals were protected in Japan by extraterritoriality under the Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty and were exempt from Japanese cultural requirements, meaning Richardson's death under kiri-sute gomen was illegal. Many Western traders appealed to their governments to take punitive action against Japan. Britain demanded reparations from the Bakufu and from the daimyō of Satsuma, together with the arrest, trial and execution of the perpetrators.
Bombardment of Kagoshima
By mid-1863, the British had become impatient that the reparations demands for the Namamugi Incident were still unmet. In July, the Bakufu reluctantly paid the British the sum of £100,000 in compensation, though this was mainly due to fear of naval bombardment against the Tokugawa capital city of Edo. The Satsuma Domain continued to ignore the British demands and refused to apologize for Richardson's death.On 15 August, a Royal Navy squadron entered the waters of Kagoshima, the capital city of the Satsuma Domain, to extract the demanded reparations for the Namamugi Incident by force. Meeting further prevarication, they seized several Satsuma ships as hostage for payment, but were unexpectedly fired upon by Satsuma artillery batteries. The squadron retaliated by destroying the Satsuma vessels and bombarding Kagoshima, which had been evacuated. The Satsuma were successfully pushed back, but the British ships were unable to sustain the bombardment and retreated two days later. The battle claimed five lives among the people of Satsuma, and 11 lives among the British. Satsuma's material losses were substantial, with around 500 houses destroyed in Kagoshima, and three Satsuma steamships were sunk. The conflict caused much controversy in the British House of Commons, but Acting Vice Admiral Augustus Leopold Kuper's conduct was eventually commended by the House. Kuper was advanced to Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1864 "for his services at Kagoshima". Shimazu Hisamitsu was subsequently given the court title of Ōsumi no Kami.
The military stalemate resulted in a re-negotiation between the British and Satsuma regarding the Namamugi Incident. The Satsuma admired the superiority of the Royal Navy and sought a trading relationship with Britain as a result. Later that year, the Satsuma paid the £25,000 in compensation demanded by the British government with money borrowed from the Bakufu. The Satsuma never repaid the £25,000 to the Bakufu because the Tokugawa Shogunate would be overthrown in the Meiji Restoration five years later, and British demands for the trial and execution of the Shimazu's bodyguards that had killed Richardson were unfulfilled. The Bombardment of Kagoshima became known in Japan as the Anglo-Satsuma War.