BAKUMATSU & EDO
Bakumatsu & Edo Reading
From the arrival of the Black Ships to the return of power to the Emperor, the Bakumatsu remade Japan in barely a decade. We explore the lives of the figures who raced through it, and the culture that flourished in late Edo — grounded in the historical record.
Latest articles
Sakamoto Ryōma — The Tosa Visionary Who United Satsuma and Chōshū
A low-ranking Tosa samurai who left his domain, built a trading company, and brokered the Satsuma–Chōshū Alliance. A fact-based look at the brief, decisive life of one of the Bakumatsu's most celebrated figures.
Saigō Takamori — The Satsuma Giant Who Led the Restoration and Died in Revolt
He achieved the bloodless surrender of Edo and became a central architect of the Meiji Restoration, only to take up arms against the new government and fall in the Satsuma Rebellion. A fact-based account of a dramatic life.
Photography in the Bakumatsu — Silver and Wet Plates Capture the Samurai
Photographic technology that arrived in Japan around the opening of the country preserved the faces of Bakumatsu people for posterity. A fact-based look at pioneers like Ueno Hikoma and the background to the famous portraits of the age.
Yoshida Shōin — The Teacher Who Trained the Restoration at the Shōka Sonjuku
In just a few years of running a private school, Yoshida Shōin educated the men who would lead the Meiji Restoration. From his attempt to stow away on Perry's ships to his death in the Ansei Purge, a fact-based portrait of the thinker and teacher.
Takasugi Shinsaku — The Maverick Who Raised the Kiheitai and Turned Chōshū to Revolt
He founded the Kiheitai, a militia open to all classes, and in a life of just twenty-seven years pushed Chōshū decisively toward overthrowing the shogunate. A fact-based portrait of a Shōka Sonjuku prodigy.
Kido Takayoshi (Katsura Kogorō) — The Chōshū Strategist Among the Three Great Nobles
Known in the Bakumatsu as Katsura Kogorō, he sustained the Satsuma–Chōshū Alliance from the Chōshū side and helped build the foundations of the new government. A fact-based portrait of one of the "Three Great Nobles of the Restoration."
Bakumatsu Figures
The samurai, shogunal retainers, and thinkers who raced through Japan's turning point. We trace their lives and legacies, grounded in the historical record.
Sakamoto Ryōma — The Tosa Visionary Who United Satsuma and Chōshū
A low-ranking Tosa samurai who left his domain, built a trading company, and brokered the Satsuma–Chōshū Alliance. A fact-based look at the brief, decisive life of one of the Bakumatsu's most celebrated figures.
Saigō Takamori — The Satsuma Giant Who Led the Restoration and Died in Revolt
He achieved the bloodless surrender of Edo and became a central architect of the Meiji Restoration, only to take up arms against the new government and fall in the Satsuma Rebellion. A fact-based account of a dramatic life.
Yoshida Shōin — The Teacher Who Trained the Restoration at the Shōka Sonjuku
In just a few years of running a private school, Yoshida Shōin educated the men who would lead the Meiji Restoration. From his attempt to stow away on Perry's ships to his death in the Ansei Purge, a fact-based portrait of the thinker and teacher.
Bakumatsu Culture
The shock of the Black Ships, and the new technologies and ways of life that took root. We explore the culture that flourished in Japan's turbulent final shogunal years.
Photography in the Bakumatsu — Silver and Wet Plates Capture the Samurai
Photographic technology that arrived in Japan around the opening of the country preserved the faces of Bakumatsu people for posterity. A fact-based look at pioneers like Ueno Hikoma and the background to the famous portraits of the age.
The Black Ships and the Opening of Japan — Four Vessels That Ended Two Centuries of Seclusion
In 1853 the Black Ships under Commodore Perry appeared off Uraga, and Japan turned toward opening its ports. A clear, fact-based account of the arrival of the Black Ships, the end of seclusion, and the dawn of the Bakumatsu.
Rangaku and the Tekijuku — The Window onto the West Opened by the Dutch Language
Rangaku — Dutch learning — brought Western knowledge into secluded Japan. At Ogata Kōan's Tekijuku in Osaka, students like Fukuzawa Yukichi studied. A fact-based look at the scholarship and schools that underpinned Bakumatsu modernization.