(A pamphlet I was asked to translate from the Saigo Nanshu Memorial Museum. The director “highly evaluated” my work.)
Welcome to the Saigo Nanshu Memorial Museum
(Building Guide)
The Saigo Nanshu Memorial Museum took life as an enterprise in 1977, marking the 100 year anniversary of Saigo’s death. It was made possible through the private donations of over 200,000 individuals who wished to honor the Elder Nanshu, officially known as Saigo Takamori*. After completion, ownership of the museum was transferred to Kagoshima City in 1978, with management entrusted to the Foundation for the Saigo Nanshu Memorial Museum Committee.
* Please note: All names are written in the Japanese style, with family name first and personal name last.
Route: Museum and Shrine (Estimated time: 30-60 minutes)
(From the front of the parking lot) Museum-Graveyard-Nanshu Shrine and Epitaph for Fallen Soldiers
Parking (free) Up to 10 buses and 50 mid-sized cars
Architectural Outline Main building. Total area: 550 m². Basement: 75 m² (furnace, storage). First floor: 264 m² (office, display). Second floor: 211 m² (display). Equipped with air conditioning. Annex Building. Area: 230 m². 30 desks, 120 chairs, 2000 books. Can be used for display or research.
Museum Hours 9AM-5PM (tour takes 15 minutes at a quick pace, 60 minutes at a leisurely pace)
Holidays Monday (should Monday fall on a national holiday, the museum will be closed on the following business day) New Year (Dec. 29th-Jan. 1st)
Admission Adult: 100 yen. Child (Elementary and Junior High): 50 yen. 20% discount for groups of 30 or more.
Address: 2-1 Kamitatsuo (Nanshu Park), Kagoshima City, 892-0851
Telephone: 099-247-1100 FAX: 099-247-1100
By Route Bus, get off at Tateba; from there, a 7 minute walk
By City View Bus, get off at Nanshu Park Entrance (Nanshu Koen Iriguchi); from there a 6 minute walk.
[Display Contents] [1st floor] There are 10 dioramas in this museum.
Entrance Original bronze statue of the Elder Nanshu (Saigo) in dialogue with Elder Suge “Fallen Cow” Gagyu.
Lobby Portrait (1889, by Italian artist Kiyosone)
1. Timeline of Saigo’s Life Saigo was born on January 23, 1823 and died at Shiroyama on September 24, 1877. He attained the rank of Shosanmi posthumously in 1889.
2. Diorama The Town of Great Men. Many leaders of the Meiji Restoration came out of the Shitakajiya district, one after the other. They included the Saigo brothers, Okubo Toshimichi, Yoshii Tomozane, Iji Chishoji, Shinohara Kunimoto, Murata Shinpachi, Oyama Iwao, Togo Heihachiro, and Yamamoto Gonnohyo’e.
3. The Young Saigo From age 21-25, Saigo studied Zen under the instruction of his teacher, Musan. He was also educated in a neighborhood school, called a Goju.
The Goju was an independent school system unique to Satsuma (Kagoshima). The students in the Goju were ranked from highest to lowest: Head of Nise (older students)- Nise - Head of Chigo (younger students) - Older Chigo - Younger Chigo. The Goju also functioned as a warrior group where young men voluntarily trained their bodies and minds, the older students teaching the younger students and the Head of Nise supervising all. The textbooks were Satsuma Government Educational Reader, Kagoshima Domain Reader, and Four Books and Five Classics.
4. Diorama Saigo was selected as Head of Nise for Shitakajiya Goju when he was 19 years old. In this small district of about 70 houses, many future leaders of the restoration grew up under the guidance and influence of Saigo. Their education included an exercise regiment of running up mountains to build leg strength, a balance of diligent study and vigorous martial arts, and the cultivation of loyalty and filial piety, according to the aims of the Goju schooling system.
5. Annual Character-Building Events of the Goju (Dates according to the old lunar calendar.) May 28th—Sogo Don’s Umbrella Burning Festival. June 23rd—Visit to Jisshin Temple (Takeda Shrine). July 18th—Visit to Shingaku Temple (Hiramatsu Shrine). September 14th—Visit to Myoen Temple (Tokushige Shrine). December 14th—Reading of the Tale of the Akogi Warriors, known in the West as the 47 Ronin—a group of samurai who severed ties with their home to avenge their fallen master. Licensing of Jigen-ryu-style swordsmanship. The Jigen-ryu Bokuto, which involved training with wooden swords in the sea at New Year.
6. Diorama When he was 17, Saigo became a clerk in the government office which was responsible for collecting taxes (paid in rice) from the farmers. But Saigo, a man of deep compassion and justice, sympathized with the farmers and often broke off his own small salary to help the sick, the poor, and the suffering. He wrote up reports of the unfair dealings he saw and sent them to his superiors.
7. The Great Accomplishments of Shimazu Nariakira Shimazu Nariakira was the 28th Lord of Satsuma Domain and a great influence on Saigo’s life. He was responsible for buying the Shohei-maru, a modern ship from England; he created the Hi-no-maru design used on the Japanese flag; and he encouraged Satsuma kiriko, or cut glass.
8. Diorama At the age of 26, Saigo was discovered by Shimazu Nariakira and became a gardener in Edo (Tokyo). (At the time all lords were required to keep a separate residence at Edo and visit every other year.) Nariakira took Saigo under his wing. He gave Saigo the important task of monitoring events and meeting some the most prominent people in the entire country. Before long Saigo inherited Nariakira’s will to reform the government, and this would lead him to accomplish some of the greatest deeds of the revolution.
9. Diorama During the Ansei Purge (a time when people who stood against the government were silenced, imprisoned, or executed), the monk Gessho of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto was pursued by the Shogunate. Gessho begged Saigo’s help, and Saigo offered him the protection of Satsuma. But after the death of Nariakira, Satsuma feared the Shogunate and banished Gessho to Hyuga. Saigo, loyal to the end, decided to die alongside the monk. One winter’s day they flung their bodies into the frigid waters of Kinko Bay. (Saigo was 30 at the time, Gessho was 44.) Gessho died, but Saigo was resuscitated.
10. Resurrected Saigo After he was revived, Saigo changed his name to Kikuchi Gengo. For the next three years, from 1859-1862, he hid away on the island of Amami Oshima in the village of Tatsugo. A stone monument dedicated to Saigo in Rutakuchi (in Amami Oshima). A tray used by Saigo. A stone monument dedicated to Gessho.
11. Banished Again In February 1862, Saigo was recalled back to the mainland. He immediately became busy in national affairs, which stirred up the anger of the new lord of Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Hisamitsu. As a result, Saigo was banished to the distant islands of Tokunoshima and later Okinoera Bujima (Wadomari), where he was imprisoned for a year and a half.
12. Diorama Saigo spent a total of 5 years on the Amami islands, from the age of 31 to 36. For the first three years after entering the water with Gessho, he remained hidden in Tatsugo village to escape the eyes of the Shogunate. After that, he was imprisoned in Tokunoshima and Okinoera Bujima for provoking Hisamitsu’s wrath. He endured this without complaint. In the midst of his suffering, Saigo forged his temper and grew in spirit.
13. The Satcho Alliance In 1866, after Saigo was brought back from the islands yet again, there was a secret agreement between former rivals Satsuma Domain and Choshu Domain (Yamaguchi Prefecture), made possible through the efforts of Sakamoto Ryoma. With Satsuma and Choshu now united under the slogan of Tobaku (“Overthrow the Shogunate!”), they received a secret Imperial edict in 1867, lending legitimacy to their cause. People who played active roles in the Satcho Alliance were Saigo Takamori, Komatsu Tatewaki, Kido Takayoshi, Sakamoto Ryoma, and Nakaoka Shintaro.
14. Diorama Although the last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, had abdicated at the end of 1867, the supporters of the Shogunate continued to wage war in his name. In January 1868 their 15,000 man army advanced to Kyoto and met Saigo’s 5,000 man army at Toba Fushimi, where they opened fire. The supporters of the Shogunate were defeated. Hoisting an Imperial banner overhead, Saigo, as Eastern Expeditionary High Command, left Kyoto on February 14th and marched his army to Edo to attack the Shogun’s stronghold and decisively end the war.
15. Diorama The date for the Imperial Army’s all-out offensive was fixed for March 15, 1868, and had such an attack taken place, the chaos within Edo would have been like poking a beehive with a stick. The army governor of Edo, Katsu Yasuyoshi (also known as Katsu Kaishu), saw the impending crisis clearly and requested a meeting with Saigo Takamori. With good will and sincerity, two great men met and talked out an agreement. In the end, Saigo ordered the offensive to be canceled. On April 11th Edo Castle was taken without bloodshed, sparing millions of people in Edo the fires of war.
Television Room Broadcasting the life of “Saigo Takamori.” Time needed: 30 minutes. “Saigo and Okubo,” presented by the Prefecture Scholarship Association, 20 minutes.
[2nd Floor]
16. The Proverbs of Elder Nanshu Shonai Domain (the Tsuruoka region of Yamagata Prefecture) had continued their assault on behalf of the defeated Shogunate, but by October 1868, they admitted defeat and surrendered to Saigo, now head of the Northern Expeditionary Attack Force. Rather than punish Shonai Domain, Saigo treated them with kindness and leniency. In later years a close friendship would develop between them. When Saigo was branded a traitor, the people of former Shonai defended him and in 1889 published The Proverbs of Elder Nanshu, which spread the knowledge of Saigo’s great character throughout the country.
17. Saigo as Sangi In 1869, at the request of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the last lord of Satsuma Domain, Kagoshima was reformed into an assembly government.
In 1871, Saigo achieved the high rank of Sangi and took with it corresponding duties on the national stage. From then until his resignation in October 1873, Saigo actively endorsed many important policies, including the abolishment of domains and the establishment of prefectures, reform within the Imperial Palace, a new educational system, the establishment of a national bank, the creation of a universal conscription army, the inauguration of the railroads, the adoption of the solar calendar, and so on. From May to July of 1872, he escorted the Meiji Emperor on a tour throughout western Japan and Kyushu as Commander in Chief of the Imperial Guards. In June 1873, in addition to Sangi, he took on the role of General of Japan’s first national army.
18. Saigo’s Korean Envoy Korea rejected a treaty with new Meiji government. Between this and its oppression of Japanese settlers, animosity towards Korea was building and a debate broke out over whether or not to go to war. Saigo suppressed the sect that favored using military force. In 1873, he proposed instead that he be sent to Korea as an ambassador. Although the Cabinet meeting initially supported Saigo’s Korean envoy, opposition from Okubo and Iwakura ultimately caused this proposal to be rejected.
19. Diorama In the fall of 1873, Saigo retired from his position as Sangi and returned home. Before long, he had established a society to reclaim the land along the Yoshino plateau and Terayama region. Wielding a hoe to break the ground, Saigo and his students returned to a life of being partners with nature.
20. Saigo’s Private Schools When Saigo retired, many in the government also left their posts to follow him back to Kagoshima. Bearing these men in mind, Saigo founded a system of private schools in June 1874, which included a rifle corps, a cannon corps, and basic education for young pupils. Shinohara Kunimoto and Murata Shinpachi were supervisors.
21. The Seinan War Begins The national government began to ship weapons and munitions out of Kagoshima. At this time, a spy revealed that there was a scheme in play to assassinate Saigo. Hearing this, Saigo’s students went off in a rage, which eventually progressed to a full-scale war against the government. At the time of their departure for Tokyo, there were 13,000 men in Satsuma’s army, but cooperative armies from Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Oita, and Fukuoka comprised another 7,000 men, and a supplement of recruits added another 10,000 men, for a total of 30,000 men. Roughly 6,800 of these men would die during the course of the war. The government army was 60,000 men strong, and they would absorb 6,971 casualties by the end of it.
22. Diorama On September 24, 1877, the morning of the Imperial Army’s general offensive, Saigo left his cave, and his army took their position at the mouth of Iwasaki Valley in Shiroyama. As he was making his way to the front line of the Satsuma army, Saigo was hit by a bullet from the Imperial Army and sat where he fell. He prayed to the Emperor in the far-off east and turned Beppu Shinsuke. “Shin, it is time,” he said to Beppu and ordered his friend to strike off his head. Although officially Saigo and the Satsuma army were called traitors, the Emperor and the people did not in their hearts think of Saigo as an enemy.
23. Seinan War Miniature battleground of the Satsuma Army. Rough sketch (with omissions) of the Seinan War. Chronology of the war.
24. Pictures of the Seinan War 19 pictures (Artist: Osa Hidehiko)
25. Seinan War Brocade picture. Articles of the deceased. Saigo bill. Military notebook of a Kagoshima soldier who fought against Saigo’s troops.
26. The Spirit of Nanshu Hanging scrolls written in Saigo’s own hand. 10 scrolls. Saigo Takanaga’s (Takamori’s) letter. Murata Sansuke’s Letter of Appointment.
27. Articles of the Deceased Kamoshimo (old ceremonial dress) bearing Saigo’s family crest with cotton crested haori (half jacket). Shinohara Kunimoto’s military uniform. Saigo bill.
28. Articles and Letters of the Deceased Saigo’s leggings and underclothes. Letters of Oyama Tsunayoshi and Kirino Toshiaki. Letters of Okubo Toshimichi.
29. Satsuma Biwa (Lute) “Shiroyama,” composed by Katsu Kaishu. A flag draped in black belonging to Yokoyama Yasutake (Nanshu original writing). The Satsuma blade of Yamanoda Kazusuke, who cut down many Shinsengumi, a band of samurai in Kyoto who supported the Shogunate. Yamanoda’s diary. Naminohira, the old sword of the commander of Satsuma Army.
30. Photographic Record of the Seinan War (1st and 2nd floor transom) 122 pictures. Taken by Ueno Hikoma.
Nanshu Elegy
“With false accusations hung upon him like laundry on a line, he died, at the mercy of the games of children.” —Katsu Kaishu
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