Crimes Against the Japanese People
By Eric Heimark
Tokyo Times (Op-Ed), May 5, 1891
I implore my fellow samurai to continue their rebellion against the current Japanese transformation and government despite recent setbacks. Current 
egotistical oligarchical leaders seeking their own economic and political prosperity at the expense of Japan’s prosperity should be overthrown! The current revolution or “restoration” opposes the greater interests of the Japanese commoner. The Meiji Restoration, instead of mounting a strong resistance to Western Powers (e.g. through modernization shown in left), has had unintended but terrible consequences…including the loss of samurai’s dignity and prosperity.
The Meiji Restoration of Japan began well, initially occurring quite rapidly. The samurai reformers, including myself, launched an attack on old feudalistic rule in an attempt to change Japan.(1) Pleasing to me, we were initially quite successful and were able to abolish daimyo domains (an old system where Japan was divided into different domains ruled by lords). Also, seemingly great for the samurai, a few samurai were appointed to political positions and controlled the new reformed government.
However, the majority of samurai were eventually betrayed by the same select few former samurai who held government positions. By 1876, less than a decade after the restoration, government support and economic privileges to the samurai were abolished.(2) In other words, the very samurai, who had helped to lead Japan’s transformation, were betrayed by their own kin. This betrayal, in additon to being depressing, also incited my hatred toward the current government.
Many samurai including myself asked ourselves: what has happened to the samurai and our pride? It seemed as if the very modern civilization we had inspired and that had at first succeeded no longer had a role for us. As a British scholar named Basil Hall Chamberlain said this year reflecting on the events “the 
dear old Samurai who first initiated the present wore a queue and two swords…his modern successor, fairly fluent in English, and dressed in a serviceable suit of dittos, might also be European, save for a certain obliqueness of the eyes and scantiness of beard…old things pass away between a night and a morning”.(3)
As Chamberlain implies, the samurai (right) and Japanese heritage have been replaced with European values and culture. Leaders are so dependent on the West that we must send consultants to Europe in order to figure out how to run a country. Why can’t the Japanese look inward instead of relying on foreigners to tell us how to run our country?
Furthermore, the samurai have had too many rights taken away by the government to not incite a strong response. In 1869 we had our ranks reduced from many to only two, upper (shizoku) and lower (sotsu) samurai.(4) Then in 1872, we had all titles stripped and many samurai including myself were labeled commoners (heimin).(5) We were no longer able to defend our country or carry around our military swords…only new soldiers and police officers were allowed to have daisho swords. The government deeply offended my people, the samurai.
As any logical person could foresee, Saigo, a great leader, and other samurai responded with the 
Satsuma rebellion (left) against the government in 1877.(6) Saigo and other of my fellow samurai fought to defend their rights and change the reform.(7) Although I wasn’t there, I support their cause wholeheartedly. So, as one would expect, I was devastated by their eventual defeat.
I can only hope that those few true samurai remaining realize their call-to-arms to defend their wellbeing and continue the cause of the Satsuma rebellion. As far as I know, I personally plan on fighting to end samurai’s oppression and hope to be joined by fellow samurai.
Footnotes
1.“Meiji Period,” in Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, ed. David Levinson and Karen Christensen (New York: Berkshire Publishing Group, 2002), 129-134.
2. Ibid.
3. Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan From Tokugawa Times To The Present (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 61.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Marius B. Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000), 333.
7. Ibid.
8. "Japanese Ships and Development" (image). Meiji Restoration. Available from: Oxford University <http://www.ox.compsoc.net/~gemini/simons/historyweb/meiji-resto.html> (accessed 8 December 2005).
9. "Samurai with sword" (image). Samurai. Available from: Liceo Berchet <http://www.liceoberchet.it/ricerche/geo4d_03/Giappone/istituzioni/samurai.jpg> (accessed 8 December 2005).
10. "Satsuma Rebellion" (image). Samurai Battle. Available from: Arts and Designs of Japan <http://www.artsanddesignsjapan.com/images/cat24/prints/074.jpg> (accessed 8 December 2005).