First Chōshū expedition

First Chōshū expedition 第一次長州征討 Part of Bakumatsu conflicts Date September–November 1864 Location Western Japan Result Shogunal nominal victory Belligerents Chōshū Domain Sonnō Jōi Rōnin force Tokugawa shogunate Aizu Domain Satsuma Domain Casualties and losses Death penalty for the rebel leaders responsible for the Kinmon Incident None

The First Chōshū expedition (Japanese:第一次長州征討) was a punitive military expedition led by the Tokugawa Shogunate against the Chōshū Domain in retaliation for the attack of Chōshū on the Imperial Palace in the Kinmon Incident. The First Chōshū expedition was launched on 1 September 1864.^[1]

The conflict finally led to a compromise brokered by the Satsuma Domain at the end of 1864.^[1] Although Satsuma initially jumped on the opportunity to weaken its traditional enemy Chōshū, it soon realized that the intention of the Bakufu was first to neutralize Chōshū, and then to neutralize Satsuma. For this reason, Saigo Takamori, who was one of the Commanders of the Shogunate forces, proposed to avoid fighting and instead obtain the leaders responsible for the rebellion. Choshu was relieved to accept, as were the Shogunate forces, who were not much interested in battle. Thus ended the First Chōshū expedition without a fight, as a nominal victory for the Bakufu.

See also

• Second Chōshū expedition

Notes

1. French policy in Japan during the closing years of the Tokugawa regime by Meron Medzini, p.85