Namamugi Incident
But this turned out to be the zenith of the "sonnō jōi" movement, since the Western powers responded to Japanese attacks on western shipping with the Bombardment of Shimonoseki. Heavy reparations had earlier been demanded from Satsuma for the murder of Charles Lennox Richardson – the Namamugi Incident. When these were not forthcoming, a squadron of Royal Navy vessels went to the Satsuma port of Kagoshima to coerce the daimyō into paying. Instead, he opened fire on the ships from his shore batteries, and the squadron retaliated. This was later referred to, inaccurately, as the Bombardment of Kagoshima. These incidents clearly showed that Japan was no match for Western military might, and that brutal confrontation could not be the solution.