page_title: Kawaji Toshiyoshi
section_title: Satsuma Rebellion
hierarchical_section_title: Kawaji Toshiyoshi / Chief of police / Satsuma Rebellion
caption_attribution_description: English: Woodblock Print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi of Japan's famous soldiers (日本 武名 伝図), published by Fukuda Kumajiro in May 1878. Left panel: Arisugawa Taruhito (center top), Kabayama Sukenori (upper left), Tani Tateki (upper right), Kawamura Sumiyoshi (lower left), Nozu Shizuo (lower right) Center panel: Saigo Takamori (seated center), Kawaji Toshiyoshi (upper left), Torio Koyata (upper right), Yamagata Aritomo (lower left), Miyoshi Shigeomi (lower right) Right panel: Higashifushimi Yoshiaki (center), Kazukatsu Fukuhara (upper left), Yamakawa Hiroshi (upper right), Saigō Tsugumichi (lower left), Kuroda Kiyotaka (lower right)
context_page_description: Kawaji Toshiyoshi, also known as Kawaji Toshikane, was a Japanese statesman and chief of police during the Meiji period. A Satsuma Domain samurai initially tasked to study foreign systems for application in the Japanese military, Kawaji fought against forces loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War. Later, his work on setting up the Japanese police at the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration, first as rasotsu, and then as keisatsu, earned him the recognition as the founder of Japan's modern police system. Besides his police and military work, he was also noted for his contributions to the development of Kendo, a Japanese martial art.
context_section_description: In February 1877, British diplomat Ernest Mason Satow noted allegations, which linked Kawaji and other high-ranking government officials, including Minister Ōkubo, with a planned assassination of Saigō Takamori, who, by this time, had already resigned from the government. What bolstered the credibility of this allegation was the leave of absence Kawaji had granted to a number of policemen, who proceeded to Kagoshima. Satow later spoke with Navy Minister Katsu Kaishū, who cleared Ōkubo of connection to the assassination attempt, which was never carried out, but affirmed Kawaji's intention to assassinate Saigō to prevent a civil war. A further confirmation of this intention was the confession of Nakahara Hisao, a sho-keibu (corporal), who was supposedly the assassin assigned to eliminate Saigō. However, the Satsuma Rebellion had already begun in response to the rumored assassination, much to Saigō's dismay, especially since he and Kawaji had been friends.
  On 19 February 1877, the Kumamoto Castle was attacked by around 20,000 samurai from the Satsuma Domain. True to his principles of the police working together with the military, Kawaji in his capacity as a major general led the Third Brigade, accompanying Major General Ōyama Iwao of the Imperial Japanese Army, who led the Fifth Brigade. Similar to Kawaji, Ōyama had also visited France to study. By 23 June, Kawaji, this time promoted as lieutenant general, and his division, had already entered Kagoshima, Saigō's headquarters (around 170 kilometers south of Kumamoto), reinforcing the beleaguered Admiral Kawamura Sumiyoshi and breaking the rebel strength. Saigō and his remaining forces, numbering around 500, were ultimately vanquished at the Battle of Shiroyama on 24 September 1877.
caption: Kawaji Toshiyoshi (in center panel with Saigō Takamori, Torio Koyata, Yamagata Aritomo, and Miyoshi Shigeomi) considered as one of Japan's famous soldiers in this 1878 woodblock print
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