Sakuradamon Incident (1860)
The Sakuradamon Incident was the assassination of Ii Naosuke, Chief Minister (Tairō) of the Tokugawa shogunate, on March 24, 1860 by rōnin samurai of the Mito Domain and Satsuma Domain, outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle.
Sakuradamon incident. Detail from print
In 1860, Ii Naosuke was the most influential advisor to the shogunate.
The Sakuradamon gate in 2007.
Arimura Jisaemon, on the point of committing the assassination. Woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
Ii Naosuke was a daimyō of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Harris Treaty with the United States, granting access to ports for trade to American merchants and seamen and extraterritoriality to American citizens. He was also an enthusiastic and accomplished practitioner of the Japanese tea ceremony, in the Sekishūryū style, and his writings include at least two works on the tea ceremony.
Ii Naosuke
Portrait of Ii Naosuke, painted by his third son Ii Naoyasu. Echigo Province Yoita Domain 10th lord) Gotokuji (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo). Setagaya-ku designated tangible cultural property (historical material)
Edo Castle's Sakurada Gate (Sakurada-mon) – photographed by Felice Beato, 1863–1870
Statue of Ii Naosuke at the grounds of Hikone Castle