Mito Rebellion

{{Infobox military conflict

|conflict=Mito rebellion
水戸幕末争乱

|partof=Bakumatsu conflicts

|image=300px
Shogunate troops moving to quell the Mito rebellion in 1864.
300px
"Takeda Kōunsai at Mt. Tsukuba" by Utagawa Kuniteru III

|caption=

|date=May 2, 1864 – January 14, 1865
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days |month1=05 |day1=02 |year1=1864 |month2=01 |day2=14 |year2=1865}})

|place=Eastern Japan

|territory=

|result=Shogunate victory

|combatant1= {{plainlist |

{{flagicon image|Mitsubaaoi.svg}} Tengutō
{{flag|Shishido Domain}}
Local samurai and kokugakusha volunteers

}}

|combatant2= {{plainlist |

{{flag|Tokugawa shogunate|Mon}}
{{flag|Mito Domain}}
{{flag|Sagara Domain}}
{{flag|Suwa Domain}}
{{flag|Matsumoto Domain}}
{{flagicon image|Mon Hori.svg}} Iida Domain
{{flag|Takasaki Domain}}
{{flag|Kasama Domain}}

}}

|commander1={{plainlist |

{{flagicon image|Mitsubaaoi.svg}} Takeda Kōunsai{{Executed}}
{{flagicon image|Mitsubaaoi.svg}} Yamakuni Hyōbu{{Executed}}
{{flagicon|Shishido Domain}} Matsudaira Yorinori{{Executed}}
Kameyama Yoshiharu{{Executed}}

}}

|commander2={{plainlist |

{{flagicon|Tokugawa shogunate|Mon}} Tokugawa Yoshinobu
{{flagicon|Tokugawa shogunate|Mon}} Takenaka Shigekata
{{flagicon image|Mitsubaaoi.svg}} Ichikawa Sanzaemon
{{flagicon|Sagara Domain}} Tanuma Okitaka
{{flagicon|Suwa Domain}} Yajima Denzaemon{{cite book |last1=Shimazaki |first1=Tōson |last2=Naff |first2=William |title=Before the Dawn |date=October 1, 1987 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |location=United States |isbn=0824809149 |edition=1st}}
{{flagicon|Suwa Domain}} Shiohara Hikoshichi{{cite web |title=Account of the Battle of Wada Peak handwritten by Takashima Domain strategist Shiohara Hikoshichi found |url=http://kyodoshi.com/article/8534 |website=全国郷土紙連合 Zenkoku Kyōdoshi Rengō |date=2021 |publisher=All-Japan Local Newspaper Association |access-date=29 October 2023}}

}}

|strength1=2,000

|strength2=About 10,000

|strength3=

|casualties1=About 1,300 rebels killed, around 353 were executed, and 100 died in captivity

|casualties2=Around 6,700 shogunate members killed

|casualties3=

|notes=

|casus=

}}

The {{nihongo|Mito rebellion|水戸幕末争乱|Mito bakumatsu sōran}}, also called the Kantō Insurrection or the {{nihongo|Tengutō Rebellion|天狗党の乱|tengutō no ran}}, was a civil war that occurred in the area of Mito Domain in Japan from May 2, 1864 to January 14, 1865. It involved an uprising and terrorist actions against the central power of the Shogunate in favour of the sonnō jōi ("Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians") policy.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ycdGHcKLcd8C&pg=PA641 The Cambridge History of Japan, p.641]

Outline

A shogunal pacification force was sent to Mount Tsukuba on 17 June 1864, consisting of 700 Mito soldiers led by Ichikawa, with 3 to 5 cannons and at least 200 firearms, as well as a Tokugawa shogunate force of 3,000 men with over 600 firearms and several cannons.Totman, p.112

As the conflict escalated, on 10 October 1864 at Nakaminato, the shogunate force of 6,700 was defeated by 2000 insurgents, and several shogunal defeats followed.Totman, p.118

The insurgents were weakening, however, dwindling to about 1,000. By December 1864 they faced a new force under Tokugawa Yoshinobu (himself born in Mito) numbering over 10,000, which ultimately forced them to surrender.Totman, p.119-120

The uprising resulted in 1,300 dead on the rebels' side, which suffered vicious repression, including 353 executions and approximately 100 who died in captivity.Totman, p.120

Other

Mito and Hikone had been hostile since the Sakurada Gate incident in 1860. Mito and Hikone were reconciled by Tsuruga, the death place of Tengutō members, after 110 years of the incident.
Nuclear dense zones of Japan are concentrated near Mito and near Tsuruga, these two places are related by the Tengutō rebellion. Especially, Jōyō (Ōarai, a neighbor of Mito) and Monju (Tsuruga) are two sodium-cooled fast reactors in Japan.