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Jan 16, 2021
Nine swordsmen bent on vengeance stormed a Kyoto temple one winter day in 1863. They tied up the temple monks and beheaded their three victims.
The victims were statues.
The times were out of joint. The “land of the gods” had been violated. Foreigners strode the sacred soil. The shogun in Edo (present-day Tokyo) was helpless. Ten years had passed since American “Black Ships” steamed into Edo Bay demanding trade, brandishing ultimatums, dictating treaties. The shogun signed. He opened ports to foreign trade, exempted foreigners from Japanese law. Was this not treason?
Medieval shoguns centuries earlier had seized power from Japan’s legitimate ruler, the divine emperor. The gods had long contained their anger. Now at last they were stirring.
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