Order to expel barbarians

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The Order to expel barbarians (Japanese:攘夷勅命, also 攘夷実行の勅命) was an edict issued by the Japanese Emperor Kōmei in 1863 against the Westernization of Japan following the opening of the country by Commodore Perry in 1854.

The edict was based on widespread anti-foreign and legitimist sentiment, called the sonnō jōi movement. Emperor Kōmei personally agreed with such sentiments, and–breaking with centuries of imperial tradition–began to take an active role in matters of state: as opportunities arose, he fulminated against the treaties and attempted to interfere in the shogunal succession. His efforts culminated in March 11th 1863 with his "Order to expel barbarians". A deadline for the explusion was set two months later to May 11th.

Choshu cannons firing on Western shipping in Shimonoseki. Japanese painting.

Although the Shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, the Edict nevertheless inspired attacks against the Shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan: the most famous incident (called the 攘夷戦争 in Japanese, "War to expel the barbarians") was the firing on foreign shipping in the Shimonoseki Strait off Choshu Province as soon as the deadline was reached.^[1] Masterless samurai (ronin) rallied to the cause, assassinating Shogunate officials and Westerners. The killing of the English trader Charles Lennox Richardson is sometimes considered as a result of this policy. The Tokugawa government had to pay an indemnity of a hundred thousand British pounds for Richardson's death.^[2]

But this turned out to be the zenith of the sonnō jōi movement, since the Western powers responded with the Bombardment of Shimonoseki and demanded heavy reparations of Satsuma before bombarding its capital Kagoshima when these were not forthcoming (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.

These events, however, also served to further weaken the shogunate, which appeared too powerless and compromising in its relations with Western powers. Ultimately the rebel provinces allied and overthrew the shogunate in the Meiji Restoration.