Satsuma Alliance Day

What Is Satsuma Alliance Day?

Every June 17th is also "Satsuma Alliance Day" (薩摩の日, Satsuma no Hi) in Japan. On June 17, 1866, the "Satsuma-Tosa Alliance" (薩土盟約, Sattsudo Meiyaku) was concluded between the Satsuma domain (薩摩藩, modern Kagoshima) and the Tosa domain (土佐藩, modern Kōchi) — expanding the anti-Shogunate coalition that had begun with the January 1866 Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance (see January 21st). The Satsuma-Tosa Alliance brought the strategically positioned Tosa domain into the anti-Shogunate movement and was another step in the political realignment that would culminate in the Meiji Restoration.

The Satsuma-Tosa Alliance

The Tosa domain occupied a unique position in the late Edo political landscape — it was neither as aggressively anti-Shogunate as Chōshū nor as calculating as Satsuma, but its influential thinkers (particularly Sakamoto Ryōma, who was from Tosa) had developed ideas about a peaceful transfer of power through the restoration of imperial rule without necessarily resorting to military force. The June 1866 alliance brought Tosa into alignment with Satsuma on the basic goal of ending Shogunate rule, while different factions within Tosa continued to debate the means.

Tosa and the Restoration's Moderate Voice

Tosa's political contribution to the Meiji Restoration was distinctive: rather than simply advocating military overthrow, Tosa leaders including Gotō Shōjirō proposed that the Shogunate voluntarily return political power to the Emperor — a "peaceful restoration" that was ultimately what happened in November 1867 when Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu agreed to the "Taisei Hōkan" (大政奉還, Return of Political Power). This peaceful transfer — however incomplete the actual power transition was — reflected Tosa's moderating influence on the Restoration process.

Kagoshima (Satsuma) Today

Kagoshima Prefecture — the former Satsuma domain — retains a strong regional identity shaped by its extraordinary history. The Satsuma warriors' role in the Meiji Restoration, the domain's early adoption of Western technology (including its own clandestine gunboat programs in the 1850s-60s), and the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 (the last samurai uprising, led by Saigō Takamori) give Kagoshima a historical richness that attracts visitors and historians alike.

Fun Facts

• Saigō Takamori: Saigō Takamori (西郷隆盛, 1828-1877) — the "last samurai," whose story inspired the Tom Cruise film — was a Satsuma leader who helped achieve the Meiji Restoration but later rebelled against the very modernization he had helped create, dying in the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion. His statue in Ueno Park, Tokyo, is one of the city's most iconic landmarks.
• Satsuma pottery: The Satsuma domain's distinctive glazed pottery (薩摩焼, Satsuma-yaki) — featuring elaborate gold-on-cream decoration — became internationally famous through 19th-century world's fairs and remains one of Japan's most recognized ceramic export traditions.