Kyoto Event Stories - The Satcho Alliance Case

January 1866.

The Satsuma and Choshu clans had been rivals as sonno joi factions, but after the Kinmon Incident they became enemies and eventually became bitter enemies. The two clans met in secret in Kyoto and formed an alliance. It is said that Sakamoto and Nakaoka of the Tosa clan were also involved in this incident.

Translated Video

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Ryoma Sakamoto:

"Well then, today I'm going to tell you a story that has nothing to do with the Shinsengumi. This time it's about the Satcho Alliance."

"The Satcho Alliance was an alliance between the Satsuma and Choshu clans that was formed in Kyoto in January 1866."

"At that time, the Tokugawa Shogunate had launched a war to subjugate the Choshu clan, and the Choshu clan was going through a difficult time."

"The Choshu clan was isolated and without support, so they desperately needed allies to fight the Shogunate in the future."

"And so, the one chosen for the job was the Satsuma Domain."

"The meeting started around January 8th, but I was late because I had to clean up after the Union. I didn't arrive in Kyoto until around the 20th."

"I was about 10 days late, so I thought the meeting would end soon and there would be a party, but..."

"The discussion didn't progress at all, and things were getting really tense, so I was gettin’ pretty nervous."

"At that time, I came to Kyoto as an escort for important people from the Choshu and Satsuma clans, but you guys were already there."

Kyo Shiranui:

"Yeah. Katsura was at that meeting representing the Choshu clan. I was his bodyguard at Takasugi's request."

Ryoma Sakamoto:

"Why didn't Takasugi come then? If he had, the meeting wouldn't have dragged on for ten days."

Kyo Shiranui:

"You got that right. They had a falling out on the first day and the Satcho Alliance almost never came to fruition!" 

"They say that meeting took… ten days, but I guess that couldn't be helped." 

"Katsura and the guys from Choshu really hated the Satsuma clan. They thought of them like their parents' enemy." 

"Plus, the terms of the alliance were so terrible that they must have put up with it for a long time."

Ryoma Sakamoto:

"...That's strange. Although Saigo may look like that, he was buying into the Choshu clan." 

"After all, he supported the ideas of my master, Katsu-sensei." 

"In order to abolish the Tokugawa Shogunate and establish a council system, we needed the Choshu clan, which had power in addition to the Satsuma clan."

Kyo Shiranui:

"The only people who know about that are Kazama and Amagiri, who were Saigo's bodyguards. So how was it?"

Kyuujyu Amagiri:

"At that meeting, it's true that Saigo put forward several conditions. The main contents were that the Choshu clan submit to the shogunate." 

"Specifically, it was a change in the clan's lord, a purge of the militant executives, and a reduction of 100,000 koku from the Choshu clan's 360,000 koku."

Ryoma Sakamoto:

"Wait a minute. Surely the Satsuma and Choshu clans are just trying to form an alliance?"

”Why were the Choshu clan presented with conditions that made it seem as if they had lost to the shogunate”

Kyuujyu Amagiri:

"What the Satsuma clan needed from the alliance was for the Choshu clan to survive."

"At the time, a second invasion of Choshu was being planned within the shogunate."

"If that were to happen, the Choshu clan would undoubtedly be destroyed."

"I think the Satsuma clan demanded submission to the shogunate to avoid that."

Chikage Kazama:

"...But that's not all."

"Satsuma's aim was to show the Shogunate how they had made the Choshu clan submissive."

"And it was a scheme to weaken the power of the Choshu clan compared to the Satsuma clan when the Shogunate became a council system."

"...Saigo must have thought that far."

"He probably wanted to keep the Choshu clan standing so they could use them as a shield when he would fight the Shogunate someday."

"But the Choshu clan had fought the Shogunate army on their own and driven them back, so there was no way they could accept such conditions."

"If they accepted them, the Choshu clan would have admitted defeat to the Shogunate."

Kyo Shiranui:

"And if they hesitated, a second invasion of Choshu might have started." 

"If that happens, the Choshu clan will be destroyed for good. Katsura must be worried."

Chikage Kazama:

"Katsura is a man who, in that situation, managed to drag out the meeting with Saigo for ten days. You should give him some praise.”

Ryoma Sakamoto:

"Hold on... If you knew the situation, you should have persuaded Saigo."

Kyuujyu Amagiri:

"We were just guards. We have no interest in what they were doing."

Kyo Shiranui:

"But even with all that preparation underway, the one who got shit to move along was you, Sakamoto."

Ryoma Sakamoto:

"Huh? Why me? I was angry because the meeting wasn't progressing, so I just complained to Saigo and Katsura..."

Kyuujyu Amagiri:

"Saigo was also in a difficult position. If someone had spoken up, he would have been willing to make peace with the Choshu clan unconditionally."

Ryoma Sakamoto:

"Hahaha... Oh, so that's how it was. I'm glad I came late. I'm a real hero."

"Well, things like this happen... That's what the Satcho Alliance was about."

"But even the Shinsengumi guys probably never dreamed that something like this would happen in Kyoto on New Year's Day in 1866."

Kyuujyu Amagiri:

"At that time, Kyoto was at the height of its power."

Chikage Kazama:

"...But really, why did they choose Kyoto as the location?"

Ryoma Sakamoto:

"Yeah... well, the Satsuma and Choshu clans didn't want to do it because it was enemy territory, but they did it anyway." 

"But it wasn't like it was okay to do it just anywhere, was it?"

Chikage Kazama:

"Kyoto was under the control of the shogunate in those days. It was enemy territory for both the Satsuma and Choshu clans."

"Saigo and Katsura had made the effort to evade the shogunate's radar by traveling all the way from their home domains to Kyoto."

"They had to hide from the dreaded Shinsengumi's dogs, and it was a pain to have to deal with their guard duties."

"Was it really necessary to go to such lengths to hold a meeting in Kyoto? Was the person who suggested it an idiot?"

Kyuujyu Amagiri:

"I don't agree with most of what Kazama says and does, but I do agree with this one."

Kyo Shiranui:

"You're right, I thought the same thing. So, why Kyoto?"

Ryoma Sakamoto:

"Well, the thing is… I also told them that the Shinsengumi are in Kyoto and it's dangerous..."

"...But well. Am I the only one who thought that if we had a meeting in Kyoto, we could meet up with some pretty women on the way? Hahahaha…"

Kyo Shiranui:

"You're the cause of this! Are you stupid?"

Chikage Kazama:

"It was a stupid reason after all. This is why I can't trust humans."

~END~