Shizoku was a social class that was later merged with former Samurai in 1869. Shizoku later proceed to the formation of Shizoku rebellions in the 1870s. Former Samurai formed the rebellions as reactions to the moves by Meiji government targeting to terminate Samurai status in the community especially Samurai stipends. The moves by the government affected many other groups in the community including former daimyo who maintained their wealth, prestige, and status (Lu, 2016). The Meiji government managed to shift the daimyo from feudal lords of domains to aristocratic governors. Aristocratic governors were allowed to manage small territories, which were under the central government. Shizoku under former Samurai realized that they would lose many privileges and they decided to re-designed Shizoku under the new class system.
In 1873, the government managed to reorganize and reduce stipend payments after the abolition of the Han in 1871. Stipend payment was the main source of income that samurai relied on during the Edo period. The payment was received from the supply of rice in the community. Since the stipend payment was the main source of income to samurai, they decided to rebel against the move by the Meiji government to reduce their elite status and the payment. Stipends payments were received from one’s domain and one’s lord, but both sources did not exist after the government move. It was difficult for Shizoku to resist the government in the name of one’s Lord and one’s domain and to unite other regional boundaries, as they were receiving their stipend payments from the different Lord (Lu, 2016).
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Various rebellions were organized, but a few were sizeable enough to be recognized. Some of the major rebellions under the umbrella of samurai included Hagi Rebellion, Akizuki Rebellion, Satsuma Rebellion, and Shinpuren Incident. Shizoku was in charge of all these rebellions under the former domain. Shizoku struggled to unite all the rebellions, but the central government overwhelmed them and ultimately suppressed all the forces of the rebellious groups.
Reference
Lu, S. X. (2016). Colonizing Hokkaido and the Origin of Japanese Trans-Pacific Expansion, 1869–1894. Japanese Studies , 36 (2), 251-274.
