Isshin Shishi

Sonnou Joui by Павло Гетманцев

Edo era political activists who favored the return of the emperor to power. They called themselves "The men of high purpose." Most were from the Satsuma and Shoushou regions with generations of raw feelings about treatment after their defeat in the early 1600s at the Battle of Sekigahara. 

Samurai Helmet by max.icons

Views varied. Though most were against the shogunate, a few simply held similar views with the pro-Sonnou Soui ideal to "Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians". (The Shogunate, through Grand Councilor Ii Naosuke, had put a young boy as Shogun and signed treaties with the West, after Commodore Perry forced open ports. The treaties put Japan at a severe disadvantage. This made Japan weak and vulnerable.)
Some were assassins and some spread terror among the foreigners. Others were more scholarly, such as Yoshida Shouin. And a few went on to be major influences in the Meiji era government.

1853 - 1868

Type

Political, Activist

Alternative Names

Shishi

Notable Members

• Iwasaki Hiroshige
• Kubo Takeuchi

Samurai with a Sonno Joi banner by Toyohara