(Voice actor) Ms.Carolyn Miller

The Tokugawa regime continued the sea ban policy (called sakoku) for over 200 years, strictly limiting trade with foreign countries. Especially, trading with Western countries was limited only to the Netherlands and it was restricted to Dejima, a landfill site in Nagasaki. However, in the 1800s, other Western countries also demanded to trade with Japan. The US was especially hard-lined. The US were putting their efforts in whaling in the Pacific, and as Japan was a convenient spot to refuel the whaling ships, they wanted to trade with Japan. Their “negotiation tactic” was to bring 4 steam-powered warships and put pressure on Japan. It was Naosuke Ii, the chief minister (equivalent to a modern-day president) of the Tokugawa regime, who gave into the pressure and made a commercial treaty with the US, the UK, France, Russia, and the Netherlands. As such, trading with foreign countries began, but the treaty was a very unfair one which disadvantaged Japan. Also, since the market rate on Japanese gold was advantageous overseas, Japan’s gold flowed abroad resulting in inflation, causing economic chaos. This chaos fueled a resentment towards foreigners among people who were already wary of them, and those pushing for joui (ostracization of foreigners) grew in number. Naosuke Ii dealt with these opposition groups through suppression and purged them. Tetsunosuke Seki, a samurai from the Mito domain (now around Mito city, Ibaraki prefecture), was among the opposition to Naosuke Ii. Tetsunosuke thought that Naosuke, who caused the chaos, had to be eliminated. But it was difficult to move openly. One day, Tetsunosuke met a woman named Ino who used to work in Yoshiwara as a prostitute. Ino’s family was poor and she was sold to Yoshiwara. Tetsunosuke wanted to help those who were forced to have a hard life. And Ino, knowing how Tetsunosuke felt, also hoped for a world where no one will have to live the kind of life that she had to. Before they knew it, Tetsunosuke and Ino became drawn to each other. On March 3rd, 1860, at the Sakuradamon Gate on his way to Edo castle, Naosuke Ii was assassinated. This is called the Sakuradamon Incident. Samurais of the Mito domain and the Satsuma domain (now Kagoshima prefecture) were involved in this incident. It was Tetsunosuke Seki who was the leader. The Tokugawa regime went after the assassinators in the name of prestige. One by one, they were captured or committed suicide, but Tetsunosuke was nowhere to be found. The Tokugawa regime finally caught Ino and tried to make her expose where Tetsunosuke was. What was the fate of Ino and Tetsunosuke?