HAGI AND THE NEW YEAR CEREMONY OF THE MRI: SOWING THE SEEDS OF REVOLUTION – TAASA Review September 2018

Peter Armstrong A s the capital from 1603 to 1863 of the Mri family’s Chsh Domain, a major force in the overthrow of the Tokugawa military government in 1868, the small town of Hagi at the southern tip of Honshu has played a significant role in the development of the diplomacy, politics, technology, administration, fiscal management and the fine arts of modern Japan. Remains of castle moat at the foot of Shizukiyama.

Photo: Peter Armstrong The town today remains as a microcosm of Tokugawa period society, in part because the Mri’s domain capital was moved inland to Yamaguchi in 1863, when the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits revealed Hagi’s vulnerability to attack.

The abandoned city was preserved, escaping much of the rapid change that took place after 1868, and was one of the few Japanese cities left untouched by the Pacific War...