1863年: 横浜と鹿児島の歴史的な事件の新し見方
Thurday, August 17, 7:00 PM
Speaker: Mike Galbraith
Yokohama was a tense and sometimes panic-stricken place in the months following the Namamugi Incident of September 14, 1862. On that date, British merchant Charles Lenox Richardson was murdered by samurai of the Satsuma Domain (present-day Kagoshima) while out riding with friends near Yokohama.
Warships of the British Royal Navy were gathering in the normally quiet port to protect the foreign residents and back up the demands of diplomats for compensation. The Bakufu was reluctant to give way, and in early 1863 the Emperor even raised the ante by issuing an ultimatum demanding that foreigners leave Yokohama by a certain date or be killed.
With negotiations for compensation not proceeding to British liking, in August a Royal Navy squadron sailed from Yokohama to the port of Kagoshima with the idea of exerting the maximum pressure on the Lord of Satsuma to accede to British demands.
On the 160th anniversary of the Bombardment of Kagoshima on August 15–17, 1863, our speaker, historian Mike Galbraith, will revisit these tumultuous events. The talk will include extracts from the daily diary of a senior Royal Navy officer at the time and an autobiographical account by another senior officer on the same ship — the flagship — which was badly mauled by Satsuma’s cannons.
Mike will also update the audience on his famous discovery of a remarkable cricket match somehow also involving football (rugby) that took place in the midst of this international crisis — an update which includes “two major surprises.”
The talk will be in English. Maximum capacity is 54 people. To attend, please complete the form at the link below (recommended) or use the sign-up book in Mollison’s.
Admission to the talk, organized by the Yokohama History Society, is free to YC&AC members and non-members alike.
Yokohama History Society 