The Meiji government proclaimed a new conscription system, aiming to build a modern national army drawn from the wider male population. The change challenged the old idea that the samurai were the main military class, and it quickly became politically explosive. This announcement laid the groundwork for protests and later armed uprisings by disaffected former samurai (shizoku).
The Conscription Ordinance came into force, making military service a state duty rather than a hereditary samurai role. Although the system included many exemptions, it signaled a decisive shift toward a centralized, Western-style military. For many samurai, it was a direct attack on their identity and social standing.
Rumors and anger over the new draft helped trigger widespread uprisings known as the “blood tax” riots. Many people believed the government would take their blood or otherwise exploit them, and violence spread across multiple regions. The unrest showed that resistance to conscription was not limited to samurai—it also included rural communities affected by rapid state reforms.
Former samurai leaders in Saga launched an armed uprising against the Meiji government. The rebellion reflected multiple grievances, including the loss of samurai privileges and anger over the new direction of the state after the Restoration. The government defeated the revolt, but the conflict became an early warning that deeper samurai resistance was still building.
The Meiji government issued the Haitō Edict, largely banning the carrying of swords in public except for certain officials and personnel. Because swords were a visible marker of samurai identity and authority, the edict intensified resentment among former samurai. It also signaled the state’s determination to standardize public order under modern institutions like the army and police.
The government ended hereditary samurai stipends and required conversion into government bonds (kinroku kōsai). This reform aimed to stabilize state finances and reduce the old class-based obligations, but it also removed a crucial source of income for many former samurai. Together with conscription and the sword ban, stipend abolition helped push some opponents toward revolt.
A group of former samurai associated with Shinto traditionalism launched a surprise attack in Kumamoto. Their targets included government officials and the local imperial army presence, symbolizing hostility toward the conscript army and rapid Westernization. The rebellion was quickly crushed, but it inspired copycat uprisings elsewhere.
Former samurai in Akizuki rose up soon after the Shinpūren defeat, drawing energy from the same anti-Meiji, anti-modernization sentiments. The movement was militarily small and short-lived, but it showed how quickly rebellion networks and ideas could spread. Government forces suppressed it, reinforcing the state’s growing coercive capacity.
In Hagi, Maebara Issei and other former samurai attempted an uprising against local prefectural authorities. Like other 1876 revolts, it was fueled by anger over lost status and the perceived betrayal of Restoration ideals. The rebellion ended within days, but it marked that resistance was not confined to one region or domain tradition.
The largest samurai uprising began in Satsuma, led by Saigō Takamori, a prominent Restoration figure turned opponent of the government. The conflict escalated into a major civil war, testing whether the new conscript army and centralized state could defeat elite warrior opponents. It became the decisive struggle of the 1870s samurai rebellions.
Imperial forces surrounded and destroyed Saigō’s remaining fighters at Shiroyama near Kagoshima. The battle ended organized samurai armed resistance on a national scale and confirmed the dominance of modern conscript forces over the old warrior class. After this defeat, the Meiji state faced far fewer threats of large-scale internal military uprisings.
With the major rebellions defeated by late 1877, the Meiji government consolidated a new model of authority built around prefectural administration, police power, and a national army. The former samurai class increasingly shifted from armed resistance to other forms of political activity and social adaptation. The 1873–1877 conflicts thus closed the transition from a hereditary warrior order to a modern state with mass conscription at its core.
Samurai rebellions and resistance to conscription (1873-1877)