The Ansei Purge (安政の大獄) was a multi-year event during the Bakumatsu period of Japanese history, between 1858 and 1860, during which the Tokugawa shogunate imprisoned, executed, or exiled those who did not support its authority and foreign trade policies. The purge was undertaken by Ii Naosuke in opposition to Imperial Loyalists.

History

The Ansei Purge was ordered by Ii Naosuke on behalf of the bakufu faction. He was the Senior Minister during the period preceding the Meiji Restoration and was part of the kōbu gattai, the movement opposed by the Revere the Emperor, Expel the Foreigner (sonnō jōi) faction. The purge was carried out in an effort to quell opposition to trade treaties with the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France and the Netherlands, particularly under the U.S. - Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce. It involved the removal from power all opposition by way of imprisonment, torture or exile, and execution. The crackdown also targeted those who opposed the succession of Tokugawa Iesada and the kōbu gattai or the policy that attempted to unite the imperial court and the shogunate. Some of the victims included the sonno joi, the group who opposed Naosuke's appointment of Tokugawa Iemochi over Hitotsubashi Keiki, the candidate of the Mito clan, which was one of the three branches of the Tokugawa family. Japan descended into chaos after the purge. Elements seeking revenge, particularly radicals from Choshu and sympathizers of the victims launched widespread terrorism. Naosuke was also assassinated by a band of samurai and ronin from Mito. Those who were victimized by the purge reemerged in national politics such as Hitotsubashi Keikei and Matsudaira Shungaku. Attacks against Westerners also increased.

Victims

Over 100 influential people were victims of the purge. Men were forced out of positions within the Bakufu, or from han leadership or from the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Victims of the purge included the following:

Timeline