Sakai Incident
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The Sakai incident was the killing of 11 French sailors from the French corvettte Dupleix in the port of Sakai near Osaka, Japan in 1868.
On the 8 March 1868, a skiff sent to Sakai was attacked by samurais of the prince of Tosa; 11 sailors and Midshipman Guillou were killed (a monument in Kobe is now erected to their memory). Sakai was not at the time a port openned to foreign ships, and the Tosa troops were in charge of policing the city.
The captain protested to the Government so strongly that an indemnity of 150,000 yens was also agreed upon, the culprits were arrested, and 20 of them were sentenced to death by seppuku. However, the execution style was so shocking to the French that after 11 were carried out, the French captain requested grace for the survivors.
This allowed the French and Japanese parties to reconcile, and is now known as the "Sakai incident", or Sakai Jiken (堺事件).
See also
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