Otsu Incident
The king and queen are sad.
It's hard for my father to read
That my son was beaten by the police.
Tsarevich Nikolai,
If you have to reign,
Never forget,
That the police are fighting.
(p.) V.A. Gilyarovsky
On May 11, 1891, during Nikolai Alexandrovich’s visit to Japan, in the city of Otsu, he became the victim of an assassination attempt by a fanatical samurai policeman.
On May 11, Crown Prince Nicholas went to the city of Otsu, near Lake Biwu, the largest in Japan. His carriage was heavily guarded all the way. Policemen stood every 18 meters. However, guarding the motorcade was not easy under Japanese conditions. Etiquette forbade turning one's back on royalty, and the police could not keep an eye on the crowd. Therefore, no one could immediately interfere when one of the police suddenly jumped up to the stroller and hit Nikolai with a saber that was in a sheath. It slid across the brim of the bowler and touched his forehead. The second blow also hit a tangent. The heir jumped out of the carriage and ran.
Only then was the attacker subdued. The Japanese were terribly scared. They feared that Russia, in retaliation for the assassination attempt on the future emperor, would immediately declare war on them. There were even calls to rename the city of Otsu, as its name had been disgraced. Around the hotel where the wounded Nikolai was placed, everyone walked on tiptoe. And in neighboring brothels they banned playing on musical instruments and receive clients. However, the wound turned out to be not serious, although later Nikolai often suffered from headaches.
Russia has not made any demands for compensation. Although it is possible that the incident later affected the tsar’s attitude towards the Japanese. According to Witte, Nikolai often called the Japanese “macaques” during the 1905 war... The policeman who attacked the heir was named Tsuda Sanzo. 
(Tsuda Sanzo. In court he testified that he committed the assassination attempt because he considered Nikolai a spy)
It turned out that he was not all right mentally, which did not stop him from giving the offender of the Russian heir a life sentence. He did not have time to serve it and died suspiciously quickly behind bars. But the two rickshaw drivers who saved Nikolai were lucky: Russia awarded them a lifetime pension in the amount of a thousand yen, equal to the annual salary of a member of parliament.
Contrary to what is written now, the expression “Japanese policeman” did not appear at all because of the story of the policeman Sanzo. And after the story by Nikolai Leikin (1841-1906) “An Incident in Kyoto,” published in the magazine “Oskolki” in 1905, the hero of the story, a Japanese policeman, awaits orders from his superiors while drowning in the river Small child. Some features of the Japanese policeman reveal the features of a Russian policeman (a saber, which Japanese policemen never carried; a whistle; a mustache, which the Japanese almost never grow, etc.).
At first, the story was perceived by censors as a satire on the Japanese order, which was full of Russian publications of that period (1904-1905 - Russian-Japanese War), which already used the historical figure of the “Japanese policeman” Tsuda Sanzo, who made an attempt on the life of the future Emperor Nicholas in Japan.
But after the huge success of the story among the public, which did not prevent Aesopian language from understanding who the satire was directed at, the story was banned. Censor Svyatkovsky reported: “This article is one of those that describes ugly social forms that appear as a result of increased police surveillance. Due to the severity of the exaggeration of harm from such observation, the article cannot be allowed.”
The Committee determined that “The article should not be allowed to be published.”
As a result, the phrase “Japanese policeman” became a very common name for manifestations of martinetry and bureaucratic arbitrariness in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. For example, Leonid Andreev in 1916, in a letter to Antonova, characterizes one of the censors as follows: “What a parody of a person, this non-commissioned Prishibeev of our days, this Japanese policeman.”
According to tradition, which dates back to the era of Peter the Great, future heirs to the Russian throne at least once in their lives had to make a long trip around the world for educational purposes. During such a trip, an assassination attempt was made on the future Russian Tsar Nicholas II in the Japanese city of Otsu on April 29, 1891.
The Tsarevich set off on his journey on October 23, 1890 from Gatchina. First big city was Vienna, after which in Trieste he boarded the cruiser “Memory of Azov” and went to Piraeus, where he was joined by the heir to the Greek throne, Prince George the First. The expedition visited many countries in the Asian region - Egypt, Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), Singapore, the island of Java, Siam (modern Thailand), China, after which, on April 15, 1891, "Memory of Azov", accompanied by several other ships, reached Japan.
For the Japanese side, this visit of the young crown prince was an important event in connection with the situation with Kuril Islands. Although there were certain concerns, since there was some unrest among the people in this regard. Nevertheless, the Russian ships entered the port of Nagasaki and were greeted with honors befitting the person of the future Russian Tsar. For two weeks, the Tsarevich, accompanied by Prince George and the Japanese heir Arisugawa Takehito, explored the sights of Japan.
On April 29, the three princes and their retinue went sightseeing to the city of Otsu on the shores of Lake Biwa. Most of the Japanese greeted the princes cordially - city residents lined up along the procession, waving flags and lanterns. Due to the narrow streets of Otsu, horse-drawn carts had to be replaced by rickshaws. The delegation was guarded by police officers, who, according to etiquette, should always be facing the august persons. This moment turned out to be key - the guards noticed too late how one of the policemen was rushing with a saber at the Tsarevich. It is truly a miracle that the future emperor escaped death. This is how Nikolai himself describes what happened in a letter to his mother:
“We had not gone two hundred steps when suddenly a Japanese policeman rushes into the middle of the street and, holding a saber with both hands, hits me on the head from behind! I shouted to him in Russian: what do you want? – and made a jump over my jen-rickshaw. Turning around, I saw that he was still running at me with a raised saber. I rushed down the street as fast as I could, pressing my hand on the wound on my head. I wanted to hide in the crowd, but I couldn’t, because the Japanese, themselves frightened, fled in all directions...”
The first who tried to detain the criminal was Prince George, who followed the Russian Tsarevich in the same rickshaw cart. He hit the crazy policeman with his cane, but failed to stop him. Then Nikolai's rickshaw puller, Jisaburo Mukohata, and then George's rickshaw puller Kitagaichi Ichitaro rushed to the defense. It was they who detained the criminal, beating him to the ground, for which they were subsequently given a significant bonus and a generous lifelong allowance.
The prince was immediately given first aid, bandaged and taken to the house of a shop owner located nearby. The first thing Nikolai worried about when he came to his senses:
“If only the Japanese did not think that this incident could in any way change my feelings towards them and my gratitude for their hospitality.”
After a detailed medical examination and dressing, the victim was sent to a hotel in Kyoto, where he received stitches. There were two wounds - both about 10 cm long; part of the skull bone was also damaged.
The next day, Emperor Meiji arrived in Kyoto with a personal apology. The policeman named Tsuda Sanzo who carried out the attack was tried in the Supreme Court of Japan. Emperor Meiji issued a special decree “on a special procedure for the consideration of cases relating to the sphere of diplomacy.” On the one hand, everyone, including the Minister of Justice and most members of the government, insisted on the death penalty, but on the other hand, there was no legislative framework. As a result, Tsuda was sentenced to life at hard labor. He expressed his readiness to commit suicide by committing seppuku, but this was denied to him. A year later he died in hard labor, either from pneumonia, or by voluntarily starving himself to death.
This fatal incident did not pass without a trace for the future king - from that moment on, Nicolas would be tormented by headaches all his life. It should also be noted that Russian-Japanese war this incident has nothing to do with it, since the Japanese were the first to attack Russia. The facts that Emperor Nicholas II carried hatred for the Land of the Rising Sun throughout his life are also quite controversial.
It is curious that since then the curse “Japanese policeman” has appeared in the Russian language.
13 years before the Russo-Japanese War, the heir to the Russian throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich, personally visited the “land of the rising sun”, where own experience experienced the surprise of a samurai attack.
“...We left in rickshaws and turned left into a narrow street with crowds on both sides. At this time I received a strong blow to the right side of my head, above my ear. I turned around and saw the disgusting face of a policeman, who swung a saber at me for the second time in both hands. I just shouted: “What, what do you want?”... And jumped out over the rickshaw onto the pavement. Seeing that the freak was heading towards me and no one was stopping him, I rushed to run down the street, holding the blood that spurted out of the wound with my hand...” According to the entry in personal diary, the heir to the throne was in every sense stunned by the sudden outburst of the Japanese, which overshadowed the crown prince’s generally pleasant visit to the country of the samurai.
Of course, the future Nicholas II did not travel alone, but in the company of a large delegation, which included the Greek Prince George and the official “chronicler” of the trip, Prince Ukhtomsky. The trip was limited not only to Japan, but affected, to one degree or another, the entire East. Having left Russia in mid-autumn 1890, the royal tourists reached Japan by mid-spring 1891, having already visited Egypt, India, Singapore, Thailand and the island of Java.
Crime…
On April 27, new style, the Russian squadron arrived in Nagasaki. Then the highest officials headed to Kagoshima and Kobe, from where the ancient capital of Kyoto was just a stone's throw away. Nikolai liked this previously “closed” country, its customs and lifestyle. Here he often looked at the captivating geishas, and once asked Japanese masters get a tattoo of a dragon on his arm, and he deigned to live in a classic Japanese apartment.
Having examined the wonders of Kyoto, Nicholas and his retinue departed for the town of Otsu on May 11. Here, guests were to take a walk along Lake Biwa, visit an ancient temple and visit the governor's house. During breakfast, the heir spoke about the pleasant hospitality of the Japanese and thanked the governor for the warm welcome. Meanwhile, Prince George bought a bamboo cane.
The way back to Kyoto ran along the same roads and streets as in Otsu. Throughout the entire journey, on both sides of the streets there were two rows of policemen (policemen), 8-10 steps from each other. They ensured that the people of Otsu gave due honor to the distinguished guests. The policemen stood the same as they had in the morning, when the Tsarevich and his retinue were just entering the city.
One of them was Tsuda Sanzo. He had not previously been found guilty of anything discrediting his honor and dignity. He also didn’t stand out much from other Japanese in his political beliefs. No signs of trouble.
The street was narrow, so rickshaws with distinguished guests walked one after another. Nikolay moved only in the third in a row. Behind him are Prince George and the Japanese Prince Arigusawa. The column was closed by the Russian envoy, numerous princes and other retinue. There are a total of fifty rickshaws lined along the street.
Everything that happened next took no more than 15-20 seconds. Sanzo jumped out of the cordon and struck the heir with a saber, holding it with both hands. Moreover, Nikolai did not even see the attacker and turned around only when Sanzo raised the saber over his head for the second time. This begs a completely legitimate question: how did the policeman, with such a blow, manage not to kill the heir to the throne? It is worth noting that during the trip Nicholas wore not imperial at all, but completely casual clothing, which included a headdress. At the first blow, the saber missed and only touched the brim of the gray bowler hat, which immediately flew off the crown prince’s head. Modern forensic experts say that the second blow was stronger than the first. But this time the heir was saved by the fact that he was able to block the blow with his palm, and the saber passed through his hand. Probably, on the third attempt, Sanzo planned to cut off Nikolai's head. But a fairly quick reaction allowed the crown prince to avoid this: he jumped out of the rickshaw. “I wanted to hide in the crowd, but I couldn’t, because the Japanese, themselves frightened, ran away in all directions... Turning around as I walked again, I noticed Georgie running after the policeman who was pursuing me...”
The Greek prince performed a baptism of fire for his bamboo cane. He hit Sanzo on the back with it. Meanwhile, Nikolai's rickshaw puller grabbed the enraged policeman by the legs and threw him to the ground. The second rickshaw driver neutralized Sanzo with his own saber with two blows to the neck and back. The Tsarevich at this time was clearly frightened and overexcited, so in his diary he will attribute the neutralization of the policeman to the same Greek prince. Ultimately, the incident was over in less than a minute when the policeman was arrested by his comrades.
But the consequences of an unsuccessful attempt could be very serious. Firstly, the extent of Nikolai’s injury was unclear. And secondly, if he dies, should the Japanese wait for the arrival of the Russian squadron?
...and punishment
Of course, neither of these things happened that year. A doctor in the retinue bandaged the Grand Duke's head to stop the bleeding. A little later, at the governor’s house, the bandage was changed and an emergency train to Kyoto was ordered for a more thorough medical examination. There, the heir had to get stitches and even remove a two-centimeter piece of bone. But Nikolai’s life was no longer in danger. And he himself felt quite cheerful for the rest of the day, which, however, can be attributed to an increase in the level of adrenaline in the blood.
Loud political consequences was also avoided. The instant “correct” reaction of Japan, which amazed the heir, played a role. “The people on the streets touched me: most knelt and raised their hands in a sign of regret.” And in one of his letters to his mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, he reported that he had received a thousand telegrams from the Japanese expressing grief. Then, two days after the assassination attempt, Emperor Meiji himself arrived to Nicholas with an expression of condolences. Their conversation lasted twenty minutes and, according to some sources, was of a “cordial nature.” However, Petersburg was alarmed by the event, and the heir’s stay in Japan was interrupted. Quite soon, the Russians left the “land of the rising sun” and headed to Vladivostok.
Meanwhile, Tsuda Sanzo was in the dock. To some extent, he was even lucky: the Japanese Foreign Minister suggested killing him immediately without trial or investigation, and then reporting his death “as a result of illness.” Most other high-ranking officials, including the Minister of Justice, spoke in favor of holding a military trial with the use of capital punishment. The only problem was that the Japanese criminal code did not provide for the death penalty for attempted murder. Of course, the exception in Article 116 were members of the imperial blood. But Japanese imperial blood. The Supreme Court considered the expanded interpretation of the article to be unconstitutional and, despite external pressure from the government, stood by its opinion. Thus, the Japanese judiciary showed that it was independent of the executive, and Tsuda Sanzo was sentenced to lifelong hard labor, with which St. Petersburg was quite pleased. However, Sanzo only had four months to live. After being beaten by rickshaw pullers and being imprisoned, Tsuda suffered from poor health and died on September 27, 1891 from pneumonia.
Truth or lie?
From then until today There are rumors that it was the assassination attempt on Nicholas II in 1891 that sowed hostility towards the Japanese in the future tsar. That 1891 in some sense led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. This is not true for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the root of all troubles was the struggle between Russia and Japan for spheres of influence in Asia. Contemporaries even then noted that the small islands were too cramped for the 40,000,000 Japanese who turned their gaze to the mainland. The completed redivision of the world in the West prompted Russia to also look to the East. There was a banal clash of interests. Secondly, it was Japan that attacked the Russian fleet in Port Arthur on February 9, 1904, without declaring war.
Thirdly, Nikolai had no hostility towards the Japanese either before or after the assassination attempt. At least there is not a single serious evidence to suggest otherwise. Just two days after the attack, the Tsarevich wrote in his diary that he was not at all angry with the Japanese for the act of some fanatic. But these are not empty words of official speeches, but personal notes where Nikolai could be quite frank.
On the other hand, there are different theories about the reasons for Sanzo’s attack on the Russian heir. Sometimes these theories reach the point of absurdity: Nikolai was hit on the head for allegedly defecating on a Japanese shrine while drunk. Other sources claim that Nicholas and George banged the bells of a Shinto shrine with sticks. Again, there is not a single proof of these points of view, similar to the mockery of later times. Such theories are easily refuted by the reaction of the Japanese to the incident, who had previously secretly approved of the attack on foreigners. And this time they sent thousands of telegrams of condolences, refused to name the newborns after Sanzo, and suggested renaming Otsu. It even came to the point of suicide of a young girl who wanted to wash away the shame of the policeman with her own blood.
However, the theories are not without real foundations. At the trial, the policeman said that the Tsarevich did not show respect to the monument to the heroes of the suppression of the Satsuma uprising, which was organized by the semi-legendary Saigo Takamori in 1877. Sanzo himself had participated in the suppression of this uprising, and now he felt wounded, having turned from a hero into a simple policeman.
It is now impossible to verify the veracity of his words. But Tsuda, who considered himself a samurai, was passionate about the idea of expelling foreigners from Japan. Russia, in his opinion, had certain plans for the “land of the rising sun”, sending the prince and his retinue as spies. On the day of the assassination attempt, he feared that the crown prince had brought back the rebellious Takamori, who would deprive Sanzo of his military awards.
These circumstances contradict the statement of Nicholas’s companions, who rejected the version of the assassination attempt out of nationalist convictions. It was believed that the Japanese sacredly honor the royal power, no matter who it was, not to mention the enormous respect for Russia. However, there is a clear contradiction here. The beliefs of the Tsarevich's retinue were identical to those of Nicholas himself. The eastern journey gave him a feeling of the immensity of Russian power in Far East. In fact, Russia treated Japan with the same leniency as the rest of the Western world. Such short-sightedness played a cruel joke on Russia. 13 years after the trip, Nikolai was unable or unwilling to recognize in the Japanese either their wounded patriotism or their ability for unexpected and insidious actions. This mistake cost Russia 52 thousand human lives.
However, the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Otsu also left another mark. The expression “Japanese policeman” has taken root well in Russian speech as an annoying exclamation to a sudden incident.
One should not be surprised at the extent of the tales and legends about Saigo Takamori, because this man left a truly major mark on Japanese history. Born into the family of a poor samurai, he went through a harsh life school. Having gained fame and authority military service, he entered politics and reached such heights that he was able to influence the young Emperor Meiji. Takamori joined his first government in the late 1860s and remained a vocal opponent of the "opening" of Japan. This position did not meet with the approval of other members of the government, which ultimately led to the expulsion of Saigo Takamori and the open civil war with him and his samurai. The result of this confrontation was the Satsuma Uprising of 1877. As a result, Saigoµ and his allies were defeated. And such a shame meant only one thing for Takamori - the rite of hara-kiri.
Once in the pantheon of the “three great heroes” of the Meiji Restoration, the personality of Saigo Takamori was overgrown with various fables such as his miraculous rescue and return to his homeland along with the Russian crown prince. Even today, his fame does not fade and spreads throughout the whole world. In 2003, based on the biography of Saigo, the Hollywood film “The Last Samurai” was shot, where the influential rebel Katsumoto, based on the influential rebel Takamori, became the friend and mentor of Tom Cruise’s hero.
"Vesti Nedeli" reacted to the online voting launched by the capital's authorities in Moscow. Pyotr Lazarevich Voikov is a terrorist and regicide, later shot in Warsaw for what he did as a high school student from the White emigrants. We did not call for renaming the station, and the story about Voikov’s role in the murder of Nicholas II and his family was based on an official certificate from the Institute Russian history Russian Academy of Sciences. The text was posted on his personal website in 2011 by the future Minister of Culture Medinsky.
In that version, Voikov personally took part in the execution, dismemberment of bodies, their burning and burial. In the spirit of, admittedly, verbal, but actionism, we presented that plot in images.
The idea of studying the role of Pyotr Voikov is not to necessarily remove his name from the metro station, street and five Voikovsky passages in Moscow, but to transfer Voikov’s name from the collective unconscious to the collective conscious. And there is movement.
On November 13, Russian humanities scientists published open letter and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. In it they present a new certified version of Peter Voikov’s participation in the regicide. The details differ from the previous position of the Institute of Russian History, but the main conclusion remains the same: “We, experts in the field national history, criminal law and archival affairs, we consider it our duty to express our absolute conviction that Voikov’s guilt is confirmed by numerous direct and indirect evidence." And then - 24 signatures of scientists, the best minds of the most authoritative scientific centers in Russia. Attached to the letter is a certificate from the senior Investigator-criminalist of the Russian Investigative Committee, Colonel of Justice Solovyov. The conclusions are the same. The trial in the case, however, has not yet taken place.
There is written evidence that further aggravates the role of Voikov, for example, the Austrian Meyer. But we also treat them with caution, because some participants in the reprisal against the Tsar emphasize their role, others hide, others slander someone, others shield someone, someone remembers something, but lies about the rest. In any case, it is important for society not to stop and move forward in awareness terrible tragedy- murders of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their five children. Hence the decisions about who and how to immortalize.
Coincidentally, on November 11, the results of the first stage of a new examination of the remains were announced royal family, which is carried out at the insistence of the Russian Orthodox Church. The results were reported by senior investigator of the Russian Investigative Committee Vladimir Solovyov.
“Together with representatives of the Church, the remains of Nicholas and Alexandra were exhumed in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. It was established that the genotype of mitochondrial DNA on the female line exactly corresponds to the rest of the remains, the genotype on the female line of the emperor fully corresponds to the genotype of his blood on the shirt stored in the Hermitage. The second stage of research is a comparison of the genotype of Nicholas II with the genotype of his father, Emperor Alexander III. Then a comparison will be made on the male line of the Y chromosome. We really hope that these studies will lead us to the end of this story," Solovyov noted.
Comparing the remains of Nicholas II with the genotype of his father Alexander III is precisely the problem. The king's tomb Peter and Paul Fortress, obviously, looted. Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov speaks about this with bitterness, but also with the delicacy appropriate to the occasion.
“Perhaps the royal remains were disturbed. Perhaps there was looting. Perhaps they are in a completely inappropriate state. When work was carried out in 1993 in the grand ducal tombs, also in the Peter and Paul Fortress, they discovered that they had all been opened and robbed,” noted Bishop Tikhon.
One way or another, the work to establish the authenticity of the remains imperial family continues. Since the innocently murdered royal persons are canonized by the Church as saints, then we're talking about about accurately determining whether it is relics or not. With all the ensuing consequences. Essential Material for research - the blood of Emperor Nicholas II, shed during his journey, while still heir, across Japan.
The art of wielding the samurai katana sword is called “iaiodo”. A roll of water-soaked mat on a thin bamboo stalk is an imitation of a human limb, the bamboo is bone, and the mat is soft tissue.
Japanese policemen wore sabers converted from a samurai katana at the end of the century before last. Under the glass is the same blade that almost killed Nicholas II when, as a crown prince, he visited Japan in 1891.
The following is carved in hieroglyphs: “In memory of the visit of Satsuma by the Russian Prince Nicholas” (here they called him in the Greek manner). The stone has stood here since 1892. There were no many trees, the coastline was much closer, and from here there was a magnificent view of the bay where the Azov cruiser was moored. Nicholas was received here so warmly that he later wrote in his diary about the local prince: “in Japan, this is the only person I can trust.”
Satsuma is what is now Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. At that time, many people from Satsuma occupied high government positions in Japan, including the Japanese ambassador to St. Petersburg, and it was no coincidence that the crown prince stopped by here on his way from Nagasaki to Kyoto.
In the principality of Satsuma, which Nicholas II visited, there were the most samurai. A quarter of the local population belonged to this class. Martial traditions are still honored here. The local karate school is considered the strongest in Japan.
These are real samurai houses - the same way Tsarevich Nicholas saw them more than a century ago. Wood flooring specially made in such a way that hired ninja killers could not hide under it and strike with a sword from below. And in a stone basin they washed their bloody swords and spears.
Nikolai spent several hours in the prince's palace. Now there is a museum listed in the world heritage register. The Tsarevich walked along the garden with the Japanese prince. The photo was taken just on the day of Nikolai’s visit. Inside, too, everything remained untouched. A carpet on mats made of rice straw - this looks the least like a palace in the European sense.
In one of the rooms, Prince Tadayoshi Shimazu received dear guest From Russia. In order not to tire Nikolai by sitting on the floor, they brought here dinner table, chairs, European cutlery instead of chopsticks, but all dishes are only Japanese cuisine. The rice paper doors were open in the courtyard - against the backdrop of the Sakurajima volcano, during the meal there was a performance with music and dancing on samurai themes.
Having arrived in Japan with friendly intentions, Nikolai almost left with the war. The attack on the crown prince in the city of Otsu on the shores of Lake Biwa took place on one of the streets. 168 police officers stood on both sides of the street, pushing aside onlookers, and as Nikolai's carriage passed by, a policeman named Sanzo Tsuda drew his saber and rushed at Nikolai. The blow was struck from the back, the saber cut the hat and ran along the right temple.
Nikolai jumped out of the carriage, began to run, and when Tsuda swung it a second time, the Greek Prince George, who was riding behind him, hit him on the back with a bamboo cane. The saber fell out of his hands, Nikolai's rickshaw threw himself at the policeman's feet, and the second rickshaw - Georga - knocked him to the ground. The life of the heir to the Russian throne was saved. And after that, the idiom about the “Japanese policeman” entered the Russian language.
It is unknown what his motives were. Sentenced to life imprisonment, Tsuda died in prison that same year. Next to the saber, the museum still keeps a white silk scarf with traces of the blood of Nicholas II. One edge of the scarf is uneven; in the 90s, a thin strip was cut off from it and sent to Russia to identify the remains of the royal family, discovered near Yekaterinburg a quarter of a century ago.
Text: "News of the week"
Assassination attempt on Tsarevich Nicholas during a visit to Japan
One of the less familiar pages of history is the mysterious assassination attempt on Nicholas in Japan. In 1890-1891 he, then still only the heir to the throne, made a long journey. Having visited Austria and Greece, he boarded the ship “Memory of Azov” in Trieste, traveled a long way along the Suez Canal and Indian Ocean, visiting the countries there, getting acquainted with their life and rulers.
According to tradition, which dates back to the era of Peter the Great, future heirs to the Russian throne at least once in their lives had to make a long trip around the world for educational purposes.
During such a trip, an assassination attempt was made on the future Russian Tsar Nicholas II in the Japanese city of Otsu on April 29, 1891.
The Tsarevich set off on his journey on October 23, 1890 from Gatchina.
The first major city was Vienna, after which in Trieste he boarded the cruiser "Memory of Azov" and went to Piraeus, where he was joined by the heir to the Greek throne, Prince George the First. The expedition visited many countries in the Asian region - Egypt, Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), Singapore, the island of Java, Siam (modern Thailand), China, after which, on April 15, 1891, “Memory of Azov”, accompanied by several more ships, reached Japan.
“On April 27, 1891, twenty-three-year-old Tsarevich Nicholas (future Emperor Nicholas II) arrived in Nagasaki on the frigate “Memory of Azov”, who was on a long sea voyage through the eastern countries.
in the wardroom of the frigate "Memory of Azov"
afternoon rest of the highest persons on the frigate - Tsarevich, Prince George, Vl.kn. Georgy Alexandrovich
Russian ships entered the port of Nagasaki and were greeted with honors befitting the person of the future Russian Tsar.
For two weeks, the Tsarevich, accompanied by Prince George and the Japanese heir Arisugawa Takehito, explored the sights of Japan.
The visit of the crown prince certainly flattered the pride of the Japanese - after all, members of the reigning European houses of such rank had never visited Japan before.
Nagasaki, 1891
Nagasaki. The heir to the crown prince, Prince George of Greece, looks from the balcony at the spiritual procession organized in honor of His Highness.
Nagasaki. Japanese procession in honor of Tsarevich Nicholas. The beginning of the procession.
On April 29, the three princes and their retinue went sightseeing to the city of Otsu on the shores of Lake Biwa.
Most of the Japanese greeted the princes cordially - city residents lined up along the procession, waving flags and lanterns.
Due to the narrow streets of Otsu, horse-drawn carts had to be replaced by rickshaws.
The delegation was guarded by police officers, who, according to etiquette, should always be facing the august persons. This moment turned out to be key - the guards noticed too late how one of the policemen was rushing with a saber at the Tsarevich. It is truly a miracle that the future emperor escaped death.
On April 29, Nicholas and Prince George, accompanied by Prince Arisugawa-no-miya, set off in wheelchairs pulled by rickshaws,
from Kyoto to Otsu city.
Place of the assassination attempt on Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich
Tsarevich Nicholas, George and Prince Arisugawa sat in brand new strollers of an improved design that had just been sent from Tokyo.
An ordinary stroller was pulled by a rickshaw, assisted by one pusher. This time, out of respect for the status of the passengers, the driver was assisted by two pushers.
In Otsu, as in Kyoto, the organized Japanese greeted the crown prince and waved flags.
The long procession of rickshaws stretched for a couple of hundred meters, Nikolai was in the fifth carriage, Georgy was in the sixth, Arisugawa was in the seventh. The narrow road was guarded by many policemen.
The heir is Tsarevich and Prince George.
Protecting royalty was especially difficult in Japan - after all, etiquette forbade turning your back on them, so the police were not able to monitor the crowd.
The width of the crowded street was four and a half meters. The police stood 18 meters apart.
A street in Otsu, crowded with people welcoming the Tsarevich
Suddenly, a policeman named Tsuda Sanzo, who was in charge of order and was in the crowd of bowing townspeople, drew a samurai sword,
hit Tsarevich Nicholas twice on the head.
The blade slid across the brim of the gray bowler hat and grazed his forehead. The hat fell from Nikolai's head, one of the pushers jumped out from behind the stroller and pushed the attacker away, but he still managed to deliver a second blow with his saber, which, however, also turned out to be a sliding blow.
From a letter from the Tsarevich to his mother:
“We had not gone two hundred steps when suddenly a Japanese policeman rushes into the middle of the street and, holding a saber with both hands, hits me on the head from behind! I shouted to him in Russian: what do you want? - and made a jump over my jen-rickshaw. Turning around, I saw that he was still running at me with a raised saber. I rushed down the street as fast as I could, pressing my hand on the wound on my head. I wanted to hide in the crowd, but I couldn’t, because the Japanese, themselves frightened, fled in all directions...”
The first who tried to detain the criminal was Prince George, who followed the Russian Tsarevich in the same rickshaw cart.
He hit the crazy policeman with his cane, but failed to stop him.
Then Nikolai's rickshaw puller, Jisaburo Mukohata, and then George's rickshaw puller Kitagaichi Ichitaro rushed to the defense. It was they who detained the criminal, knocking him down, for which they were subsequently given a significant bonus and a generous lifelong allowance.
The prince was immediately given first aid, bandaged and taken to the house of a shop owner located nearby. The first thing Nikolai worried about when he came to his senses:
“...if only the Japanese did not think that this incident could in any way change my feelings towards them and my gratitude for their hospitality.”
who attacked Tsarevich Nicholas
Nicholas was saved from death by the Greek Prince George, who accompanied the Tsarevich and beat off another blow with his cane.
Nikolai was quickly taken to the nearby house of the owner of a haberdashery store, where a bed was prepared for him.
Otsu. The house into which Tsarevich Nicholas was brought after the attack on him, and where the first dressing was performed.
The Tsarevich refused to go to bed and, after dressing him, sat down at the entrance to the store, calmly smoking.
Then, under the protection of the heir, he was escorted to the building of the Otsu prefecture, where he received qualified medical care. A few hours later he was quietly taken to Kyoto.
According to the medical report drawn up on the day of the assassination attempt, Nikolai had the following injuries
After the dressing was completed, Nicholas again sat in the carriage and, accompanied by other princes, his retinue and the soldiers built to guard him, reached the governor’s house, where he was given a new dressing. After this, the crown prince was taken to Kyoto, where doctors from the Russian squadron stitched him up.
The next day, Emperor Meiji arrived in Kyoto with a personal apology.
A terrible panic arose in the Japanese government. Moreover, the first telegram, sent 20 minutes after the assassination attempt by Prince Arisugawa, said that the wounds inflicted on the crown prince were terrible. Many members of the government feared that the assassination attempt would inevitably lead to war. Meiji sent doctors to Kyoto, and he himself went there the next day.
Doctors who were in the service of Emperor Meiji were not allowed to see Nicholas. In the hotel, everyone walked on tiptoe; for the sake of the Tsarevich’s peace, carriages and rickshaws were not allowed to the entrance. Clients and guests disembarked at the approaches to the hotel, carriages and strollers were delivered to the hotel parking lot by hand. In brothels, playing musical instruments and accepting clients was banned for five days.
On the eve of departure from Japan 6 [ 18 ] May, the Tsarevich celebrated his birthday away from his homeland for the first time.
According to the description of the Government Gazette, that day “three steamships, loaded with a wide variety of offerings... leftOsakaand, standing in front of His Highness’s frigate, they landed a deputation that asked for the gracious acceptance of feasible offerings...
By evening, the deck of the “In Memory of Azov” was literally littered works of art, rural products, delicacies, etc.”
arrived on the ship with congratulationsJapanese Foreign Minister Aoki Shuzo and the princeKitashirakawa Yoshihisa in the evening fireworks were given.
On the same day, rickshaw pullers Nikolai and Georg were invited to the frigate “Memory of Azov”. at the same time and
1000 yen as a lifetime pension
(A thousand yen at that time was equal to the annual salary of a member of parliament).
And the Japanese government awarded orders and also established an annual pension for rickshaw pullers who saved the heir to the Russian Empire.
It also awarded orders to Tsarevich Nicholas and members of his retinue.
The policeman named Tsuda Sanzo who carried out the attack was tried in the Supreme Court of Japan.
Emperor Meiji issued a special decree “on a special procedure for the consideration of cases relating to the sphere of diplomacy.” On the one hand, everyone, including the Minister of Justice and most members of the government, insisted on the death penalty, but on the other hand, there was no legislative basis for this.
As a result, Tsuda was sentenced to life at hard labor. He expressed his readiness to commit suicide by committing seppuku, but this was denied to him. A year later he died in hard labor, either from pneumonia, or by voluntarily starving himself to death.
It is curious that since then the curse “Japanese policeman” has appeared in the Russian language.
Japan. Russian squadron. Frigate "Memory of Azov"
His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, Prince George and Vl. book Georgy Alexandrovich with frigate officers
The Tsarevich's office-cabin on the frigate "Memory of Azov"
bed of the heir to the crown prince on the frigate
the Tsarevich's desk on the frigate "Memory of Azov"
Tsarevich Nicholas quickly recovered from his wounds, but Emperor Nicholas II suffered from headaches all his life. For the rest of his life, on May 11 (April 29, old style), he ordered prayer services “for health.”
From Japan, the Russian squadron headed to Vladivostok.
Here Tsarevich Nicholas passed through the arch built in honor of his arrival in Vladivostok. Thus, the beginning of the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was successfully consecrated.
In honor of Nicholas's trip to the East, Faberge was commissioned to create another Easter Egg, this time made in the form of the frigate “Memory of Azov”.
It is here that the main state task of the heir’s activities begins - the beginning of the construction of the Great Siberian Railway.
Tsarevich Nikolai is driving the first car
On May 20, Nikolai solemnly said goodbye to the crew of the “In Memory of Azov” and to all the ships, and on May 21 he left Vladivostok, traveling through Siberia to St. Petersburg, where he arrived on August 4, 1891.
During the journey, 51,000 miles were covered, of which 15,000 were railway, 5,000 - in crew, 9,100 - on rivers, 21,900 - on seas. It took the Tsarevich about two months to return.
