The Sakuradamon Incident

On this day in 1860 a group of ronin from the Mito Domain attacked and killed Ii Naosuke, a powerful minister of the Shogunate, just outside the Sakurada Gate as he was being escorted into Edo Castle. They were angry about the signing of the Harris Treaty and the purge of political opponents to it. The incident recalls the tale of the 47 Ronin, and was itself a model for the February 26 Incident of 1936. Print by Taiso Yoshitoshi (1839-92). Source.