Saigō Takamori (or Takanaga) (西鄕 隆盛 [隆永], January 23, 1828 – September 24, 1877) was a Japanese samurai and nobleman.

However, in the political turbulence after Nariakira's early death in 1857, Saigō was twice exiled to the remote southern islands of Satsuma, first to Amami Oshima and later to Okinoerabujima.

However, Saigō was one of the most vocal and vehement opponents to the negotiated solution, demanding that the Tokugawa be stripped of their lands and special status.

[5] Saigō did insist that Japan should go to war with Korea in the Seikanron debate of 1873 due to Korea's refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Emperor Meiji as head of state of the Empire of Japan, and insulting treatment meted out to Japanese envoys attempting to establish trade and diplomatic relations.

At one point, he offered to visit Korea in person and to provoke a casus belli by behaving in such an insulting manner that the Koreans would be forced to kill him.

Shortly thereafter, a private military academy known as the Shi-gakkō was established in Kagoshima for the faithful samurai who had also resigned their posts to follow him from Tokyo.

The accounts of his subordinates claim that he stood up and committed seppuku after his injury or that he requested that his friend Beppu Shinsuke assist his suicide.

[7] Some scholars have suggested that neither is the case and that Saigō may have gone into shock following his wound, losing his ability to speak.

The head was somehow retrieved by government forces and was reunited with Saigō's body, which was laid next to that of his deputies Kirino and Murata.

Unable to overcome the affection that the people had for this paragon of traditional samurai virtues, the Meiji-era government pardoned him posthumously on February 22, 1889.

A famous bronze statue of Saigō in hunting attire with his dog stands in Ueno Park, Tokyo.

[10] A Japanese hand fan commemorating the event, which survives in the collection of the Staten Island Historical Society in New York, features a depiction of Saigō Takamori in a scene labeled (in English) "The Battle Near the Citadel of Kumamoto".