Japanese policeman! Where did the swear word come from? Who was behind the assassination

13 years before the Russo-Japanese War, the heir to the Russian throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich, personally visited the "Land of the Rising Sun", where he experienced firsthand the suddenness of the samurai attack.

“... We drove out in jen rickshaws and turned left into a narrow street with crowds on both sides. At this time, I received a strong blow on the right side of the head, above the ear. I turned around and saw the nasty mug of a policeman, who for the second time swung a saber at me in both hands. I just shouted: "What, what do you want?"... And I jumped over the jen-rickshaw onto the pavement. Seeing that the freak is heading towards me, and no one is stopping him, I rushed to run down the street, holding the blood that spurted from the wound with my hand ... ". Judging by the entry in his personal diary, the heir to the throne was in every sense stunned by the sudden trick of the Japanese, which overshadowed the generally pleasant visit of the crown prince to the country of the samurai.

Of course, the future Nicholas II traveled not alone, but in the company of a large delegation, which included both the Greek Prince George and the official "chronicler" of the trip, Prince Ukhtomsky. The trip was limited not only to Japan, but to one degree or another affected the entire East. Leaving Russia in the middle of autumn 1890, the royal tourists reached Japan by the middle of spring 1891, having already visited Egypt, India, Singapore, Thailand and the island of Java.

A crime…

On April 27, according to the new style, the Russian squadron arrived in Nagasaki. Then the highest persons went to Kagoshima and Kobe, from where it was a stone's throw to the ancient capital of Kyoto. Nicholas liked this previously "closed" country, its rules and lifestyle. Here he often looked at the captivating geisha, once asked the Japanese masters to fill him with a dragon tattoo on his arm, and he deigned to settle in a classic Japanese apartment.

Having examined the wonders of Kyoto, Nikolai and his retinue departed for the town of Otsu on May 11. Here the guests had to take a walk along Lake Biwa, visit an ancient temple and visit the governor's house. During breakfast, the heir spoke of 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 journey, on both sides of the streets, there were two rows of policemen (policemen) at 8-10 steps from each other. They saw to it that the people of Otsu rendered honor to distinguished guests. The policemen were the same as they were in the morning, when the Tsarevich and his retinue were just entering the city.

One of them was Tsuda Sanzo. He had not been seen in anything discrediting his honor and dignity. Political convictions from other Japanese also did not particularly stand out. No signs of trouble.

The street was narrow, so the jen rickshaws with distinguished guests walked one after another. Nikolai 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 were fifty jen rickshaws in all along the street.

Everything that happened next took no more than 15-20 seconds. Sanzo jumped out of the cordon, hit 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 his saber over his head for the second time. A completely legitimate question arises: 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 at all imperial, but quite casual clothes, which included a headdress. At the first blow, the saber slipped through and touched only 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 went through his hand. Probably on the third attempt, Sanzo planned to cut off Nikolai's head. But a rather quick reaction allowed the crown prince to avoid this: he jumped out of the jen rickshaw. “I wanted to hide in the crowd, but I couldn’t, because the Japanese themselves, frightened, fled in all directions ... Turning around on the go again, I noticed Georgie, who was running after the policeman chasing me ...”.

The Greek prince performed a baptism of fire for his bamboo cane. He hit her Sanzo on the back. Meanwhile, Nikolai's rickshaw grabbed the enraged policeman by the legs and threw him to the ground. The second rickshaw disabled Sanzo with his own saber with two blows to the neck and back. The Tsarevich at that 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. First, 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 those things happened that year. The doctor, who was with the retinue, bandaged the head of the Grand Duke in order to stop the bleeding. A little later, the dressing was changed at the governor's house and an emergency train was ordered to Kyoto for a more thorough medical examination. There, the heir had to stitch 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 were also avoided. The role was played by the instant "correct" reaction of Japan, which struck the heir. “The people on the streets touched me: most knelt down and raised their hands in regret.” And in one of the 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 reports, was of a "sincere nature." However, Petersburg was alarmed by the event, and the stay of the heir in Japan was interrupted. Pretty soon, the Russians left the "Land of the Rising Sun" and headed for Vladivostok.

Meanwhile, Tsuda Sanzō ended up in the dock. To some extent, he was even lucky: the Japanese Foreign Minister offered to kill him immediately without trial and investigation, and then report the death "as a result of illness." The majority of other high-ranking officials, including the Minister of Justice, were in favor of holding a military trial with the use of capital punishment. The only problem was that the Japanese penal code did not provide for the death penalty for attempted murder. Of course, the exceptions 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, remained with its own. Thus, the Japanese judiciary showed that it was independent of the executive, and Tsuda Sanzo was sentenced to life imprisonment, with which St. Petersburg was quite pleased. However, Sanzo had only four months to live. After being beaten by rickshaws and being imprisoned, Tsuda collapsed and died on September 27, 1891 from pneumonia.

Truth or lie?

Since then and until today, there have been 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 a sense, led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. This is not the case for a number of reasons.

First, the root of all troubles was the struggle between Russia and Japan for spheres of influence in Asia. Contemporaries already noted then that the small islands were too crowded for the 40,000,000 Japanese who set their eyes on the mainland. The completed redistribution 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, without declaring war, attacked the Russian fleet in Port Arthur on February 9, 1904.

Thirdly, Nicholas did not have any hostility towards the Japanese either before or after the assassination attempt. At least, there is no serious evidence to argue otherwise. Already two days after the attack, the crown prince 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 allegedly hit on the head for drunkenly urinating at a Japanese shrine. Other sources claim that Nikolai and Georg banged the bells in a Shinto shrine with sticks. Again, there is not a single piece of evidence for 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 until then secretly approved the attack on foreigners. And this time they sent thousands of telegrams of condolence, refused to name newborns by the name Sanzo, offered to rename Otsu. It even came to the 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 crown prince did not respect 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 participated in the suppression of this rebellion, and now he felt hurt, 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 fascinated by the idea of ​​expelling foreigners from Japan. Russia, in his opinion, had certain views on the "Land of the Rising Sun", having sent the prince and retinue as spies. On the day of the assassination attempt, he feared that the Tsarevich had brought back the rebellious Takamori, who would deprive Sanzo of his military decorations.

These circumstances are contradicted by the statement of Nikolai's companions, who rejected the version of the assassination attempt from nationalist convictions. It was believed that the Japanese sacredly honor the royal power, no matter whose it was, not to mention the great respect for Russia. However, there is a clear contradiction here. The convictions of the prince's retinue were identical to those of Nicholas himself. The eastern journey gave him a sense of the immensity of Russian power in the Far East. In fact, Russia treated Japan with the same condescension as the rest of the Western world. Such short-sightedness played a cruel joke on Russia. 13 years after the trip, Nicholas could not or did not want 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 left another trace. The expression "Japanese policeman" has taken root perfectly in Russian speech as an annoying exclamation to a sudden incident.

Nota bene

One should not be surprised at the extent of tales and legends about Saigo Takamori, because this man left a truly major mark on Japanese history. Born in the family of a poor samurai, he went through a harsh life school. Having gained fame and authority in military service, he entered politics and reached such heights that he was able to influence the young Emperor Meiji. Takamori entered his first government in the late 1860s and remained an active 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 exile of Saigo Takamori and open civil war with him and his samurai. The result of this confrontation was the Satsuma uprising of 1877. In the end, 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 tales, such as his miraculous rescue and return to his homeland along with the Russian Tsarevich. Even today, his fame does not fade and spreads to the whole world. In 2003, based on Saigo's biography, the Hollywood film The Last Samurai was shot, where the influential rebel Katsumoto, who was copied from the influential rebel Takamori, became a friend and mentor of the hero Tom Cruise.

The expression "Japanese policeman" - is consumed mainly when a person is very surprised by something. An exclamation expressing extreme surprise.

"Japanese policeman!- so exclaims a man when he is so surprised that he does not even have words to express his amazement.

The history of this expression is as follows.

This expression was born at the end of the nineteenth century, namely in April 1891, when Tsarevich Nicholas, the future Tsar Nicholas II, traveled to the countries of the East. The journey was of an entertaining nature, the Tsarevich and his friends had fun as much as they could. Their violent fun, which violated Eastern traditions, was not very liked by the locals, and, finally, in the Japanese town of Otsu, a local policeman, outraged by the tactlessness of the Europeans, rushed at the Tsarevich and hit him on the head with a saber. The saber was sheathed, so Nikolai escaped with a slight fright. This event had a significant resonance in Russia. The Japanese policeman, instead of ensuring the safety of people, rushes at a man with a saber just because he laughs too loudly! Amazing policemen in Japan! Of course, this minor incident would have long been forgotten if the expression "Japanese policeman" did not also turn out to be a good euphemism. When a person draws out the first sound, it seems that he is now cursing obscenely. However, the speaker only remembers an old political scandal, which, most likely, he has never heard of.
(Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language. Compiled by A.A. Legostaev, S.V. Loginov. - Rostov n / D, 2003.

However, the expression "Japanese policeman" was widely used in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. and in another sense.

In the story by Nikolai Leikin (1841-1906) "The Incident in Kyoto", published in the magazine "Shards" in 1905, the hero of the story, a Japanese policeman, is waiting for orders from his superiors, while a small child is drowning in the river. According to some features in the Japanese policeman, the features of a Russian policeman are guessed (a saber, which the Japanese policemen never wore; a whistle; a mustache that almost never grows among the Japanese, etc.).

At first, the story was perceived by the censors as a satire on the Japanese order, which was full of Russian publications of that period (1904-1905 - the Russo-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 great success of the story with the public, which the Aesopian language did not prevent from understanding who the satire was directed against, the story was banned. Censor Svyatkovsky reported: “This article is one of those that describe the ugly social forms that are the result of increased police surveillance. Due to the sharpness of the exaggeration of the harm from such observation, the article cannot be allowed. The Committee determined "The article should not be allowed to be published."

As a result, the expression "Japanese policeman" became very common in the name of the manifestation of martinetism, bureaucratic arbitrariness in Russia at the beginning of the 20th 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 N! This is Unter Prishibeyev of our days, this Japanese policeman.

I am an Apona policeman! .. - the man exclaims when he is so surprised that he does not even have words to express his amazement.

This exclamation was born at the end of the 19th century, namely in April 1891, when Tsarevich Nicholas, the future Tsar Nicholas II, traveled through the countries of the East. The journey was of an entertaining nature, the Tsarevich and his friends had fun as much as they could.

Their violent fun, which violated Eastern traditions, was not very liked by the locals, and, finally, in the Japanese town of Otsu, a local policeman, outraged by the tactlessness of the Europeans, decided to teach the crown prince a lesson. As soon as the carriage, in which the rickshaw was carrying Nicholas, caught up with a policeman named Tsuda Sanzo, the latter, drawing a samurai sword, rushed to Nicholas II. The desire of the policeman to kill the heir to the Russian throne was so great that he stumbled before he could put his sword out of its scabbard, as a result of which the blow fell on a tangent, and besides, the hat slightly reduced the kinetic energy of the blow.

This was enough for the skull to remain unharmed, only the skin on Nikolai's forehead cracked, blood splattered onto his shirt. The Tsarevich showed miracles of courage: he rolled over a rickshaw, clamped his hand over the wound and, with all his strength, pulled down the street. At the very beginning of this throw, the terrible Japanese policeman struck again, but Nikolai dodged, although he felt a new cut on his head.

The failed murderer was immediately detained, so that Nicholas II could safely return to the carriage. Nikolai was taken to the nearby large city of Kyoto, where he was placed in the governor's house. And the next day, the Japanese emperor came to the Tsarevich with a feeling of complete repentance. The attempt at Otsu made a lot of noise in Japan, especially since at first the Mikado was reported that the Russian was wounded so seriously that he would not last until the morning. And this threatened, if not an instant declaration of war, then very big troubles.

The Japanese emperor did not arrive empty-handed: in order to hush up the incident, he awarded the guest with the highest Order of the Chrysanthemum and presented the heir to the Russian throne with a handmade carpet of about 150 square meters. meters and hastened to assure that the offender of the son of the Russian emperor would be put on trial and certainly punished.

Tsuda Sanzo asked the judges for permission to do hara-kiri. He was denied this. He was exiled to the Japanese "Siberia" on the island of Hokkaido, where four months later he declared an indefinite hunger strike. In September, his soul "went" to Mount Fuji.

This event had a significant resonance in Russia. The Japanese policeman, instead of ensuring the safety of people, rushes at a man with a saber just because he laughs too loudly! Amazing policemen in Japan!

The heir returned to Russia. He ascended the throne on November 2, 1894, and 10 years later the Russo-Japanese War was in full swing. The Emperor of Japan was encouraged by John Bull and Uncle Sam.

The next year after it began, in 1905, the satirist writer Nikolai Leikin published the story "The Incident in Kyoto" in the journal Shards, which he himself published. The hero of the story, a Japanese policeman, is waiting for orders from his superiors, while a small child is drowning in the river. The censorship, seeing a hint at the "Japanese policeman" Tsudo Sanzo, willingly gave permission for publication. But too quickly I realized my mistake: the phrase "Japanese policeman" very soon became so popular that all Russian bailiffs began to be called that way!

The shirt with traces of the blood of Nicholas II, which he brought from Japan, has not sunk into oblivion. At first, the emperor himself carefully kept it, after 1917 it was not burned, but placed in the ethnographic museum, from where it was taken to the Hermitage in 1941. When the remains of the royal family were discovered in 1991, the shirt was remembered. And in 2008, a DNA examination was carried out to establish that the remains found in the Urals belonged to the emperor.

The American scientist Michael Korble, who headed the joint Russian-American examination, confirmed that the genetic profile from the DNA of the bone remains found in the Urals completely coincides with the DNA gene profile isolated from the bloodstains of Nicholas II from the Tsar's shirt.

In the book about the treasures of the Kremlin Armory, there is a story about one of Faberge's Easter eggs "Memory of Azov". The red ruby ​​on the latch and the reddish hues of the egg itself are reminiscent of the attack on Nicholas II during his visit to Japan, when the young heir was stabbed with a sword by a samurai fanatic and miraculously survived.

Of course, this minor incident would have long been forgotten if the expression "Japanese policeman" did not also turn out to be a successful euphemism.

According to an ingrained tradition, all Russian heirs, starting with Paul I, after completing their studies, went on a journey. Most often there were two trips: a large one - in Russia, a little less - in Europe. But for Nikolai they planned a completely unusual, grandiose tour - sea and land, which combined both travels. Moreover, both parts of the journey had to pass through the territory where no crown prince had previously been (not only in Europe, but also in other parts of the world), excluding only the last part of the journey.

... The journey was carefully prepared, as it was given great national importance. Alexander III decided to establish the Great Siberian Railway and the heir Nikolai Alexandrovich had to personally be present at the start of construction in Vladivostok, to bring the first wheelbarrow of soil for the railway embankment. Well, in addition to educational goals, Nikolai also had to communicate and establish personal relationships with the reigning persons of the states along the travel route ...

Tsesarevich Nikolai, photo from the blog

October 3, 1890 Nicholas set off on a long journey. In Vienna, he visited the residence of the Habsburgs, the Vienna Opera and from there went to Trieste - a city and port belonging to Austria, but located on the Adriatic Sea in Italy. Three Russian ships were waiting for him there - the frigates "Memory of Azov", "Vladimir Monomakh" and the gunboat "Zaporozhets", as well as his brother, 18-year-old midshipman Georg, who continued the journey with him further. Here is Nicholas visiting the royal family in Greece.

From the blog

There he was joined by his cousin, Prince George of Greece, and in early October the Russian squadron set off for the shores of Africa, Egypt, Alexandria, where the travelers made a stop.

From the blog

From Suez, Russian ships followed through Aden to India, where they arrived on December 11 in Bombay.

The Tsesarevich visiting the Maharaja of Benares, from the blog

In the National Botanical Garden of Colombo in 1891, an iron tree was planted by the Tsarevich, which is now visited by tourists. Further, "Memory of Azov" with "Vladimir Monomakh" through Singapore and Batavia (Java Island) follow to Bangkok. There, Tsarevich Nicholas is a guest of the Siamese (Thai) King Rama V Chulalongkorn for a week.

Tsarevich Nicholas (left) visiting the Siamese king, photo from the blog

Saying goodbye to the hospitable king, Nikolai Alexandrovich followed on March 13 to Nanjing. From this city, he makes a trip along the Yangtze River on the steamer of the Russian Volunteer Fleet "Vladivostok" to the city of Hankou, where there was a large tea factory owned by a Russian trading house. On April 15, 1891, accompanied by 6 ships of the Russian fleet, Nikolai Alexandrovich arrived in Japan.

A cordial meeting was organized for the honored guest, to which Prince Arisugawa-no-miya Tarukhite arrived. However, the visit of Nikolai Alexandrovich also caused great anxiety among the Japanese population. Not everyone in Japan watched with pleasure the strengthening of Russia in the Far East...

The visit to Japan began from Nagasaki, where Nikolai and his companions spent 9 days. The Tsarevich incognito got acquainted with the city and, together with the officers of the squadron, repeatedly visited the suburbs of Inasamura or Inasu, which was called the Russian village. About 600 sailors from the wrecked frigate Askold lived here for some time in the 1870s. It was then that Russian-Japanese families arose, as well as a Russian cemetery.

Squadron officers with their Japanese temporary wives, from the blog

The term "temporary wife" in Japan was used to describe the type of relationship between a foreign national and a Japanese woman, according to which, during the stay of a foreigner in Japan, he received a wife for use and maintenance. The institution of temporary wives arose in Japan in the second half of the 19th century and lasted until the war of 1904–1905. At that time, the Russian fleet, based in Vladivostok, regularly wintered in Nagasaki, and during their stay there, some Russian officers bought Japanese women for cohabitation.

Traditionally, a contract was concluded with a foreign citizen, under which he received a Japanese citizen at his full disposal, pledging in exchange to provide her with maintenance - food, premises, hired servants, a rickshaw, and so on. Such an agreement was concluded from one month, and if necessary, extended up to a year or even three years. The cost of such a contract was 10-15 dollars per month. Virgins were especially valued, for the right to deprive a Japanese girl of innocence had to pay more. Musume were mostly teenage girls under the age of thirteen. Often, poor Japanese peasants and artisans themselves sold their daughters to foreigners, sometimes for a poor Japanese girl, this was the only way to earn a dowry and subsequently marry.

The son of Alexander II, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was one of the first who paid tribute to the exotic ... He had a temporary wife in Japan and another Grand Duke, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I and childhood friend of the future Emperor Nicholas II - Alexander Romanov (1866–1933) .. .

The heir and his entourage travel to Kyoto, where they stay at the Tokiwa Hotel. On the same day, a crowd gathered outside the hotel, and hostile cries were heard. The Russian diplomatic mission received a threatening document, signed in blood. On April 29, Nikolai and Prince George, accompanied by Prince Arisugawa-no-miya, set off in rickshaw-carried carriages from Kyoto to the city of Otsu...

assassination attempt

It was in Otsu that the assassination attempt took place. The heir to the throne was attacked by the Japanese policeman Tsuda Sanzo, who himself was supposed to be responsible for order and was among the townspeople who met Nicholas and the Greek Prince George. Drawing a samurai sword, he hit Nicholas twice with it. The future Russian emperor was saved from death by George, who beat off the blow with his cane. And then Japanese rickshaws ran up to the criminal and twisted him. Nikolai was quickly taken to the nearby house of a haberdashery owner, where a bed was prepared for him. However, Nikolai refused to go to bed and, after bandaging, sat down at the entrance to the store, calmly smoking. He told the audience: "It's nothing, if only the Japanese do not think that this incident can change anything in my feelings for them and appreciation for their hospitality." Subsequently, Nikolai invited rickshaws who detained the attacker, personally awarded them the orders of St. Anna, gifts of $1,500, and pensions of $500 a year.

... For the Japanese side, the visit of the young crown prince was an important event in connection with the situation with the Kuril Islands. Although there were certain concerns, since there were certain unrest in this regard among the people. Nevertheless, 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, studied the sights of Japan. On April 29, the three princes and their entourage went sightseeing in the city of Otsu on the shores of Lake Biwa. Most of the Japanese greeted the princes cordially - the inhabitants of the city lined up along the procession, waving flags and lanterns. Due to the narrowness of the 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 the key - the guards noticed too late how one of the policemen was rushing with a saber at the Tsarevich. The fact that the future emperor escaped death is truly a miracle. Here is how Nikolai himself describes what happened in a letter to his mother: “We had not had time to drive off two hundred steps, when suddenly a Japanese policeman rushes into the middle of the street and, holding a saber with both hands, hits me from behind on the head! I called out to him in Russian: “What do you want?” and jumped over my jen rickshaw. Turning around, I saw that he was still running at me with a raised saber. I rushed down the street with all my might, pressing down on the wound on my head with my hand. I wanted to hide in the crowd, but I could not, because the Japanese, themselves frightened, fled in all directions.

Otsu assassination site, from the blog

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 a cane, but it was not possible to stop him. Further, first Nikolai's rickshaw, Mukohata Jisaburo, rushed to the defense, and then Kitagaichi Ititaro, George's rickshaw. It was they who detained the criminal, knocking him down ...

The rickshaws who saved Nikolai, from the blog

Nicholas had two wounds - both were about 10 cm long, part of the skull bone was also damaged. The next day, Emperor Meiji arrived in Kyoto with a personal apology. A police officer named Tsuda Sanzo, who carried out the attack, was tried in the Supreme Court of Japan and sentenced to life hard labor. He expressed his willingness to commit suicide by committing seppuku, but he was refused. A year later, he died in hard labor, either from pneumonia, or by starving himself to death.

This fatal incident did not pass without a trace for the future tsar - from that moment on, Nicolas will be tormented by headaches all his life ... and the curse “Japanese policeman” has since appeared in the Russian language.

Who was behind the assassination?

Despite the eternally difficult relationship between Japan and Russia, all historians tend to think that no one stood behind Tsuda Sanzo and the only reason for the assassination attempt was his not entirely healthy psyche. Tsuda himself stated that the idea to kill Nicholas arose on the same day, May 11, when two European princes visited the monument to the soldiers who died during the Satsuma uprising, and the policeman himself was on duty near the monument. Then he thought that in 1877, taking part in the hostilities, he was a hero, and now he has become an ordinary policeman. Those around him said that Tsuda had long hated all foreigners. Japanese newspapers in those days wrote that “no Japanese, if he were not a madman, an idiot or a fanatic, could have conceived such an act”, and “a villain who inflicted wounds on an illustrious guest whom all the people sought to honor would not be punished enough, until his body is cut into a hundred pieces.” In the policeman's home village, residents even announced that they would never name newborn children after him. There were even proposals to rename the city of Otsu in view of its "disgrace".

... The visit of the crown prince certainly flattered the pride of the Japanese - after all, members of the reigning European houses of such a caliber had never visited Japan before. Usually these were grandchildren, second or third sons of current monarchs. At the same time, many Japanese were clearly afraid of Russia. Nicholas abandoned the old tradition of traveling first in his native country and went straight abroad. And not to the West, but to the East! Was this not a sign that Russia's expansionist ambitions in the Far East would grow even more?

Nicholas planned to stay in Japan for a whole month. The serious Japanese press, receptive to the signals given by the government, began to prepare for the visit of the Tsarevich in advance. Anticipating the cries of Russophobes, the newspapers spoke of friendship with Russia and that Russia in the Far East is so weak that, with all its desire, it is not in a position to pursue an expansionist policy...

On May 11, Nikolai, George, and Prince Arisugawa sat in brand new, improved-design carriages that had just arrived from Tokyo. An ordinary carriage was pulled by a rickshaw assisted by one pusher. This time, out of respect for the status of the passengers, two pushers assisted the driver. But even the highest status of riders could not provide them with a horse-drawn carriage: narrow streets did not contribute to the development of horse-drawn transport ... In Otsu, as well as in Kyoto, organized Japanese welcomed the crown prince and waved flags. Having enjoyed the views of the picturesque lake, Nikolai set off on his return trip. A long procession of rickshaws stretched for a couple of hundred meters, Nikolai was in the fifth carriage, Georgy in the sixth, Arisugawa in the seventh. The narrow road was guarded by many policemen.

The protection of the august persons was especially difficult in Japan - after all, etiquette forbade turning your back on them, so that the police could not watch the crowd. All the more high demands were placed on the police guarding Nikolai. They had to ensure perfect order during the procession. In particular, they made sure that no one watched the procession from the second floor (no one should be higher than the most august persons!), so that when the cortege appeared, everyone took off their hats and closed their umbrellas. Residents were also forbidden to tie a towel around their heads and necks, to wear short clothes that did not cover their bare legs. All this was considered indecent. The width of the crowded street was four and a half meters. The policemen stood at a distance of 18 meters from each other. And then one of them rushed to Nicholas and struck a blow with a saber.

The blade slid across the brim of the bowler hat and grazed his forehead. The hat fell from Nikolai's head, one of the pushers jumped out from behind the carriage and pushed the attacker away, but he still managed to strike a second blow with his saber, which, however, also turned out to be sliding. Nikolai wrote in his diary that he jumped out of the carriage and ran, no one tried to detain the criminal who rushed after Nikolai. And only after some time George managed to knock down the attacker with a bamboo cane.

The heir to the throne was, of course, extremely excited, which caused inaccuracies in his description. In fact, from the testimonies of numerous witnesses, it turns out that although Georg was indeed the first to try to detain the criminal and hit him on the back of the head with a cane he had bought that day, he did not manage to knock the attacker down. However, he still hesitated, and this was enough for Nikolai's rickshaw to rush at the policeman. The saber fell out of his hands, and then George's rickshaw picked up the saber and hit it on the back of the failed assassin.

A terrible panic arose in the Japanese government. Moreover, in the first telegram, sent 20 minutes after the assassination attempt by Prince Arisugawa, it was said that the wounds inflicted on the Tsarevich were terrible. Many members of the government feared that the assassination attempt would inevitably lead to war. Meiji sent doctors to Kyoto, and went there himself the next day. The railways of that time were single-track, the Meiji special train messed up the whole schedule. Leaving at seven in the morning, Meiji arrived in Kyoto at nine in the evening. His train covered a distance of 500 kilometers faster than the scheduled one by three hours. The next day he visited the Tsarevich at the hotel...

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 on the outskirts of the hotel, carriages and carriages were delivered to the hotel parking lot on their hands. In brothels, it was forbidden to play musical instruments and receive clients for five days. Fortunately, Nikolai's wounds were not too serious. However, the program of the visit was crumpled, the crown prince, on the orders of his parents, refused to continue his stay in the country, despite Meiji's persistent persuasions ... Consoling Meiji, Nikolai said that the wounds were trifling, and there are crazy people everywhere. No demands for compensation were put forward ... A special commission, whose task it was to receive condolences, counted about 24 thousand letters and telegrams to Nikolai, and he also received many gifts. Unable to bear the "national disgrace" and grieving that Nikolai refused to visit Tokyo, 27-year-old Yuko Hatakeyama stabbed herself with a dagger in front of the Kyoto City Hall. So that her posthumous posture would not look indecent, she did not forget to bandage her ankles with a towel ...