Background
Otaguro Tomoo was born in 1836. A sickly child, Otaguro was raised by his mother's family after the death of his father. In his early years, his health was so fragile that the family's physician even forbade him from reading.
太田黒伴雄
Otaguro Tomoo was born in 1836. A sickly child, Otaguro was raised by his mother's family after the death of his father. In his early years, his health was so fragile that the family's physician even forbade him from reading.
Noted retainer of the Higo Clan (Kumamoto Prefecture), Otaguro was the head of the Keishinto (God Worshipers Group) of Loyalists. Disgusted by the ukiyo lifestyle of contemporary Edo, Otaguro became involved with the Tosa Kinnoto (ja) movement of Takechi Hanpeita. Concerned that his sonnō jōi activism would have negative repercussions for his family, he had himself stricken from the records of the Iida clan and was adopted into the Ono family (who later disowned him on charges of negligence).
He became a disciple of Hayashi Ōen, and followed his mentor into the Shinto priesthood,becoming shikan of the Isa Ote Jingu shrine at Shinkai.
Upon the promulgation of the Imperial ordinance prohibiting wearing of swords in 1876, he and Reiken Kaya led a group of some 170 men and attacked the Imperial Garrison at Kumamoto, killed its commander, Masaaki Taneda, and then attacked the Kumamoto Prefectural Office, murdering Governor Ryosuke Yasuoka. The following day he was killed by a bullet when his group was overwhelmed by the counterattacking Imperial troops.