Otsu Incident (1891): Russia-Japan relations at the end of the nineteenth century and a mural in Mustafapaşa

Abstract

During his visit to Japan, an assassination attempt took place against the crown prince of the Russian Empire, Nicholas Alexandrevich. The prince was in Japan to initiate the construction of the eastern part of the Trans-Siberian Railway. This article seeks answers to the questions of why and how this assassination attempt of Nicholas Alexandrevich was carried to the wall of a mansion in Cappadocia, in an orientalist style. The article argues that the assassination attempt, known as the Otsu incident, and the process that followed was an important test of judicial independence for Japan and both prevented a possible international tension and renewed the public confidence in justice in Japan. The repercussions and portrayal of the Otsu incident in the West reveal that Japan, which has been in rapid Westernization and modernization for more than twenty years, is still seen in the West as a potential colonial expansion area from an orientalist point of view. The assassin, portrayed as a savage, was intended to be likened to early nineteenth-century samurai, even though he was actually an officer of the regular Japanese police force dressed in modern Western uniforms. When all the details of the incident are examined, it is understood that the two people who saved the life of Nicholas were Japanese check-check drivers. On the other hand, the official Russian history and the Western press portrayed the Greek Prince George as the lifesaver of Nicholas.