Imperial Army, which had not been trained for close-quarter sword fighting. In just a few minutes, the once organized line turned into disarray. Highly skilled samurai swordsmanship prevailed against an army with very little traditional training. For a short time, Saigō's lines held, but were forced back due to being outnumbered. Saigō was mortally wounded in the femoral artery and stomach, and was carried by Beppu Shinsuke downhill to find a place to commit seppuku. Serving as kaishakunin, Beppu cut off Saigō's head and hid it to prevent it from being found by the enemy. However, because the decapitation was done hastily, some of Saigō's hair remained, and a coolie was able to find his head. After Saigō's death, Beppu, now in command, charged downhill and was himself shot to death – without any ammunition, the rest of the samurai drew their swords, charged downhill, and were subsequently killed. With these deaths, the Satsuma rebellion came to an end. Aftermath Financially, crushing the Satsuma Rebellion cost the government a total of (£8,400,000), forcing Japan off the gold standard and causing the government to print paper currency. Economic effects of the Satsuma Rebellion resulted in the passing of the Act of 4 February 1877, which reduced the land tax from 3% to 2.5%. The Rebellion reduced Japan's yearly expenditure from £13,700,000 to £10,250,000, and it raised Japan's national debt from £28,000,000 to £70,000,000. The rebellion also effectively ended the samurai class, as the new Imperial Japanese Army built on heimin conscripts had proven itself in battle. More critically, the defeat of the samurai displayed the power of modern artillery and rifles, against which a banzai charge had no appreciable effect. In 1889, Saigō was posthumously pardoned. Statues in Ueno Park, Tokyo and near the ruins of Kagoshima Castle stand in his memory. Saigō Takamori was labelled as a tragic hero by the people, and his actions were considered an honorable example of bushido and Yamato-damashii. In popular culture Battle is featured in song Shiroyama on album The Last Stand of Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton. References Further reading Conflicts in 1877 1877 in Japan Battles involving Japan Last stands