In the Japanese political scene of the 1860's, besides the Progressive and the Conservative, there was a group which strongly advocated government by congress. This "Congress Group" too can be divided into two, one desiring to make the Bakufu the center, the other giving little regard to the Bakufu. The Satsuma Clan, where Saigo Takamori was a leading figure, is thought to be the center of the Progressives, but within it there was a Congress faction under Komatsu Tatewaki who made little of the Bakufu, and they were competing intensely with the Progressives. It was Komatsu who supported the Imperial Restoration, and it was Saigo who received the secret order for the overthrow of the Bakufu. Both may be regarded as manoeuvring for the leadership in the Clan. Tokugawa Yoshinobu and Goto Shojiro and men of their Congress Group who desired to make the Bakufu the center, first took the policy of employing Komatsu to suppress Saigo's views. Therefore, they endeavoured to conceal the differences between Komatsu's ideas and their own, and they did not reveal their precise thoughts as to the policy after the Imperial Restoration. After the Restoration, in order to suppress Komatsu's views, this group tried to hold a conference of Clans which was to be a conference in support of the Bakufu. However, this scheme was cut short by the coup d'etat of the Progressives.
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