Rengoku (Purgatory) was an ironclad battleship purchased and commanded by Shishio Makoto as the intended final stage of his attempted rebellion against the Meiji Government in 1876. Purchased from the branch of the Chinese Mafia headed by Yukishiro Enishi, the Rengoku is said to have cost fully three-fifths of Shishio's fortune to acquire and prepare. Even so, as an example of one of the nineteenth century's "three great machines of war," the fact that a single Japanese citizen was capable of owning one privately was--in itself--a sign of the Meiji Government's security failings. In addition to its inherent danger as one of the feared "black ships", the Rengoku's destructive capabilities were severely augmented by the presence of the other two great war machines as part of its artillery. T