And everything was so great at the beginning. At the end of 1890, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich set off on a sea voyage to the Far East aboard the armored cruiser "Pamyat Azov". Together with him, in search of Eastern exoticism, his brother Georgy Alexandrovich and his cousin, the Greek Prince George, sailed.
The most august travelers visited Egypt, India, French Indochina. They examined the sights of the country of the pyramids, took part in the hunt for elephants and tigers in the Indian jungle, watched with interest the ritual dances of the priestesses in the ancient temples of Cambodia and Vietnam.
The turn came to the Land of the Rising Sun. In Japan, the Tsarevich and his companions liked it. In Nagasaki, he and his Greek cousin visited what is now called a tattoo parlor. There, Nikolai asked to make a gorgeous colored dragon tattoo on his right arm, which greatly surprised the Japanese accompanying him. Indeed, in Japan, criminals were branded with the help of tattoos, and only representatives of local criminal clans voluntarily made them.
In the same Nagasaki, we visited the Volga restaurant, which serves Russian sailors who often visit this port. The hospitable hostess of the restaurant invited the young people to spend time with two girls "in the rooms". The cousins gladly accepted this offer, and returned aboard the cruiser only at four in the morning.
True, not everyone in Japan was happy with the guests from distant Russia. It was rumored that the Tsarevich had brought the legendary Saigo Takamori on a cruiser - the leader of the anti-government rebellion, who committed suicide in 1877 after defeat. However, as the "eyewitnesses" said, the head of the rebels did not die, but disappeared for the time being in the vast expanses of the Russian Empire (by the way, Takamori later became the prototype of one of the heroes of the Hollywood blockbuster "The Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise in the title role).
It is possible that such rumors served as a pretext for the attempt on the Tsarevich's life during his stay in Japan.
Walking stick and katana
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Having visited Kyoto, where Nikolai and his companions were greeted at the highest level, the travelers went by rickshaw to the city of Otsu, located on the shores of Lake Biwa, famous for its picturesque views. After contemplating the lake landscapes, Nikolai got into a wagon with a capacity of one human strength and set off on the return journey.
The cortege of travelers stretched for several hundred meters. The Tsarevich rode in the fifth carriage, George the Greek - in the sixth, the Japanese prince Arisugawa - in the seventh. The guards accompanying their charges were in a very difficult situation. According to Japanese etiquette, they were forbidden to turn their backs on them. Therefore, they were deprived of the opportunity to observe the crowd that had gathered to gawk at the noble foreigners. They were to some extent insured by local police officers who stood along the route of the procession at a distance of 18 meters from each other. But it was just the policeman who made the attempt on the Tsarevich!
On the narrow street of Otsu, one of the guards suddenly drew his sword - a katana and rushed to the carriage in which Nikolai was traveling. He hit him on the head with his blade. The Tsarevich was partly saved by his bowler hat. The katana slid over the head of the heir to the Russian throne and cut the skin on his skull. Nikolai jumped out of the carriage and started to run. From the second, possibly fatal blow of the policeman, Nikolai was saved by his cousin, Georg Grechesky. He was not taken aback and with all his might hit the back of the head of the brutal samurai with a bamboo cane. The guards and rickshaws arrived in time to detain the assailant.
Nikolai received first aid. The wound was not dangerous. But in Tokyo from Otsu, a telegram came from Prince Arisugawa, which said that the royal guest was dying. Panic broke out in the Japanese government. The emperor and his ministers seriously feared that Russia would declare war on them. However, nothing happened.
I'm not angry with the kind Japanese …
On the same day, the Japanese emperor dispatched his life-doctor from Tokyo to Kyoto to treat the wounded Nicholas. The next day, Mikado himself went on a special train to Kyoto, in order to personally apologize to the Tsarevich for what had happened. Unheard of - the emperor in Japan was a living god, and his public appearances were extraordinary.
In Kyoto, "days of sorrow" were declared, and local brothel owners were banned from playing musical instruments and serving customers for five days.
Emperor Meiji awarded Nicholas with the Order of the Chrysanthemum - the highest order of Japan and smoked a "cigarette of peace" with the Tsarevich (although he was a non-smoker), and he himself brought a burning match to Nicholas - the height of possible courtesy! The incident was over. Consoling the Mikado, Nikolai said that his wound was minor, and that there were madmen everywhere.
In Japan, they were very worried about the emergency that happened in Otsu with a distinguished guest. Nicholas received 24 thousand letters and telegrams expressing condolences. Three ships came to Osaka with gifts from local merchants to Nikolai. A proposal was even made to rename Otsu "so that the name of this city would not dishonor the nation."
Tsuda Sanzo was tried. At the trial, he stated that he decided to kill the Tsarevich because "he thought that Nikolai really brought Saigo Takamori with him." Sanzo participated in the suppression of the rebellion of the "last samurai", had awards for this. The policeman was afraid that Takamori, having won, would deprive him of these awards.
Tsuda Sanzo was sentenced to life imprisonment, which he was sent to serve in Hokkaido - "Japanese Siberia". There he died four months later, according to the official version, from pneumonia.
Immediately after the assassination attempt, Nikolai wrote in his diary: "I am not at all angry with the good Japanese for the disgusting act of one fanatic." In memory of his visit to Japan, Nikolai had a scar on his head and headaches that tormented him all his life. Every year on May 11, he ordered prayers "for health" in the church.
Mikhail Romanov, the youngest son of Alexander III, could become Tsarevich, and then Emperor, be it a samurai who attempted to kill Nicholas.
What if …
If Nikolai had died in Japan, then his brother George would have become the next successor. But he was sick with tuberculosis, and died in 1899. And although by 1894 - this year the Emperor Alexander III died - he would have been a tsarevich, most likely, George would not have sat on the throne - by that time he was in the Caucasus, and doctors categorically forbade him to live in damp and cold Petersburg. Most likely, the third brother of Nikolai, Mikhail Alexandrovich, would become the king. During the years of his reign, Russia could have avoided all the troubles and upheavals that befell it during the reign of Nicholas II.
Mikhail was a favorite of his parents. He had a kind, flexible character. Mikhail could get along with his ministers, whom his brother only tolerated and got rid of at the first opportunity (Witte, Stolypin). Most likely, under Mikhail, the Russo-Japanese and World War I would not have happened. Mikhail was unlikely to embark on adventures that would serve as a pretext for these conflicts, especially since Russia had no insoluble contradictions either with Japan or with Germany. However, Mikhail would have inherited problems such as land and foreign loans from his predecessors. They would have to be solved in any case, but it is quite possible that the matter would not have reached the point of revolution.