Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette History Faculty Research and Publications History, Department of 1-1-2013 Tokugawa Loyalism during Bakumatsu-Boshin War [Encyclopedia Entry] Michael Wert Marquette University, [email protected] Published version. "Tokugawa Loyalism during Bakumatsu-Boshin War", in Japan at War: An Encyclopedia. Publisher Link. Japan at War: An Encyclopedia by Louis G. Perez, Editor. © 2013 by ABC-Clio, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission of ABC-CLIO, LLC, Santa Barbara, CA. 438 I Tokugawa Loyalism: Boshin War contriving to increase tensions by accusing invaded by Choshil samurai. In 1867, the Hideyori of planning rebellion, Ieyasu led last shogun, Yoshinobu, led a coalition an army to Osaka in 1614 and laid siege to army to Kyoto to "free" the emperor from its castle. Early in 1615, Ieyasu offered a the grasp of enemy influences, but was peace in return for the destruction of the cas­ stopped in the villages of Toba-Fushimi, tle's outer defenses. When that was done , where the shogunate lost again, despite out­ Ieyasu resumed his attack and took the cas­ numbering its opposition. Preempting those tle. Hideyori and his family committed who desired to eliminate him as an enemy suicide. of the court, Yoshinobu returned his title of Ieyasu, through war, adept alliances, shogun to the emperor, resigning from his skilled administration, and outright treach­ position as head of the shogunate. ery, had completed the unification of Japan Following the loss at Toba-Fushimi, many begun by Nobunaga and Hideyoshi and vassal daimyo hedged their bets and declared ended its long era of political chaos. By loyalty to the court. Most of them did not par­ carefully planning for his succession, he ticipate in the fighting, some refused to resist ensured that the Tokugawa shogunate the court, and others claimed that because the would survive his death. After the destruc­ shogun had resigned, there was nothing left tion of Osaka, Ieyasu returned to Sumpu, to defend. From the winter of 1868 to the became ill, and died on June 1, 1616. summer of the following year, a mixed Ryan Reed group of daimyo, samurai, and commoners fought against the advancing Satsuma- and See also: Oda Nobunaga; Sakoku; Sankin Choshii-Ied armies, many, but not all, in the kotai (Alternate Attendance); Sekigahara, Battle of; Toyotomi Hideyoshi. name of Tokugawa loyalism. In general, re­ sistance occurred in three interconnected Further Reading regions: Edo and the surrounding country­ Sadler, Arthur L. The Maker ofModem Japan: side, the domains of the Northeast, and a The Life of Tokugawa /eyasu . .London: final battle in the north at Hakodate. George Allen & Unwin, 1937. The most fervent Tokugawa loyalists could Totman, Conrad D. Politics in the Tokugawa be found among the Tokugawa liege vassal Bakufu, 1600-1843. Cambridge, MA: samurai, whose fate was tied to the shOgun­ Harvard University Press, 1967. ate. Oguri Tadamasa, who had served the shogunate as a finance commissioner and for­ eign affairs magistrate, was the most vocal Tokugawa Loyalism: Boshin War among those who wanted to fight against Satsuma and Choshil. After his view failed The number of supporters of the Tokugawa to convince the shogun to fight, the shogun shogunate dwindled after its second punitive fired him. He retired to his fief and was later mission against the Choshil domain failed in executed, the only shogunate vassal to suffer 1866. Few vassal daimyo (fudai) answered this fate. Other colleagues formed units of the shogunate's call to arms, and among low-ranking samurai and commoners, like those who did, their large armies fought their emperor-zealot counterparts, the shishi, without enthusiasm. Some fought only to maintain stability in Edo. The largest of because they happened to be near Choshil, these, the Sh6gitai, eventually received such as the Kokura domain, which was authority to protect Yoshinobu. The group Tokugawa Nariaki I 439 quickly amassed 3,000 to 4,000 members the fall of 1869. Many former Tokugawa who engaged in guerrilla warfare against the samurai, like Enomoto and Katsu Kaishu, invading army. They were finally defeated found employment with the Meiji govern­ by government troops during the battle of ment, especially in vital fields such as Ueno in the summer of 1868. foreign affairs, finance, and the navy. The Many loyalists fled to the northwest, bloodiest fighting in Aizu scarred local his­ where they joined 26 domains to fight tory there, much as warfare affected the against the Meiji government's troops, in American South after the Civil War. Even what is called the Boshin War. Although in Aizu today, when people there refer to some were vassal daimyo of the Tokugawa "the war," it signifies not World War II, but family, little evidence suggests that they the Boshin War. fought out of a sense of loyalty to the Toku­ Michael Wert gawa family. In fact, they imitated the See also: Aizu Samurai Spirit; Boshin Civil imperial loyalist domains by propping up War; Hitotsubashi Keiki (Tokugawa Yoshi­ their own imperial family member, Prince nobu); Katsu Kaishi.i; Meiji Ishin Shishi; Mito Rinnoji, and created a royalty-centered School; Tokugawa Bakumatsu Military government like the new Meiji one. Even Reforms. so, much of the fighting occurred in the Aizu domain, one of the three daimyo fami­ Further Reading lies closely related to the Tokugawa. The Hillsborough, Romulus. Shinsengumi: The Aizu-led coalition lost in the fall of 1868. Shogun's Last Samurai Corps. North Former shogunate samurai and survivors Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 2005. of the fighting in Aizu led a final rebellion Medzini, Meron. French Policy in Japan against the emperor's armies under the lead­ during the Closing Years of the Tokugawa Regime. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer­ ership of Enomoto Takeaki, head of the shO­ sity Press, 1971. gunate's navy. Rather than turn over the Najita, Tetsuo, and J. V. Koschmann. Conflict shogunate's eight warships, as negotiator in Modern Japanese History: The Neglec­ Katsu Kaishii had promised, Enomoto sailed ted Tradition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton them from Edo to the north in the summer of University Press, 1982. 1868. Disaffected samurai, daimyo, and Shiba, Goro, Mahito Ishimitsu, and Teruko even a few French military advisers who Craig. 1999. Remembering Aizu: The worked for the shogunate joined him in Testament of Shiba Goro. Honolulu: Uni­ Hakodate, Hokkaido. Enomoto attempted versity of Hawai'i Press. to establish a rival government, the republic Totman, Conrad D. The Collapse of the of Ezo. This group held the first elections Tokugawa Bakufu, 1862-1868. Honolulu: on the Japanese islands, but failed to con­ University Press of Hawaii, 1980. vince a Tokugawa family member to come lead their newly formed nation. Thousands of troops clashed with the government's T okugawa Nariaki (I 800-1860) army, losing to them in the summer of 1869. Enomoto was later pardoned and Born in Mito-han in 1800, Tokugawa Nar­ became Minister of the Navy. iaki studied with the Mito scholars Aizawa The Boshin War and Tokugawa loyalism Seishisai and Fujita Toko, both of whom was short-lived, having been destroyed by were key advisers. His political outlook .