Boshin War (1/2)The Great War that determined the trends of the end of the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration

The Tokugawa-Edo shogunate, which had lasted for 260 years, ended with the Restoration of Imperial Government, but the Tokugawa family continued to hold power. In response, a civil war began between 1868 and 1869 in which members of the new government, such as the Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa clans, fought against the former shogunate in order to seize control of the government. This is the Boshin War, which lasted until 2000.This time, we will provide an easy-to-understand explanation of the Boshin War, which continued throughout Japan, from the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in Kyoto to the Hakodate War in Hokkaido.

Why did the Boshin War occur?

The original cause of the Boshin War is that in 1853, Perry, commander of the American East India Fleet, led four black ships to visit Uraga (currently Uraga, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture), and established a national isolation system. He requested the shogunate, which was in China, to open the country. After considering foreign military power, the Shogunate concluded the Japan-U.S. Treaty of Peace and Amity the following year and opened the country. In June 1858, Japan and the United States concluded the Japan-U.S. Treaty of Amity and Commerce and began free trade. The shogunate concluded similar treaties with England, France, and other countries. The shogunate wanted to learn from the technological capabilities of foreign countries and increase its national power.

Emperor Komei, who was pro-Joi, was furious at the shogunate's move. In fact, the Japan-U.S. Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed despite the Emperor's rejection. Against this background, the shogunate was criticized by the shogunate faction, which respected the emperor's ideas, the isolationist faction, which had originally refused to open the country, and the anti-shogunate faction, which sought to overthrow the shogunate, which was weak on foreign countries. They clashed with the shogunate and the Opening of the Nation faction, which welcomed the opening of the country, and sometimes resorted to military action. The weakened Shogunate was unable to suppress this chaos, and the country entered an era of turmoil.

Eventually, the son-no-joi movement arose to respect the emperor and drive out foreigners, and the movement to overthrow the shogunate flourished. In particular, the Satsuma and Choshu domains actively promoted the Joi movement. After fighting and losing against foreign ships in the Satsuma-British War and the Shimonoseki War, they cooperated in overthrowing the shogunate and opening up the country. The two feudal domains were originally at odds for various reasons, but thanks to the efforts of Ryoma Sakamoto and others, the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance was formed, and the movement to defeat the Shogunate accelerated.

Therefore, on October 14, 1867, the shogun at the time, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, declared the restoration of imperial rule at Nijo Castle in Kyoto, handing over power to the Emperor and discouraging the overthrow of the shogunate. However, the Imperial Court, which lacked the ability to manage a government, continued to rely on the Tokugawa family, and there was a tendency for the Tokugawa family to seize power even in the new government. Alarmed by this, the Satsuma and Choshu domains, along with Tomomi Iwakura and other anti-shogunate nobles, staged a coup d'état on December 9, and issued the ``Grand Decree for the Restoration of the Monarchy'' in the name of Emperor Meiji. A new government was established with the Emperor at the top. Furthermore, at the Kogosho Conference held that night, it was decided that the Tokugawa family should request the resignation of Yoshinobu Tokugawa as Minister of the Interior and the return of the territory to the Imperial Court. The former shogunate vassals, mainly from the Tokugawa family, opposed this and deepened their conflict with the new government.

Boshin War ① The first battle was the Battle of Toba and Fushimi

The new government had a strong idea of subjugating the former Shogunate army. For this reason, they repeatedly provoked the former shogunate forces, mainly from the Satsuma domain. He had Ronin, a former retainer of the Satsuma domain, commit crimes such as robberies in Edo city and arson of Edo Castle. On December 23, 1867, people related to the Satsuma clan attacked the outpost of the Shonai clan, who was the director of Edo City. The former shogunate, unable to bear the situation, decided to dispose of the Satsuma ronin and demanded that the Satsuma clan hand them over, but the Satsuma clan refused. As a result, on December 25th, an incident occurred in which the Shonai clan and others burned down the residence of the Edo-Satsuma clan.

A series of sabotage incidents by the new government were enough to infuriate the old Shogunate forces in Osaka. Yoshinobu Tokugawa, who had originally been reluctant to fight, was unable to suppress the pro-war faction, and submitted a letter of impeachment to the Imperial Court criticizing the Satsuma domain, and on New Year's Day in 1868, he took control of the Aizu and Kuwana domains, where the Shinsengumi were located. Together with his army, he marched towards Kyoto with the aim of blockading it. The former shogunate army numbered about 15,000, while the new government's army, centered on the Satsuma clan, numbered only 5,000.

On January 3rd, the Battle of Toba-Fushimi began when the Satsuma army blocked the passage of the former Shogunate army heading towards Kyoto on the Toba Kaido. When the former shogunate forces tried to push them away, the Satsuma forces opened fire and a battle began. A similar situation occurred in Fushimi, but the former shogunate army was routed in both cases.

The following day, January 4, the new government forces surprise the former shogunate forces by raising a brocade flag. The brocade flag symbolizes the imperial court, or the emperor. Only the ``government army'' approved by the Emperor could raise this, and the opposing army would be the ``bandit army'' that was the enemy of the Imperial Court. The impact of the Nishiki no Goban was so great that the former Shogunate army lost its will to fight and retreated to Osaka Castle on the following January 5th. Yoshinobu Tokugawa, who was at Osaka Castle, was originally against the war, so he escaped from Osaka Castle on the night of January 6th and fled back to Edo on a ship. With the general running away, the morale of the former shogunate army further deteriorated, and the battle ended with the defeat of the former shogunate army.

The reason for the defeat of the former shogunate army was not only the decline in morale but also the difference in the performance of the weapons of the two armies. The new government forces had high-spec weapons such as the latest Western guns imported from Britain and other countries, but the former Shogunate forces, with the exception of the Shogunate Army, used outdated weapons. Another factor seems to have been that the former shogunate army was made up of soldiers from several feudal domains, making it difficult to maintain leadership.

On January 7th, the Imperial Court issued an order to hunt down and kill Yoshinobu, and the former Shogunate officially became an enemy of the Imperial Court. On January 10, feudal domains such as the Aizu and Kuwana domains who were suspected of having joined the former shogunate army were stripped of their official positions, and feudal lords such as the Obama domain suspected of having joined the former shogunate army were ordered to enter Tokyo. A ban has been put in place. On January 11, an order was issued requesting all daimyo to come to Tokyo, and each domain was asked to clarify its position, whether it was on the side of the old shogunate or the new government.

Boshin War ② Bloodless surrender of Edo

Meanwhile, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who returned to Edo Castle, dismissed Tadayuki Oguri, who was a central figure in the main war faction, and then moved to Kan'eiji Temple in Ueno on February 12th to refrain from self-restraint and appeal to the Emperor that he had no animosity towards him. However, the new government forces proceed with preparations to attack Edo. On the Tokaido, the Koyo Chinpakutai (formerly Shinsengumi) led by Isamu Kondo and others tried to prevent the new government army from going to Edo, but they were repulsed by the new government army led by Taisuke Itagaki and others.