Sakuma Shozan, Katsu Kaishu
and Sakamoto Ryoma
Katsu Kaishu's Civil War Role
by Romulus Hillsborough
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Following is Katsu Kaishu's brief account of his direct involvement in the events immediately preceding and following the civil war between the forces of the new imperial government and the die-hard oppositionists in the Tokugawa camp who refused to surrender which he wrote nearly three decades later, in 1895, for the benefit of an American friend, the Rev. Edward Warren Clark, a scientist and educator in Japan: The fourteenth Tokugawa Shogun, Iemochi, died amidst the national crisis, beset by troubles both at home and abroad. When Yoshinobu succeeded him [as head of the House of Tokugawa] and became shogun, trust for [the Tokugawa] diminished even more, until finally Yoshinobu realized that he could no longer control the nation, and returned to the Imperial Court the rule of government which [his family] had formerly held tightly. He [made this announcement] at Nijo Castle in Kyoto. Perceiving the indignation of his samurai vassals and the ensuing trouble, he retreated to Osaka Castle. The feudal lords who were direct retainers of the Tokugawa, along with their vassals, were extremely unhappy...over the restoration of power to the court. They pressed Yoshinobu; and from among the traitors who surrounded him they raised an army, with which they proceeded to Kyoto. When their advance guard reached Fushimi and Toba (at the southern approach to Kyoto), they had an altercation with the Satsuma troops guarding the barrier, which eventually turned into a war. Our troops lost and retreated to Osaka. That night Yoshinobu, with some twenty officials and vassals in tow, stole out of Osaka Castle... They boarded the warship Kaiyo Maru and fled back to Edo. The troops and samurai at Osaka Castle found out about [Yoshinobu's flight] at dawn. Confused and agitated, they had no plan of action, but rather scattered in all directions. Many of them fled to Wakayama in Kii province. (Kii, one of the Three Tokugawa Branch Houses, was the domain of Tokugawa Iemochi.) During the final days of the Tokugawa I was unexpectedly placed in a most responsible position. Looking back upon the long line of the Tokugawa, and foreseeing what consequences must attend their constrained surrender of power, but desiring above all the preservation of peace, the salvation of the people from suffering, and the successful continuance of our foreign relations, I had little time to think of the mere supremacy of the House of Tokugawa, compared with my true-hearted endeavor and desire to serve my country at large. In some things I bungled, and my management was clumsy, and my wisdom sometimes failed to be equal to the sad emergency, for all of which I cannot help feeling my littleness. The great man's "littleness" notwithstanding, with 50,000 troops of the new imperial government set to attack Edo, Kaishu, in command of the Tokugawa military, successfully negotiated with Saigo the peaceful surrender of Edo Castle sparing Edo's one million inhabitants from the flames of war and quite probably preserving Japan's sovereignty under the eager gaze of the Western powers. On a bluff overlooking the Golden Gate in San Francisco's Lincoln Park stands a stone monument to the Kanrin Maru. Dedicated in 1960, it was a gift from the city of Osaka to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Japanese ship's historic voyage to San Francisco. As I mentioned earlier, this year marks the 150th anniversary of U.S-Japan relations. Both this monument and these anniversaries must also celebrate the lives and times of Sakuma Shozan, Katsu Kaishu, Sakamoto Ryoma and other great men of the Meiji Restoration. (For more about Katsu Kaishu's negotiations with Saigo, refer to my essay titled "Katsu Kaishu: The Man Who Saved Early Modern Japan," at http://www.ridgebackpress.com/essays/katsu.htm. I have also written about the subject in Samurai Sketches.) SourcesClark, E. Warren. Katz Awa: The Bismarck of Japan or the Story of a Noble Life. B.F. Buck & Company, 1904.
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