Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Tokugawa Yoshinobu as Shogun of Japan, c. 1867
Member of the House of Peers
In office
1902–1910
15th Tokugawa Shogun
In office
29 August 1866 – 19 November 1867
Monarch Emperor Kōmei
Emperor Meiji
Preceded by Tokugawa Iemochi
Succeeded by position abolished
Personal details
Born (1837-10-28)28 October 1837
Edo, Japan
Died 22 November 1913(1913-11-22) (aged 76)
Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
Resting place Yanaka Cemetery
Nationality Japanese
In this Japanese name, the family name is Tokugawa.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu (徳川 慶喜) (also known as Keiki; October 28, 1837 – November 22, 1913) was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. After resigning in late 1867, he went into retirement, and largely avoided the public eye for the rest of his life.

Early life

Tokugawa Yoshinobu was born in Edo, as the seventh son of Tokugawa Nariaki, daimyo of Mito. Mito was one of the gosanke, the three branch families of the Tokugawa clan which were eligible to be chosen as shogun. His birthname was Matsudaira Shichirōmaro.[1] His mother, Princess Arisugawa Yoshiko, was a member of the Arisugawa-no-miya, a cadet branch of the imperial family; through her, he was a third cousin (once removed) of the then Emperor, Ninkō. Shichirōmaro was brought up under strict, spartan supervision and tutelage.[2] While his father Nariaki respected the second Mito Tokugawa Mitsukuni who had sent off the second and younger sons from Edo to Mito to raise them, Shichirōmaro was seven month old when he arrived in Mito in 1838. He was taught in the literary and martial arts, as well as receiving a solid education in the principles of politics and government at Kōdōkan.[3]

At the instigation of his father, Shichirōmaro was adopted by the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa family in order to have a better chance of succeeding to the shogunate[4] and changed his first name to Akimune. He became family head in 1847, coming of age that year, receiving court rank and title, and taking the name Yoshinobu.[5] Upon the death of the 13th shogun, Shogun Iesada, in 1858, Yoshinobu was nominated as a potential successor.[6] His supporters touted his skill and efficiency in managing family affairs. However, the opposing faction, led by Ii Naosuke, won out. Their candidate, the young Tokugawa Yoshitomi, was chosen, and became the 14th shogun Iemochi.[7] Soon after, during the Ansei Purge, Yoshinobu and others who supported him were placed under house arrest.[8] Yoshinobu himself was made to retire from Hitotsubashi headship.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu organizing defenses at the Imperial Palace in 1864, together with Matsudaira Katamori, during the Kinmon Incident

The period of Ii's domination of the Tokugawa government was marked by mismanagement and political infighting. Upon Ii's assassination in 1860, Yoshinobu was reinstated as Hitotsubashi family head, and was nominated in 1862 to be the shogun's guardian (将軍後見職 shōgun kōken-shoku), receiving the position soon afterwards.[9] At the same time, his two closest allies, Matsudaira Yoshinaga and Matsudaira Katamori, were appointed to other high positions: Yoshinaga as chief of political affairs (政治総裁職 seiji sōsai shoku),[10] Katamori as Guardian of Kyoto (京都守護職 Kyoto Shugoshoku).[11] The three men then took numerous steps to quell political unrest in the Kyoto area, and gathered allies to counter the activities of the rebellious Chōshū Domain. They were instrumental figures in the kōbu gattai political party, which sought a reconciliation between the shogunate and the imperial court.[12]

In 1864, Yoshinobu, as commander of the imperial palace's defense, defeated the Chōshū forces in their attempt to capture the imperial palace's Hamaguri Gate (蛤御門 Hamaguri-Gomon) in what is called the Kinmon Incident. This was achieved by use of the forces of the Aizu–Satsuma coalition.[13]

Shogun (1866)

The French military mission to Japan, invited by Tokugawa Yoshinobu for the modernization of his forces, in 1867

After the death of Tokugawa Iemochi in 1866, Yoshinobu was chosen to succeed him, and became the 15th shogun.[14] He was the only Tokugawa shogun to spend his entire tenure outside of Edo: he never set foot in Edo Castle as shogun.[15] Immediately upon Yoshinobu's ascension as shogun, major changes were initiated. A massive government overhaul was undertaken to initiate reforms that would strengthen the Tokugawa government. In particular, assistance from the Second French Empire was organized, with the construction of the Yokosuka arsenal under Léonce Verny, and the dispatch of a French military mission to modernize the armies of the bakufu.[16]

The national army and navy, which had already been formed under Tokugawa command, were strengthened by the assistance of the Russians, and the Tracey Mission provided by the British Royal Navy. Equipment was also purchased from the United States.[17] The outlook among many was that the Tokugawa shogunate was gaining ground towards renewed strength and power; however, it would fall in less than a year.

Boshin War (1868–69)

Main article: Boshin War

Fearing the renewed strengthening of the Tokugawa shogunate under a strong and wise ruler, samurai from Satsuma, Chōshū and Tosa formed an alliance to counter it. Under the banner of sonnō jōi ("revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians!") coupled with a fear of the new Shogun as the "Rebirth of Ieyasu" who would continue to usurp the power of the Emperor, they worked to bring about an end to the shogunate, though they varied in their approaches. In particular, Tosa was more moderate; it proposed a compromise whereby Yoshinobu would resign as shogun, but preside over a new national governing council composed of various daimyo. To this end, Yamanouchi Toyonori, the lord of Tosa, together with his advisor, Gotō Shōjirō, petitioned Yoshinobu to resign in order to make this possible.[18]

Tokugawa Yoshinobu with rifle
Tokugawa Yoshinobu in later life

On November 9, 1867, Yoshinobu tendered his resignation to the Emperor and formally stepped down ten days later, returning governing power to the Emperor.[19] He then withdrew from Kyoto to Osaka. However, Satsuma and Chōshū, while supportive of a governing council of daimyo, were opposed to Yoshinobu leading it.[18] They secretly obtained an imperial edict[18] calling for the use of force against Yoshinobu (later shown to be a forgery)[20] and moved a massive number of Satsuma and Chōshū troops into Kyoto.[21] There was a meeting called at the imperial court, where Yoshinobu was stripped of all titles and land,[22] despite having taken no action that could be construed as aggressive or criminal. Any who would have opposed this were not included in the meeting.[21] Yoshinobu opposed this action, and composed a message of protest, to be delivered to the imperial court;[23] at the urging of men of Aizu, Kuwana, and other domains, and in light of the immense number of Satsuma and Chōshū troops in Kyoto, he dispatched a large body of troops to convey this message to the court.[24]

When the Tokugawa forces arrived outside Kyoto, they were refused entry, and were attacked by Satsuma and Choshu troops, starting the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, the first clash of the Boshin War.[25] Though the Tokugawa forces had a distinct advantage in numbers, Yoshinobu abandoned his army in the midst of the fight once he realized the Satsuma and Choshu forces raised the Imperial banner, and escaped to Edo.[26] He placed himself under voluntary confinement, and indicated his submission to the imperial court. However, a peace agreement was reached wherein Tayasu Kamenosuke, the young head of a branch of the Tokugawa family, was adopted and made Tokugawa family head;[27] On April 11, Edo Castle was handed over to the imperial army,[28][29] and the city spared from all-out war.

Together with Kamenosuke (who took the name Tokugawa Iesato), Yoshinobu moved to Shizuoka, the place to which Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of Tokugawa shogunate, had also retired, centuries earlier. Iesato was made the daimyō of the new Shizuoka Domain, but lost this title a few years later, when the domains were abolished.

Many of the hatamoto also relocated to Shizuoka; a large proportion of them did not find adequate means to support themselves. As a result, many of them resented Yoshinobu, some of them to the point of wanting him dead.[30] Yoshinobu was aware of this, and was so afraid of assassination that he redesigned his sleeping arrangement to confuse a potential assassin.[31]

Later life

Living a life in quiet retirement, Yoshinobu indulged in many hobbies, including oil-painting, archery, hunting, photography, and cycling.[32] Some of Yoshinobu's photographs have been published in recent years by his great-grandson, Yoshitomo.[33]

In 1902, the Meiji Emperor allowed him to reestablish his own house as a Tokugawa branch (bekke) with the highest rank in the peerage, that of prince (kōshaku), for his loyal service to Japan.[34] He took a seat in the House of Peers, resigning in 1910. Tokugawa Yoshinobu died on November 21, 1913 at 4:10 pm and he is buried in Yanaka Cemetery, Tokyo.

On 9 January 1896 his ninth daughter Tokugawa Tsuneko (1882–1939) married Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, a second cousin to both Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun and nephew of Prince Kan'in Kotohito.

On 26 December 1911 his granddaughter Tokugawa Kikuko, later Princess Takamatsu was born, who married Prince Takamatsu, the brother of Emperor Shōwa.

Honors

With information from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

Order of precedence

Eras of Yoshinobu's bakufu

The years in which Yoshinobu was Shōgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Takano, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, p. 26. Sons of the lord of Mito did not bear the name Tokugawa unless they themselves became the next lord.
  2. ↑ Tokugawa, Tokugawa yonbyakunen no naishobanashi, pp. 138–140.
  3. ↑ Takano, p. 28.
  4. ↑ Takano, p. 38.
  5. ↑ Takano, p. 48.
  6. ↑ Borton, Japan's Modern Century, p. 40.
  7. ↑ Borton, pp. 39–40.
  8. ↑ Takano, pp. 12–13.
  9. ↑ Murray, Japan, p. 362; Kobiyama, Matsudaira Katamori no shōgai, p. 75; Bolitho, Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu, p. 9.
  10. ↑ Kobiyama, p. 75.
  11. ↑ Takano, pp. 132–133.
  12. ↑ Kobiyama, pp. 84–87; Totman, p. 45; Takano, p. 20.
  13. ↑ See Japan 1853–1864, Or, Genji Yume Monogatari, trans. by Ernest Mason Satow. (Tokyo: Naigai Shuppan Kyokai), for more.
  14. ↑ Borton, p. 63.
  15. ↑ Tokugawa, Tokugawa yonbyakunen no naishobanashi, vol. 2, p. 162.
  16. ↑ Sims, French Policy Towards the Bakufu and Meiji Japan, 1854–95, p. 236.
  17. ↑ Treat, Japan and the United States: 1853–1921, p. 89
  18. 1 2 3 Beasley, The History of Modern Japan, p. 96.
  19. ↑ Takano, p. 256.
  20. ↑ Yamakawa, Aizu Boshin Senshi, pp. 7–9.
  21. 1 2 Beasley, p. 97.
  22. ↑ Beasley, p. 97; Yamakawa, Aizu Boshin Senshi, p. 148–151.
  23. ↑ Totman, p. 416. For a copy of the original text of the message, see Yamakawa, pp. 89–90.
  24. ↑ Totman, p. 417.
  25. ↑ Sasaki, pp. 23–24; Bolitho, pp. 420–422.
  26. ↑ Kobiyama, p. 124.
  27. ↑ Griffis, The Mikado: Institution and Person, p. 141.
  28. ↑ Takano, p. 267.
  29. ↑ Tokyo, an administrative perspective. Tokyo Metropolitan Government. 1958. p. 21. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  30. ↑ Tokugawa Munefusa, Tokugawa yonbyakunen no naisho banashi, vol. 1, p. 131
  31. ↑ Tokugawa, pp. 131–133
  32. ↑ Tokugawa, p. 136-138.
  33. ↑ For an example of Yoshinobu's photography, see: Tokugawa Yoshitomo, Tokugawa Yoshinobu-ke e yōkoso, p. 73.
  34. ↑ Takano, p. 273.
  35. ↑ Ibaraki Prefecture e-newsletter

References

Further reading

Works of fiction

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tokugawa Yoshinobu.
Military offices
Preceded by
Tokugawa Iemochi		 15th Tokugawa shogunate:
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
1867–1868 		Succeeded by
Shogunate ended
Japanese royalty
Preceded by
Tokugawa Shōmaru		 Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa family head
1847–1866 		Succeeded by
Tokugawa Mochiharu
Preceded by
Tokugawa Iemochi		 Tokugawa family head
1867–1868 		Succeeded by
Tokugawa Iesato
Preceded by
none		 Tokugawa Yoshinobu-ke Head
1902–1913 		Succeeded by
Tokugawa Yoshihisa
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