was a Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

of the late

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. Chief senior councilor (''hittōgarō'' 筆頭家老) of the

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princip ...

clan, he achieved fame due to his distinguished action in the Boshin War. He adopted the name Hoshina Chikanori (保科近野里). Surviving the war, he became a

Shinto priest A , also called , is a person responsible for the maintenance of a as well as for leading worship of a given .* ''Kannushi'' (in Japanese), Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version The characters for are sometimes also re ...

, and achieved renown as a martial artist. He is considered one of the teachers of the famed Takeda Sōkaku.daito-ryu.org History - Takeda Sokaku
/ref>

Early life and service

Succeeding to family headship and the position of chief senior councilor in 1860, he served the 9th generation Aizu ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'',

Matsudaira Katamori Matsudaira Katamori after the Meiji restoration was a samurai who lived in Bakumatsu period and the early to mid Meiji period Japan. He was the 9th ''daimyō'' of the Aizu Domain and the Kyoto Shugoshoku (Military Commissioner of Kyoto). He i ...

. However, with Katamori's selection for the post of '' Kyoto Shugoshoku'' in 1862, his views sharply diverged with those of his lord. Wanting to warn Katamori of the dangers of Aizu's deeper political involvement in the troubled

Tokugawa regime The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia' ...

, he and his fellow ''

karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

'' Tanaka Tosa rode nonstop from Aizu to Edo and spoke directly to Katamori.Hoshi Ryōichi, ''Bakumatsu no Aizu-han''. Tokyo: Chuko-shinsho, 2001, p.6 The lord, while understanding Tanomo's views as well as the domain's financial situation, nevertheless could not disobey what was both a direct shogunal order as well as part of the greater scheme put together by his colleagues ( Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu and

Matsudaira Yoshinaga , also known as Matsudaira Keiei,Beasley, William G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853–1868'', p. 335. or better known as Matsudaira Shungaku (春嶽) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period. He was head of the ...

), and so he dismissed Tanomo. Tanomo thus spent the following six years in Aizu, informally dismissed from his position.

Boshin War

In 1868, with the rout at the

Battle of Toba–Fushimi The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 (or fourth year of Keiō, first month, 3rd day, according to the lunar calendar), when the forces of the s ...

, and with Katamori back in Aizu for the first time in years, Tanomo's services were again called upon. While he recommended submission to the Imperial Army early in 1868, the arrival in Aizu of former Bakufu soldiers forced Aizu's hand in the direction of continued military action. Once again, Tanomo's voice was drowned out. During the

Battle of Aizu The Battle of Aizu (Japanese: 会津戦争, "War of Aizu") was fought in northern Japan from October to November in autumn 1868, and was part of the Boshin War. History Aizu was known for its martial skill, and maintained at any given time a s ...

, Tanomo fought in defense of the castle town of Aizu-Wakamatsu, the women of Tanomo's family are still famous in the region for having committed mass suicide. Just before the surrender, Tanomo escaped Aizu and headed for

Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date M ...

. Joining

Enomoto Takeaki Viscount was a Japanese samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate and fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War. He later served in the M ...

and

Hijikata Toshizō was a Japanese warrior. As of the '' Shinsengumi'', he resisted the Meiji Restoration and fought to his end. Background was born on May 31, 1835, in the Ishida village, Tama region of Musashi Province (present day Ishida, Hino, Tokyo), Jap ...

there, he continued on to Hokkaidō, where he joined in the military efforts of the

Ezo Republic The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt ...

, but was defeated together with its forces in 1869.

Later life

After spending a few years in prison, Tanomo was released in 1872, and subsequently opened up a private academy in the Izu region. In 1889, he was chosen as one of the head priests of Tōshō-gū Shrine in

Nikkō is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 80,239 in 36,531 households, and a population density of 55 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a popular destination for Japanese and ...

, where he served alongside his former lord

, and Katamori's brother

Matsudaira Sadaaki was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Bakumatsu period, who was the last ruler of the Kuwana Domain. Sadaaki was the adopted heir of Matsudaira Sadamichi, the descendant of Sadatsuna, the third son of Hisamatsu Sadakatsu (1569–1623), who was To ...

. In his later years, Tanomo also taught Takeda Sōkaku, the teacher of Ueshiba Morihei. Retiring in 1899, Tanomo returned to Aizu, where he died in 1903 at the age of 72. The book ''Seiun-ki'' (栖雲記, "A Record of Cobweb-clouds"), written shortly before Tanomo's death, records his memoirs.

In popular culture

Saigō was portrayed by the actor

Toshiyuki Nishida is a Japanese actor. He has won two Japanese Academy Awards for best actor, for '' The Silk Road'' (1988) and '' Tsuribaka Nisshi 6'' (1993). He has also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for '' Get Up!'' and '' Tsuribaka Nisshi 14'' (20 ...

in the 2013

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

taiga drama '' Yae no Sakura.''

Early life and service

Boshin War

Later life

In popular culture

Notes

Further reading