Tokugawa Yoshinobu : The Last Shōgun (1837-1913)
Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu (28 October 1837 - 22 November 1913) was Japan's 15th lShogunogun. He participated in a campaign to reform the ageing shogunate, which ultimately failed. He resigned Shogungun in late 1867 in an attempt to retain his political influence. After these efforts failed due to his defeat at the Battles of Toba and Fushimi in early 1868, he went into hiding and avoided public attention for most of his life.
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Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu (徳川 慶喜) was the 15th and last shōgun of the Tokugawa shōgunate of Japan. After reluctantly accepting the position of Shogunogun, he became part of a movement to reform the ageing shogunate, which was ultimately unsuccessful. After over a year, Shogunhogun resigned in late 1867, retired, and primarily avoided public life for the rest of his life. He was despised and envied by many in his own family and hated by those who wanted an end to the shogunate.
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Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu was the 15th Shogunhogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement to reform the ageing shogunate but was unsuccessful. After resigning in late 1867, he retired and largely avoided public life for the rest of his life.
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Tokugawa Yoshinobu was born in Edo as the seventh son of Tokugawa Nariaki, the Daimyo of Mito. Along with the Owari and Kii families, the Mito family was one of the Gosanke, albeit the lowest of the three families. Gosanke are Japan's three most important branches of the Tokugawa clan, all descended from the three youngest sons of the founder Tokugawa Ieyasu.
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The Owari and Kii families were eligible to succeed to the main shogunate should the central Tokugawa family fail to produce an heir. Unfortunately, the Mito family was unable to do so. So, at his father's instigation and seeing the potential problems with succession within the Gosanke families, Yoshinobu's father agreed to adopt him by the Hitotsubashi family to have a better chance of succeeding in the shogunate.
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The Hitotsubashi, Shimizu, and Tayasu are alternate families producing heirs when the two Gosanke families cannot. He became head of the Hitotsubashi family in 1847, receiving court rank and title and officially taking the name Yoshinobu. After the death of the Shogunhogun Tokugawa Iesada in 1858, Yoshinobu was nominated as a possible successor.
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His supporters touted his skill and efficiency in managing family affairs. However, the rival faction led by Ii Naosuke prevailed. Their candidate, the 12-year-old Tokugawa Yoshitomo, was elected and became the Shogunhogun, Tokugawa Iemochi. Soon after, Ii was appointed Tairo, or Great Elder, and was the chief policymaker of the shogunate until Tokugawa Iemochi reached the age to take control.
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From 1858 to 1860, Ii led the Ansei Purge, in which those who did not support Tokugawa Iemochi's authority and foreign trade policies were imprisoned, executed or exiled. Although Yoshinobu had no interest in being Shogunhogun and fully supported Shogun Iemochi, Ii had him and those who supported him placed under house arrest as a perceived threat to Shogun's authority.
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Ii's rule over the Tokugawa government was marked by mismanagement and political infighting. He hoped to restore the shogunate's authority by acting as a dictator. Without the Emperor's approval, he had the shogunate ratify the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States, also known as the Harris Treaty.
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This treaty opened the ports of four other Japanese cities to trade and granted extraterritoriality to foreigners, among several trade provisions that disproportionately benefited the U.S. Ii's brutality and treaties with foreigners had made him many enemies. On 24 March 1860, he was assassinated by a group of 17 Mito and one Satsuma samurai in the Sakuradamon Incident.
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The death of Ii Naosuke sparked a wave of loyalist terrorism across Japan. Soon, other members of the Bakufu and their informers were targeted. After Ii's assassination, Yoshinobu was reinstated as head of the Hitotsubashi family, and in 1862, he was appointed guardian of Shogun Iemochi.
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At the same time, his two closest allies, Matsudaira Yoshinaga and Matsudaira Katamori, were appointed to other high positions. Yoshinaga was appointed Chief of Political Affairs, while Katamori was appointed Guardian of Kyoto. The three men then took numerous steps to quell the political unrest in Kyoto and gathered allies to counter the activities of the rebellious Choshu domain.
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They were key figures in the Kobu Gattai political party, which sought reconciliation between the shogunate and the imperial court. At Yoshinobu's request, Katamori organised the brutal Kyoto police force known as the Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi were Bakufu ronin troops charged with maintaining order and peace in the city.
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The shogunate's failure to keep the foreigners out served as a convenient excuse to oppose the Shogun and eventually plot to overthrow his government. The shogunate's duty was to protect Japan from the barbarians, and it seemed it could no longer do so. Some domains began questioning whether the Shogun was still needed since he wasn't fulfilling his purpose.
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The most vocal and disobedient domain was Choshu. In 1864, the Choshu rebels attempted to seize control of the Emperor in Kyoto to restore the Imperial household to its position of political supremacy. However, as commander of the imperial palace defences, Yoshinobu defeated the Choshu forces in what became known as the Kimon incident.
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This led to the First Choshu Expedition of 1864, led by the Tokugawa Shogunate, to punish the Choshu domain, bring them into line, and use them as an example of the resurgence of Tokugawa dominance. After the death of Tokugawa Iemochi in 1866, Japan was without a shogun for more than 150 days.
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While Yoshinobu agreed to be the head of the Tokugawa family, he continually refused to be nominated as Shogun, believing that the shogunate's political system was outdated and could not survive in the modern world. However, after much pleading from his supporters, Yoshinobu reluctantly accepted the nomination.
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Yoshinobu was elected and became the 15th and last Shogun. He was the only Tokugawa shogun to spend his entire tenure outside Edo. He never set foot in Edo Castle as Shogun. Immediately after Yoshinobu's accession, significant changes were initiated. A massive government overhaul was undertaken to introduce reforms that would strengthen the Tokugawa government.
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In particular, assistance from the Second French Empire was organised with the construction of the Yokosuka Arsenal under Leonce Verny and the dispatch of a French military mission to modernise the armies of the Bakufu. The national army and navy, already formed under Tokugawa's command, were strengthened with the help of the Russians and the Tracy Mission of the British Royal Navy.
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Equipment was also purchased from the United States. Many people believed the Tokugawa shogunate was on the road to renewed strength and power. They feared that the Tokugawa Shogunate would be strengthened again under a strong and wise ruler; samurai from Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa allied to counter this.
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Many considered Tokugawa Yoshinobu to be the reincarnation of Ieyasu, one who would continue to usurp the power of the Emperor. The three powerful lords worked to end the shogunate, although they differed in their approaches. Tosa, in particular, was more moderate. He proposed a compromise in which Yoshinobu would step down as Shogun but preside over a new national governing council composed of various Daimyo.
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To this end, Yamauchi Toyoshige, the Daimyo of Tosa, and his advisor, Goto Shojiro, petitioned Yoshinobu to resign to make this possible. On 9 November 1867, Yoshinobu agreed to the terms and tendered his resignation to the Emperor, formally stepping down ten days later and returning all governmental power to the Emperor.
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He then retreated from Kyoto to Osaka. However, while Satsuma and Choshu favoured a governing council of Daimyo, unlike Tosa, they opposed Yoshinobu's leadership. They secretly obtained an imperial edict calling for the use of force against Yoshinobu, which was later revealed to be a forgery. They moved large numbers of Satsuma and Choshu troops into Kyoto.
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There, they called a meeting of the Imperial Court, where Yoshinobu was stripped of all his titles and lands, even though he had done nothing that could be construed as aggressive or criminal. Anyone who might have opposed these punishments for Yoshinobu was not included in the meeting. The leaders of Satsuma and Choshu wanted the Tokugawa family destroyed.
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Until now, Yoshinobu had been fully cooperative with the new Japanese government. However, he objected to this action and wrote a letter of protest to be delivered to the Imperial Court. Given the many Satsuma and Choshu troops in Kyoto, Yoshinobu sent many troops to deliver this message to the court.
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When the Tokugawa forces arrived outside Kyoto, they were refused entry and attacked by Satsuma and Choshu troops, starting the Battle of Toba-Fushimi—the first clash of the Boshin War. Although the Tokugawa forces had a clear numerical advantage, Yoshinobu abandoned his army in the middle of the battle when he realised that the Satsuma and Choshu forces were flying the imperial banner.
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Seeing that the Emperor supported the Satsuma and Choshu forces and Yoshinobu did not want to be seen as a rebel against him, Yoshinobu fled to Edo. He placed himself under voluntary confinement and announced his submission to the imperial court. On 11 April 1868, at Yoshinobu's request, Katsu Kaishu negotiated the surrender of Edo Castle with Saigo Takamori, thus preventing a potentially costly and bloody war.
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Yoshinobu moved to Shizuoka with Tokugawa Iesato, the newly appointed head of the Tokugawa family. Iesato was made Daimyo of the new domain of Shizuoka but lost this title a few years later when the domains were abolished. Many high-ranking samurai and those in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate also left the Shizuoka, and many found themselves without sufficient means to support themselves.
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As a result, many of them resented Yoshinobu, some to the point of wanting him dead. Yoshinobu was aware of this and was so afraid of assassination that he redesigned his sleeping arrangements to confuse any potential assassin. Living in quiet retirement, Yoshinobu indulged in many hobbies, including oil painting, archery, hunting, photography and cycling.
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In 1902, the Meiji Emperor allowed him to re-establish his house as a branch of the Tokugawa with the highest rank in the peerage, that of prince, for his loyal service to Japan. He took a seat in the House of Peers and resigned in 1910. Tokugawa Yoshinobu died on 21 November 1913. Many people on both sides of the war resented Yoshinobu, from those who lost their privilege to those who wanted it.
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But later in the Meiji era, many could look back with a greater perspective and imagine what might have happened if Yoshinobu had not peacefully handed Tokugawa power. They later believed that Tokugawa Yoshinobu was the most significant contributor to the establishment of the Meiji government.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu : The Last Shōgun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU6uY042IBI&t=23s
Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837-1913)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Yoshinobu
