Boshin War

Boshin War — The Last Brilliance of the Japanese Sword on the Battlefield of Civil War

The Boshin War, which opened with the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in January of Keiō 4 (1868), continued for approximately one and a half years until the surrender and opening of Goryōkaku fortress in Hakodate in May of Meiji 2 (1869). It was the largest civil war of modern Japan. This war, in which the pro-imperial government forces centered on the Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, and Hizen domains clashed with the former shogunate army and the Northern Alliance of Northeast domains, not only fundamentally overturned Japan's political system but also became a decisive turning point in the history of the Japanese sword. Approximately eight years before the promulgation of the Sword Abolition Edict (Meiji 9, 1876), the Boshin War was the last large-scale civil war in which samurai fought while bearing swords.

The Battle of Toba-Fushimi and the Opening of War — Clash of Old and New Governments

In October of Keiō 3 (1867), the 15th shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu performed the Restoration of Imperial Rule, formally returning political power to the court. However, the Satsuma and Chōshū domains took control of the new government through the "Edict for the Restoration of Imperial Rule" and made conflict with the former shogunate forces inevitable. From January 3 to 6 of Keiō 4, the Battle of Toba-Fushimi (present-day Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, etc.) broke out, in which the new government forces centered on Satsuma and Chōshū defeated the main units of the former shogunate. In this battle, the new government forces utilized modern rifles and artillery, while many of the former shogunate forces were still equipped primarily with swords and spears, which was one reason for their defeat.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu fled from Osaka Castle to Edo, and the new government forces began the "Eastern Campaign" as the "Imperial Army." The subsequent bloodless opening of Edo Castle (April 1868) was a historical reconciliation realized through talks between Katsu Kaishū and Saigō Takamori.

The Northeast and Echigo Front — The Resistance of the Northern Alliance of Northeast Domains

After the opening of Edo Castle, the theater of war shifted to the northeast. The northeastern domains initially attempted mediation between the new and old governments, but in opposition to the strong stance of the new government forces, they formed the Northern Alliance of Northeast domains (Sendai, Yonezawa, Nagaoka, Aizu, and more than twenty-five other domains) and resisted.

Kawai Tsuginosuke, chief retainer of the Nagaoka domain, independently procured Gatling guns and led powerful Nagaoka domain forces armed with modern weapons in opposition to the new government forces. Tsuginosuke was also a cultured military man with deep knowledge of swords and appreciation for fine blades. In the Northern Echigo Boshin War, the Nagaoka domain under Kawai Tsuginosuke inflicted great damage on the new government forces, but ultimately Nagaoka Castle fell, and Tsuginosuke died during the retreat, having been wounded.

In the Aizu domain, under Lord Matsudaira Yoshiyasu, the domain's samurai resisted the new government forces to the end. The siege of Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle (Tsurugajō) was particularly fierce, and the legend of the young Byakkotai soldiers taking their own lives is remembered to this day. The swords and blades borne by Aizu domain samurai — including Aizu Kanesada among others — played the final practical role in this siege.

The Shinsengumi and Hijikata Toshizō — Samurai Living through the End of the Sword Age

The organization most deeply connected to the Japanese sword in the Boshin War was the Shinsengumi. Formed to maintain order in Kyoto during the late Edo period, the Shinsengumi marched northward with the collapse of the shogunate and continued fighting through the northeast to Hakodate. Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshizō was one of the samurai who fought bearing a sword to the very end, and on May 11 of Meiji 2 (1869), he fell in battle at the Ippongi Barrier in Hakodate, struck by rifle fire.

The blade famous as Hijikata Toshizō's beloved sword is the Izuminokami Kanesada. Kanesada was made by Mino-tradition smiths with deep connections to the Aizu domain. The Kanesada that Hijikata bore became a symbolic presence in the use of swords from the late Edo period through the Boshin War, and today it is cherished by many Japanese sword enthusiasts.

The Nagasone Kotetsu is renowned as the beloved sword of Shinsengumi Commander Kondō Isami. Kotetsu was made by Nagasone Okisato (Kotetsu), a master craftsman representing the Edo New Sword tradition, and "Kotetsu's cutting ability" was legendary among late Edo-period samurai. The swords borne by the Shinsengumi soldiers in the Boshin War, while revealing their limitations before the bullets of modern warfare, embodied to the very end the pride of the samurai.

The Hakodate War — The Last Battle on Which the Japanese Sword Scattered

In the final phase of the Boshin War, the Hakodate War (Meiji 1 [1868] to Meiji 2 [1869]), the former shogunate navy's Enomoto Takeaki and Hijikata Toshizō and others fought the new government forces using Goryōkaku fortress in Hakodate (present-day Hakodate City), Hokkaido as their base. Goryōkaku was a Western-style star fortress adapted to modern warfare with appropriate defensive facilities, but ultimately it succumbed to attacks from the new government forces by land and sea.

Hijikata Toshizō fell in the battle at the Ippongi Barrier in Hakodate, struck by rifle fire while commanding from horseback. As "a samurai who never relinquished his sword to the very end," Hijikata's death became a scene emblematic of the Boshin War. Enomoto Takeaki surrendered and subsequently served the Meiji government, becoming active in the fields of diplomacy and education.

The Boshin War and the Historical Position of the Japanese Sword

The position occupied by the Boshin War in the history of the Japanese sword is important in a dual sense.

First, it was the last large-scale civil war in which swords were employed in actual combat. In the Boshin War, firearms became the primary weapon, but swords and spears were still used in close-quarters combat. Particularly in urban warfare and night assaults, swords wielded by skilled swordsmen proved no less effective than firearms.

Second, the conclusion of the Boshin War and the establishment of the Meiji Restoration opened a direct path to the Sword Abolition Edict (Meiji 9, 1876). The "right of samurai to bear swords" was maintained for a time after the Restoration, but in constructing a modern national army, the Meiji government needed to dismantle the privileged status of the samurai class. The promulgation of the Sword Abolition Edict came approximately eight years after the Boshin War.

The swords of many samurai and domain warriors who participated in the Boshin War were sold, discarded, or preserved as family treasures after the war. In the wave of "sword abolition" following the Restoration, countless famous swords were dispersed, but conversely, many swords were carefully passed down alongside memories of the Boshin War. The Boshin War stands at the historical juncture where the Japanese sword transitioned from a "weapon" to a "cultural property and artwork."