Byakkotai
Encyclopedia
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
of the Aizu
Aizu
is an area comprising the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.During the Edo period, Aizu was a feudal domain known as and part of Mutsu Province.-History:...
domain, who fought in the Boshin War
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
(1868–1869).
History
Byakkotai was part of Aizu's four-unit military, set up in the domain's drive to finalize its military modernization, in the wake of the Battle of Toba-FushimiBattle 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 , when the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and the allied forces of Chōshū, Satsuma and Tosa domains clashed near Fushimi...
. The other three units were Genbutai, Seiryūtai, and Suzakutai. Each of the four was named after the protecting gods of compass directions
Four Symbols (Chinese constellation)
The Four Symbols are four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations. They are:*Azure Dragon of the East *Vermilion Bird of the South *White Tiger of the West *Black Tortoise of the North...
. Byakkotai was meant to be a reserve unit, as it was composed of the young, 16 to 17 year old sons of Aizu samurai. It was subdivided further, along the lines of rank within the domain's samurai population: two squads were from the upper (shichū) rank, two from the middle rank (yoriai), and two from the lowest (ashigaru). Twenty of the members of the 2nd shichū squad, cut off from the rest of their unit in the wake of the Battle of Tonoguchihara, retreated to Iimori Hill, which overlooked the castle town
Aizuwakamatsu Castle
, also known as Tsuruga Castle is a traditional castle in northern Japan, at the center of the city of Aizuwakamatsu, in Fukushima Prefecture.- History :The castle was constructed by Ashina Naomori in 1384, and was originally named...
. From there, they saw what they thought was the castle on fire, and committed seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
(with one failed attempt) in desperation, believing their lord
Matsudaira Katamori
was a samurai who lived in the last days of the Edo period and the early to mid Meiji period. He was the 9th daimyo of the Aizu han and the Military Commissioner of Kyoto during the Bakumatsu period. During the Boshin War, Katamori and the Aizu han fought against the Meiji Government armies, but...
and families dead. However these 20 Byakkotai members were mistaken in their assessment of defeat, as the castle defenses had not actually been breached; the castle town surrounding the inner citadel was aflame. As the majority of the town was between Iimori Hill and the castle, the boys saw the rising smoke and assumed that the castle itself had fallen.
The 19 Byakkotai members who committed suicide were the following:
- Adachi Tōzaburō
- Ishiyama Toranosuke
- Shinoda GisaburōShinoda Gisaburowas a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who served the Matsudaira clan of Aizu. He was the leader of a detachment of Byakkotai troops who got separated from their main unit, and arrived at the top of Iimori Hill. From Iimori Hill they thought they saw Wakamatsu castle on fire, and committed...
(acting commander) - Nagase Yūji
- Mase Genshichirō
- Aruga Orinosuke
- Itō Teijirō
- Suzuki Genkichi
- Nishikawa Katsutarō
- Yanase Katsuzaburō
- Ikegami Shintarō
- Itō Toshihiko
- Tsuda Sutezō
- Nomura Komashirō
- Yanase Takeji
- Ishida Wasuke
- Ibuka Shigetarō
- Tsugawa Kiyomi
- Hayashi Yasoji
The sole survivor, Iinuma Sadakichi
Iinuma Sadakichi
was a Japanese samurai of the Aizu domain, and lived well into the 20th century. He was the sole survivor of the famous group of young Byakkotai soldiers who committed suicide on Iimori Hill during the Battle of Aizu. After the war he relocated to Sendai and served in the government and Imperial...
, attempted suicide but was unsuccessful. He was saved by a local peasant. After the war, he moved to the nearby city of Sendai, and lived there until his death. He also served as an officer in the army (retiring with the rank of captain) and as an official of the local post office in Sendai.
After the war, their bodies remained exposed to the elements until permission was finally granted by the imperial government to bury them. A memorial was later erected at Iimori Hill, and all 20 of the Byakkotai members named above are buried there. A stone bearing a poem
Waka (poetry)
Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...
by Matsudaira Katamori
Matsudaira Katamori
was a samurai who lived in the last days of the Edo period and the early to mid Meiji period. He was the 9th daimyo of the Aizu han and the Military Commissioner of Kyoto during the Bakumatsu period. During the Boshin War, Katamori and the Aizu han fought against the Meiji Government armies, but...
also stands at the site:
幾人の 涙は石にそそぐとも その名は世々に 朽じとぞ思う
Ikutari no namida wa ishi ni sosogu tomo sono na wa yoyo ni kuji to zo omou
"No matter how many people wash the stones with their tears, these names will never vanish from the world."
The rest of the Byakkotai continued to fight over the course of the Battle of Aizu
Battle of Aizu
The Battle of Aizu was fought in northern Japan in autumn 1868, and was part of the Boshin War.Aizu was known for its martial skill, and maintained at any given time, a standing army of over 5000. It was often deployed to security operations on the northern fringes of the country, as far north as...
, with many of the members contributing to the defense of the castle
Aizuwakamatsu Castle
, also known as Tsuruga Castle is a traditional castle in northern Japan, at the center of the city of Aizuwakamatsu, in Fukushima Prefecture.- History :The castle was constructed by Ashina Naomori in 1384, and was originally named...
. Many Byakkotai members survived the war. Two of them who went on to prominent roles during the Meiji Era were the physicist and historian Dr. Yamakawa Kenjirō
Yamakawa Kenjiro
was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who went on to become a noted physicist, university president, and author of several histories of the Boshin War...
and the Imperial Japanese Navy admiral Dewa Shigetō
Dewa Shigeto
- Notes :...
.
Benito Mussolini and the Byakkotai
The Italian fascist dictator Benito MussoliniBenito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
heard of the story of the Byakkotai members who committed suicide, and was deeply impressed by their loyalty to their lord. In 1928, he donated a column from Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
to be erected by the graves at Iimori Hill; this column remains there to the present day.