Enomoto the true last Samurai No.7

The Times and Life of Takeaki Enomoto

Part 2 The last days of the Bakufu

５. The Boshin War and a Comparative Study between Takeaki Enomoto and Kaishu Katsu　

Comparative Study with Takeaki Enomoto and Kaishu Katusu　

Katsu’s mind:
1. Katsu thought that it was not good to ask France for help even though the Shogunate was in crisis because it would increase the interference of foreign forces.
That’s why the attitude of the Shogunate depending on foreign forces offended his sense of justice. He was avoiding participating at the meetings. He wanted to decrease their dependence on foreign countries.
2. Katsu did not want to bring the Tokugawa family back to authority. He thought the transfer of the power back to the Emperor from the Shogunate had some historical necessity.
3. The problem was how domains which belong to either the Shogunate party or the Imperial party could unite as one nation under the structure tapped by the emperor.
4. Katsu thought arbitration of the two parties was indispensable. Katsu tried to play a role as the arbitrator.
5. Therefore Katsu’s policy was not to act only for the Shogunate or Satsuma’s interests. The Shogunate party did not like his attitude and his opinion was often ignored at their meeting.
6. Katsu wrote down his feeling as follows on March 25 1867 (Keio 3rd).
“I have been busy and come home at midnight until February 10. Sometimes I stayed up all night. Some other day, 450 people came to my house. They did not trust my attitude and had blood in their eyes. If I am killed and someone finds this note, please feel pity for my bitter death.”

Yoshinobu’s mind: (for reference)
His thought was basically same as Katsu.
1. He resigned as Shogun for the unification of Japan
2. Therefore the transfer of the power back to the Emperor was actually what he wanted. At that time no one was superior to Yoshinobu in terms of wisdom, boldness and wide view.
3. Yoshinobu was influenced strongly by Sonno (thought to revere the Emperor) since he was born in the Mito family. So he carried out the transfer of the power back to the Emperor himself.
4. Yoshinobu supported the idea that the domains govern the local regions under the Emperor.

Enomoto’s mind:
He wanted to maintain and strengthen the Shogunate under the Tokugawa family.
1. Enomoto thought that Choshu and Satsuma (especially Satsuma) were his enemies since they created the situation. And that fact was more important for Enomoto than thinking of the Japanese political condition.
2. The one reason Enomoto thought of Satsuma and Choshu as enemies was that he believed it was Satsuma’s conspiracy to oust Yoshinobu on the meeting on December 10.
3. Another reason was that he was unfamiliar with the latest Japanese political conditions at the time since he had been in the Netherlands for 5 years. Immediately after his return home he saw the Shogunate forced into a corner by Satsuma and Choshu and this was an intolerable situation for him.
4. He acquired the highest skills and technology of naval army in the Netherlands and had the latest battle ship Kaiyomaru at his command. Therefore he had confidence that he would never lose in naval battles.
5. Moreover, he learned not only naval tactics but also of industrial technologies in the Netherlands. However he could not count on those technologies in Japan and he was unsatisfied with the situation.
6. Enomoto thought the reason why Japan was always threaten by foreign countries’ invasion was that Japan lacked the foundation of modern industries and could not be a wealthy nation.

Writer’s point of View:
The turning point of the Meiji Restoration was the Kogosyo-kaigi meeting. It is not an exaggeration to say that the debate that took place during the meeting changed the history of Japan. However the problem was that Yoshinobu was not there. It could be said that Iwakura did not have confidence to argue Yoshinobu down. It was not a very good idea Saigo threatened Yodo that he would kill him. As mentioned before, Yoshinobu already returned the political power back to the Emperor and showed obedience, it would not have made much change if Yoshinobu had participated in the meeting. The other problem was that the emperor was too young to get the power and had no experience. But it is a matter of pride that the restoration was done without any violence except that. If the restoration had been violent, emotional thoughts would have made the situation even more confused.
Yoshinobu was not a good leader of the Shogunate but he had excellent insight. Katsu also supported him greatly. If Katsu and Yoshinobu did not exist at that time, messy war might have broken out and it would have turned into a colonial war between the UK and France. Furthermore, it can be sensed from Katsu’s diary that he was resigned to die. On the other hand, Enomoto did not understand the situation at that time. He might not have made complaints on giving over Edo castle and the battle ship (when he escaped to Tateyama) if he had understood Yoshinobu’s thoughts. Enomoto might have been prepared to sacrifice himself. At this point Enomoto could not match Katsu. Afterward, Enomoto lost in the battle of Hakodate and reflected on his past conduct in jail, altough his performance after the battle was outstanding.