Battle of Hakodate

What Happened

The Battle of Hakodate (箱館戦争, Hakodate Sensō) was the final campaign of the Boshin War, fought from 4 December 1868 to 27 June 1869 around the port town of Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaidō. On one side stood the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate's armed forces, reorganised into the army of the rebel Ezo Republic. On the other stood the armies of the newly formed Imperial government, drawn mainly from the Chōshū and Satsuma domains of western Japan.

The fighting opened in December 1868, when Tokugawa loyalists seized control of Hakodate and its harbour. The campaign's decisive phase came in the spring of 1869. On 11 May, government forces landed at Esashi and pushed north. On 4 May, a Tokugawa fleet had already been shattered at the Naval Battle of Hakodate, giving the Imperial side command of the sea. Land battles at Futamata and elsewhere drove the rebels back into the star-shaped fortress of Goryōkaku (五稜郭, Goryōkaku), which served as the seat of the Ezo Republic.

The end came on 27 June 1869. Enomoto Takeaki, the republic's president, surrendered Goryōkaku to the Imperial commander. The last organised resistance to the Meiji government was over.

Background

The Boshin War had begun in 1868 as a struggle between supporters of the Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition of domains backing the restoration of imperial rule. The shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu had resigned his office in late 1867, and in January 1868 the imperial court declared the restoration of direct imperial government. After a series of defeats in central Japan, the shogunate's loyalists split. Some surrendered; others, including a large body of the shogunate navy, withdrew north.

Enomoto Takeaki, a naval officer who had studied in the Netherlands, led the fleet north rather than submit. In December 1868 his forces occupied Hakodate and the surrounding area. On 25 December 1868 they declared the Ezo Republic (蝦夷共和国, Ezo Kyōwakoku), a short-lived state with Enomoto as its head, modelled in part on the United States. The republic's capital was Goryōkaku, a Western-style star fort built in the 1860s on the orders of the shogunate.

The Imperial government could not tolerate a rival state on Hokkaidō. In early 1869 it dispatched an army and a fleet northward. The campaign that followed was the last of the Boshin War.

Why It Mattered

The Battle of Hakodate ended the Boshin War and with it the last armed challenge to the Meiji government. When Enomoto surrendered on 27 June 1869, the new imperial state controlled the whole of Japan, from Kyūshū to Hokkaidō. The Meiji era, which had begun in 1868, could proceed without internal military opposition.

The campaign also settled Hokkaidō's place in the new Japan. The Ezo Republic had claimed the island as an independent state; its defeat brought Hokkaidō firmly under the authority of the Meiji government, which went on to establish the Hokkaidō Development Commission (開拓使, Kaitakushi) to colonise and administer the island.

The battle is remembered for the fate of its leaders. Enomoto Takeaki was spared execution and later entered government service, becoming a diplomat and cabinet minister. Other survivors of the republic, including Ōtori Keisuke, also went on to serve the Meiji state. The lenient treatment of the defeated reflected the government's interest in reconciliation and in using the talents of former shogunate men.

The Name in Japanese

The Japanese name is 箱館戦争. Its kana reading is はこだてせんそう. Its romaji is Hakodate Sensō. The name is also rendered as 函館戦争, using a different first kanji for the same place.

Breaking it down character by character:

• 箱 — read hako here. It means "box". In the place name 箱館, it refers to the box-like appearance of the original fort or trading post at the site.
• 館 — read date here. It means "hall", "mansion", or "building". Together, 箱館 (Hakodate) is the old spelling of the city's name, used until the kanji were changed to 函館 in the Meiji period.
• 戦 — read sen. It means "war" or "battle".
• 争 — read sō. It means "conflict", "dispute", or "strife". Together, 戦争 (sensō) means "war".

So 箱館戦争 is literally "the Hakodate War" — the war at Hakodate. The alternative name, 五稜郭の戦い (Goryōkaku no tatakai), means "the Battle of Goryōkaku", after the star fort where the campaign ended. 五稜郭 breaks down as 五 (go, "five"), 稜 (ryō, "ridge" or "angle"), and 郭 (kaku, "enclosure" or "fort"), describing the fort's five-pointed shape.

Key Figures

Enomoto Takeaki (榎本武揚, 1836–1908) was the president of the Ezo Republic and the commander of its forces. A former shogunate naval officer, he led the fleet north in 1868 and surrendered Goryōkaku on 27 June 1869. He later served the Meiji government as a diplomat and minister.

Ōtori Keisuke (大鳥圭介, 1833–1911) was a senior military commander of the republic's army. He directed land operations during the campaign and, like Enomoto, later entered government service.

Saigō Tanomo (西郷頼母, 1830–1903) was a former Aizu domain official who joined the northern resistance. He is among the figures associated with the conflict.

Hayashi Tadasu (林董, 1850–1913) was a young supporter of the shogunate who took part in the campaign. He survived to become a Meiji diplomat and foreign minister.

Matsumae Castle (松前城, Matsumae-jō) and Shiryōkaku (四稜郭, Shiryōkaku) were the two fortifications most closely tied to the fighting. Matsumae Castle was the seat of the Matsumae domain on Hokkaidō; Shiryōkaku was a smaller four-pointed fort built by the republic's forces near Goryōkaku. The campaign also included the Battle of Miyako Bay (宮古湾海戦, Miyako-wan Kaisen) and the Naval Battle of Hakodate (箱館湾海戦, Hakodate-wan Kaisen), along with the Battle of Futamata (二股口の戦い, Futamata-guchi no tatakai).