Edo Castle Surrender

Edo Castle was handed over to the new government forces in April 1868 (Keio 4). The Shogunate forces were defeated in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi on January 3rd of that year, and Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who was in Osaka, returned to Edo by sea. In February, the Meiji government formed an Eastern Expeditionary Force and began its advance along the three roads of Tokai, Tosan, and Hokuriku, setting March 15th as the date for the general attack on Edo. After returning east, Yoshinobu was not completely opposed to resistance, but he eventually showed a submissive attitude, entrusting future matters to Katsu Kaishu and Okubo Tadahiro, and left Edo Castle on February 12th to be confined to Kan'ei-ji Temple in Ueno. On March 9, Yamaoka Tesshu, an envoy from the former shogunate, contacted Saigo Takamori, and a meeting between Saigo and Katsu was held at the Satsuma clan residence in Mita, Edo, on the 13th and 14th. Initially, the Restoration government and the expeditionary forces of the East had a policy of taking a tough stance against the Tokugawa clan, but a compromise was reached due to the pleas of the Tokugawa clan within the government, Prince Rinnouji and Prince Seikan'in (Prince Kazunomiya), and a request from the UK, which did not want the civil war to escalate. An imperial envoy entered the castle on April 4, and the soldiers of the expeditionary forces of the East entered on the 11th. The castle was placed under the control of the Owari clan, the weapons under the control of the Kumamoto clan, and Edo was opened to the public. On the same day, Tokugawa Yoshinobu left Ueno for Mito, his new place of confinement, and on the 21st, Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expedition, entered the castle. Edo Castle was opened to the public, but the Kanto region was not under the control of the new government. There were old Shogunate ships under Enomoto Takeaki in Edo Bay, the old Shogunate forces led by Otori Keisuke had power in northern Kanto, and the Shogitai was based in Ueno and was in conflict with the new government forces. On May 15, the new government forces attacked Ueno and annihilated the Shogitai, and on the 24th of the same month, they presented a plan for disposing of the Tokugawa clan and awarded Tokugawa Kamenosuke (Iesato) 700,000 koku of land in Sunpu. The Kanto region now came under the control of the new government forces, and the battlefield shifted to the Tohoku region.

[Inoue Isao]

"The Boshin War" by Kiyoshi Haraguchi (1963, Hanawa Shobo)" ▽ "The Civil War of the Meiji Restoration" by Takashi Ishii (1968, Shiseido) ▽ "Images of the Meiji Era 2: The Boshin War" edited by Ichiro Murakami (1968, Sanichi Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1868年（慶応4）4月に行われた新政府軍への江戸城明渡し。同年正月3日の鳥羽(とば)・伏見(ふしみ)の戦いにおいて幕府軍は敗北し、大坂にいた徳川慶喜(よしのぶ)は海路江戸に帰った。2月、維新政府は東征軍を結成して東海、東山、北陸の三道から進軍を開始、江戸総攻撃日を3月15日と決定した。東帰後の慶喜は抗戦の意志をもたないわけでもなかったが、やがて恭順の姿勢を示し、後事を勝海舟(かつかいしゅう)、大久保忠寛(ただひろ)に託して、2月12日江戸城を去って上野・寛永寺(かんえいじ)に謹慎した。3月9日には旧幕府側使節の山岡鉄舟(てっしゅう)が西郷隆盛(たかもり)と接触し、13、14日の両日にわたり、江戸・三田(みた)の薩摩(さつま)藩邸において西郷、勝の会談がもたれた。当初、維新政府と征東軍は厳しい態度で徳川氏に臨む方針であったが、政府内部の徳川一門、輪王寺宮(りんのうじのみや)、静寛院宮(せいかんいんのみや)（和宮(かずのみや)）の嘆願、内戦の拡大を喜ばないイギリスの要請などがあって妥協が成立した。4月4日に勅使が入城し、11日には東征軍諸兵が入城して、城郭は尾張(おわり)藩が、武器は熊本藩が管理、江戸は開城した。同日、徳川慶喜は上野を出て新たな謹慎の地である水戸に向かい、21日、東征大総督有栖川宮熾仁(ありすがわのみやたるひと)親王が入城した。江戸城は開城したが関東が新政府の支配下に置かれたわけではなかった。江戸湾には榎本武揚(えのもとたけあき)の旧幕府艦艇があり、大鳥圭介(おおとりけいすけ)の率いる旧幕府軍は北関東に勢力をもち、彰義隊(しょうぎたい)は上野を拠点として新政府軍と対立していた。5月15日新政府軍は上野を攻撃して彰義隊を壊滅させ、同月24日には徳川氏処分案を示して徳川亀之助(かめのすけ)（家達(いえさと)）を駿府(すんぷ)70万石に封じた。ここに関東は新政府軍の支配下に入り、戦場は東北地方へと移った。

［井上　勲］

『原口清著『戊辰戦争』（1963・塙書房）』▽『石井孝著『維新の内乱』（1968・至誠堂）』▽『村上一郎編『明治の群像2　戊辰戦争』（1968・三一書房）』

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