Byakkotai

The Byakkotai (白虎隊, "White Tiger Unit") was a group of around 305[1] young teenage samurai of the Aizu Domain, who fought in the Boshin War (1868–1869).

Byakkotai
白虎隊
Statue of Byakkotai warriors at Iimori Hill, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
Active1868
Disbanded1868
CountryJapan
AllegianceAizu Domain
Typereserve force
Rolereserve force of Aizu Domain
Size305
EngagementsBoshin War
Commanders
CaptainHinata Naiki

History

The Byakkotai was part of Aizu's four-unit military, formed in April 1868 in the domain's drive to finalize its military modernization, in the wake of the Battle of Toba–Fushimi.[2] The other three units were the Genmutai (Black Tortoise Unit),[3] the Seiryūtai (Azure Dragon Unit),[4] and the Suzakutai (Vermilion Bird Unit).[5][6] Each of the four was named after the protecting gods of compass directions. Byakkotai was meant to be a reserve unit, as it was composed of the young, 16- to 17-year-old sons of Aizu samurai.[7] 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).[8] 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,[9] retreated to Iimori Hill, which overlooked the castle town. From there, they saw what they thought was the castle on fire, and committed seppuku (with one failed attempt) in desperation, believing their lord and families dead.[10] 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.[10]

The 19 Byakkotai members who committed suicide were the following:[11]

  • Adachi Tōzaburō
  • Ishiyama Toranosuke
  • Shinoda Gisaburō (acting commander)
  • Nagase Yūji
  • Mase Genshichirō
  • Aruga Orinosuke[12]
  • Itō Teijirō
  • Suzuki Genkichi
  • Nishikawa Shōtarō
  • Yanase Katsusaburō
  • Ikegami Shintarō
  • Itō Toshihiko
  • Tsuda Sutezō
  • Nomura Komashirō
  • Yanase Takeji
  • Ishida Wasuke
  • Ibuka Shigetarō
  • Tsugawa Kiyomi
  • Hayashi Yasoji

The sole survivor, Iinuma Sadakichi, 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.[13]

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.[14] A stone bearing a poem by Matsudaira Katamori also stands at the site:

幾人の　涙は石にそそぐとも　その名は世々に　朽じとぞ思ふ

Ikutari no namida wa ishi ni sosogu tomo sono na wa yoyo ni kuchiji to zo omou

"No matter how many people wash the stones with their tears, these names will never vanish from the world."[15]

The rest of the Byakkotai continued to fight over the course of the Battle of Aizu, with many of the members contributing to the defense of the castle.[16] Many Byakkotai members survived the war.[17] Two of them who went on to prominent roles during the Meiji Era were the physicist and historian Dr Yamakawa Kenjirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy admiral Dewa Shigetō.

Benito Mussolini and the Byakkotai
Pompeii column from Benito Mussolini currently erected on Iimoriyama

The Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini heard of the story of the Byakkotai members who committed suicide, and was deeply impressed by their loyalty to their lord.[18] In 1928, he donated a column from Pompeii to be erected by the graves at Iimori Hill; this column remains there to the present day.

Depictions in media

The Byakkotai have been the topic of many plays, books, films, and TV series. One notable TV depiction was produced in 1986; another, more recently, was the 2007 TV drama, which starred Yamashita Tomohisa, Tanaka Koki and Fujigaya Taisuke. Yamashita portrayed another Byakkotai survivor, Sakai Mineji.[19]

The Byakkotai are featured as a unit exclusive to the Aizu clan in Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai.

  • Memorial on Limori hill.
  • Tablets with the names of Byakkotai members who committed suicide.
  • Column given by Mussolini.
  • Children portraying Byakkotai soldiers at the annual Aizu clan parade (2006).
  • View from Limori Hill (2006).
  • Byakkotai who committed Seppuku at Iimori Hill, woodblock print

See also

Notes
  1. Nakamura, p. 30. Approx. 305 as per Nakamura's addition of the numbers in the 5 sub-units of Byakkotai.
  2. Noguchi, Aizu-han, pp. 169–170.
  3. Made up of men 50 years and older, tasked with city patrol in Wakamatsu and reserve duty
  4. Made up of men 36 to 49 years old, tasked with border patrol
  5. Made up of 18- to 35-year-old men, tasked with actual combat
  6. Name readings as per Noguchi, p. 170; unit data as per Nakamura, pp. 23–25.
  7. Noguchi, p. 169
  8. Noguchi, p. 170; as per Nakamura, p. 30, the numbers in each subdivision were: Shichu 1: 37 Shichu 2: 37 Yoriai 1: 98 Yoriai 2: 62 Ashigaru: 71
  9. Yamakawa, Aizu Boshin Senshi, pp. 521–522.
  10. Yamakawa, Aizu Boshin Senshi, p. 522.
  11. Yamakawa, Hoshū Aizu Byakkotai Jūkyūshi-den, p. 1
  12. Name reading as per Yamakawa, Hoshū Aizu Byakkotai Jūkyūshi-den, p. 3
  13. Yamakawa, Hoshū Aizu Byakkotai jūkyūshi-den, p. 28
  14. Including Iinuma, who was initially buried in Sendai but whose hair and teeth were reinterred at Iimori Hill in 1958. See http://www.geocities.co.jp/SilkRoad-Lake/6618/honmon/21.html Archived 2012-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
  15. (in Japanese) http://homepage3.nifty.com/ponpoko-y/yomoyama/aizu03.htm Archived 2008-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Yamakawa, Aizu Boshin Senshi, pp. 608–610
  17. Nakamura, p. 199. probably over 80% of members survived
  18. Yamakawa, Hoshū Aizu Byakkotai jūkyūshi-den, p. 4
  19. Mineji was in the same unit as the Byakkotai boys who committed suicide. See Yamakawa, Hoshū Aizu Byakkotai Jūkyūshi-den, p. 111. A statue of the real Mineji can be seen at Iimori Hill. See http://oniheru.fc2web.com/douzou/sakai_mineji.htm

References
  • Nakamura Akihiko (2001). Byakkotai. Tokyo: Bunshun-shinsho.
  • Noguchi Shin'ichi (2005). Aizu-han. Tokyo: Gendai Shokan.
  • Yamakawa Kenjirō (1933). Aizu Boshin Senshi. Tokyo: Aizu Boshin Senshi Hensankai.
  • Yamakawa Kenjirō; Munekawa Toraji (1926). Hoshū Aizu Byakkotai jūkyūshi-den. Wakamatsu: Aizu Chōrei Gikai.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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