war of Ezo-chi

Can anyone suggest a good source for the war of Ezo-chi? So far,
I've got Choshu in the Meiji Restoration, the Making of Modern
Japan, a Diplomat in Japan, the Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu, and
Samurai Sketches. The Making of Modern Japan and A Diplomat in Japan
have some information, but its' very sparce and general. I'm
particularly interested in why Hakodate was chosen (I suppose
because at the time Ezo was very loosely controlled), the role of
local peasantry in the overthrow of the Tokugawa forces there,
Yoshinobu's reaction if any, how Hijikata Toshizou got there, when,
and how it affected the troops after his death (I noticed fighting
kept on for almost two months afterwards); any information on
Enomoto Takeaki (I know nothing about him except that he was in
charge of the navy), if any Aizu troops fled the destruction of
their han and made it to Hakodate (likewise if any of the
shogitai/shinsen gumi went as well, I know by that almost all the
shogitai were massacared and by this time almost all the shinsen
gumi had fled/been killed), and just exactly how stiff resistance
was (I know pretty there was some heavy fighting, but just how
intense was the Meiji attack before the end).

>Kyle,

Hijikata does not get a mention in my Dictionary of Modern Japanese History or in any of the general histories I've got. All I know about him is that he accompanied Enomoto to Hokkaido (at that time just beginning to be opened up and developed by the Japanese.)

Enomoto Takeaki (born 1836) studied Dutch learning and seamanship, and studied in Holland 1862 to 67 before becoming deputy head of the Bakufu's naval department. Refused to surrender to imperial forces in 1868 and fled with warships to Hokkaido where he resisted the new government in the fortress of Goryoukaku (shaped like a star with five points according to a picturein my illustrated history and described as the defence of the north.) He surrendered in 1869, was imprisoned but then pardoned and joined the Hokkaido Colonisation Board. Then became navy minister,special envoy to Russia and China and served the Meiji govt in many ministerial positions. Died in 1908. Was made a Viscount in 1887.


The dictionary gives a bit more under the Boshin War heading and lists Daniels G The Japanese Civil War - a British View (MAS 1 July 1967) the Satow book you already have and Sheldon CD The Politics of the Civil War of 1868 in WG Beasley (ed) Modern Japan: Aspects of History, Literature and Society 1975. But there must be some more recent stuff in Asian academic journals. Did the websites given recently by William show anything?

G

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