Monument to the Byakkotai Samurai

Aizu (会津藩, aizuhan^?) is a former feudal domain (Han), part of the modern-day Japanese prefecture of Fukushima, formerly a part of Mutsu province. The principal city of the area is Aizu Wakamatsu. Monument to Byakkotai Aizu Aizuwakamatsu Fukushima prefecture Japan I took this photograph and contribute it to the public domain. ... Monument to Byakkotai Aizu Aizuwakamatsu Fukushima prefecture Japan I took this photograph and contribute it to the public domain. ... The Han ) were the fiefs of feudal clans of Japan that were created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and existed until their abolition in 1871, three years after the Meiji Restoration. ... The prefectures of Japan are the countrys 47 sub-national jurisdictions: one metropolis (都 to), Tokyo; one circuit (道 dō), Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures (府 fu), Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures (県 ken). ... Fukushima Prefecture (福島県 Fukushima-ken) is located in the Tohoku region on Honshu island, Japan. ... Mutsu (陸奥国; -no kuni) is an old province of Japan, which today composes Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori prefectures and the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka in Akita prefecture. ... Aizuwakamatsu castle Aizuwakamatsu (会津若松市; -shi) is a city located in Fukushima, Japan. ...

The ruling family (daimyo) were the Hoshina family, former senior retainers of the Takeda of Kai. In the early 17th century the head of the family, Hoshina Masamitsu, adopted the illegitimate son of the 2nd shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, and as a result, the Hoshina family's fortunes rose, with greater and greater enfeoffments being given to them until finally they were moved to Aizu in the mid-17th century, which was then rated at 240,000 koku. Hoshina Masayuki, the adopted head of the family, rose in prominence during the tenure as shogun of his half-brother Tokugawa Iemitsu, even acting as a regent for the underage 4th shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna. By the end of the 17th century, the Hoshina family was allowed the use of the Tokugawa hollyhock crest and the Matsudaira surname, and from then on was known as the Aizu-Matsudaira clan, with the name Hoshina being used mainly for internal documents. Daimyo Matsudaira Katamori visits the residence of a retainer. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada Tokugawa Hidetada (徳川 秀忠 (1579-1632) was the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. ... Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu Tokugawa Iemitsu (previously spelled Iyemitsu); 徳川 家光 (August 12, 1604 — June 8, 1651) was the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty who reigned from 1623 to 1651. ... Tokugawa Ietsuna (徳川 家綱, 1641-1680) was the fourth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. ...

In the house code set down by Masayuki, there was a specific injunction to serve the Shogun with single-minded devotion, and it was this injunction which the family took great pains to show its adherence to, even if its true objectives were those of improving status and prestige.

Aizu was known for its martial skill, and maintained at any given time, a standing army of over 5000. It was often deployed to security operations on the northern fringes of the country, as far north as southern Sakhalin. Also, in the period immediately before, during, and after Commodore Perry's arrival, Aizu had a presence in security operations around Edo Bay. Location of Sakhalin in the Western Pacific. ... Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 - March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy who forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, under the threat of military force. ...

During the tenure of the 9th generation lord Matsudaira Katamori, the domain deployed massive amounts of their troops to Kyoto, where Katamori served as Kyoto Shugoshoku. Earning the hatred of the Choshu domain, and alienating his ally, the Satsuma domain, Katamori retreated with the shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu in 1868. Though the Satsuma-Choshu controlled Imperial Court, following Yoshinobu's resignation, called for the punishment of Katamori and Aizu as "enemies of the Court," he took great pains to beg for mercy, finally acquiescing to calls for war later in 1868, during the Boshin War. Though the Aizu forces fought as part of the greater efforts of the Ouetsu Reppan Domei, they were eventually besieged at Tsuruga Castle, the seat of the Aizu domain, in September 1868. Matsudaira Katamori (松平容保), (February 15, 1836−December 5, 1893) was a samurai that lived in the last days of the Edo period and the early Meiji period. ... Tokugawa Yoshinobu in French military uniform, c. ... The Boshin War (戊辰戦争 Boshin Sensō, literally War of the Year of the Dragon) was fought in 1868-1869 between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the pro-Imperial forces in Japan. ... Tsuruga Castle, February 2001 Aizu Wakamatsu Castle Tsuruga Castle (鶴ヶ城; -jō), also known as Aizuwakamatsu Castle (会津若松城; -jō), is a traditional fortress in northern Japan, at the center of the town of Aizuwakamatsu, in Fukushima Prefecture. ...

The Byakkotai ("White Tiger Company") was a group of young, predominantly teenage, samurai who committed seppuku (a form of ritual suicide) on a hillside overlooking the castle after seeing its defences breached. Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. ... Seppuku with ritual attire and second (staged) General Akashi Gidayu preparing to commit Seppuku after losing a battle for his master in 1582. ... Ritual suicide is the act of suicide motivated by a religious, spiritual, or traditional ritual. ...

The Aizu clan also patronized the Shinsengumi. Mannequins dressed in Shinsengumi outfits The Shinsengumi (Japanese: 新選組) were a special police force of the late shogunate period. ...

Famous people

• Hideyo Noguchi, a doctor who made considerable contributions to the fight against syphillis and yellow fever. His portrait is currently (2006) featured on the 1,000 yen bill in Japan.

• Shiba Goro, prominent at the Siege of the Peking legations, 1900.

• Niijima Yae, co-founder of Doshisha University, instructor in the women's division of Doshisha and wife of Niijima Jo ([Joseph Hardy Neesima])

• Yamamoto Kakuma, former samurai, co-founder of Doshisha University.

• Takamine Hideo, former samurai, graduate of Oswego Normal School in New York State, Meiji-era educator and head of the Tokyo Normal School, Tokyo Art School, Tokyo Women's Normal School and Tokyo Music School. He is best known for introducing Pestallozian teaching methods to Japan and educational reform.

• Ibuka Kajinosuke, former samurai turned Christian pastor, responsible for bringing the YMCA to Japan.

• Matsudaira Tsuneo, son of Matsudaira Katamori, ambassador to the U.S. and U.K.

• Matsudaira Setsuko, daughter of Matsudaira Tsuneo; later married Prince Chichibu no Miya, Emperor Hirohito's brother.

• Yamakawa Kenjiro, graduate of Yale University, physicist, researcher, academic administrator, President of Tokyo University and Kyoto University

• Yamakawa Sutematsu graduate of Vassar College, after marriage to Oyama Iwao, she is known as Oyama Sutematsu, an organizer at the Rokumeikan, supporter of numerous organizations such as the Red-Cross in Japan and Women's Patriotic Society. She assisted in the founding of Tsuda College (which was organized by her close life-long friend Tsuda Umeko)

• Yamakawa Hiroshi Brother of Kenjiro and Sutematsu, a famous military leader who defended the domain, later organized Aizu refugees, a key figure in the relief of Kumamoto Garrison during the Seinan War or Satsuma Rebellion and General in the Meiji Era

• Yamakawa Futaba a co-worker of Takamine Hideo, head administrator at the Tokyo Women's Normal School, she is best known for her support of womens' education

Noguchi Hideyo (野口 英世 November 9, 1876 - May 21, 1928) was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist who discovered the agent of syphilis disease in 1911. ... Colonel Shiba Goro was born into a samurai family in the Aizu region of Northern Japan. ... Her Imperial Highness Princess Chichibu (Setsuko秩父宮妃勢津子) of Japan (jp: chichibu no miya setsuko shinnō-hi), was born Matsudaira Setsuko, (b. ... Yamakawa Kenjiro (山川健次郎 Yamakawa Kenjirō, 1854-1931) was the third son of the head of the Aizu clan. ...

References

• Noguchi Shinichi, Aizu-han. Tokyo: Gendai Shokan, 2005. (ISBN 4768471021)

• Bolitho, Harold. “Aizu, 1853-1868.” Proceedings of the British Association for Japanese Studies, vol. 2 (1977): 1-17.