Ōtori Keisuke
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- In this Japanese name, the family name is Ōtori.
Ōtori Keisuke (大鳥 圭介 Ōtori Keisuke?, 14 April 1833—15 June 1911) was a Japanese military commander during the last years of the Tokugawa shogunate and the beginning of the Meiji Era.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early Life and Education
Ōtori Keisuke was born in Akamatsu Village, in the Ako domain of Harima Province (modern-day Hyōgo), the son of a doctor Kobayashi Naosuke. At a young age, he entered the Shizutani school in Bizen, engaging in Chinese studies. Later, he entered the famous Dutch Studies school of Ogata Kōan, where he studied the Dutch language and medicine. After leaving the Ogata school, Ōtori went to Edo, entering the school of Tsuboi Tadamasu, lecturing students who were learning to translate Dutch. While in Edo he also learned military strategy from Egawa Tarōzaemon and English from Nakahama Manjiro, thus coming into possession of an uncommonly thorough appreciation of Western studies for that time. As a result, in 1859, the Tokugawa Shogunate appointed him as an instructor to its Kaiseijo institute, and it was from there that Ōtori entered the Shogunate army.
[edit] Time in the Tokugawa Army
After entering the Tokugawa army, Ōtori displayed promise as a student, quickly becoming a senior instructor of infantry tactics. Following his study of French infantry tactics in Yokohama (where he was a student of Jules Brunet), he was promoted to ( Infantry Magistrate (歩兵奉行 Hohei bugyō?)), a rank equivalent to a four-star general in a modern Western army.
Ōtori used his status as a respected scholar of Western studies to take the rather unexpected step of making suggestions on governmental reform to the Shogun. In 1864, he issued a petition expressing his views on the benefits of a bicameral legislature to the government. In his position with the military, Ōtori was able to create of an elite brigade modeled after advice provided by the French military advisors the Denshūtai (伝習隊?). Made of 800 men, the Denshūtai's members were chosen on the basis of capability rather than background; and for someone of relatively humble birth as Ōtori, this was proof that he was mindful of his own origins.
[edit] Boshin War
Following the defeat at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in early 1868, Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned to Edo and began to express wishes for pledging allegiance to the new Meiji government. Not wanting to go down without a fight, Otori and Oguri Tadamasa expressed their desire to continue the war, but with the surrender of Edo Castle Ōtori gathered 500 men of the Shogunate Army at Hō'on-ji Temple in Asakusa, and left Edo. On his arrival in Ichikawa he joined with Hijikata Toshizō of the Shinsengumi, Akizuki Tōnosuke of Aizu, Tatsumi Naofumi of Kuwana, and others, bringing his force up to 2000 men. Dividing this into three groups, he ordered the attack. One unit was marched towards Nikkō, defeating an Imperial Army detachment on the way at Koyama in Shimotsuke Province. The detached unit under Hijikata had also defeated an Imperial army force at Utsunomiya Castle, and so it proceeded to enter the castle by way of Koyama. This was to be the last victory of any army Ōtori led.
Ōtori's men mounted a fighting retreat while defending the western approaches to Aizu; finally arriving in the domain seat of Wakamatsu. In order to reinforce their strength, Ōtori petitioned Matsudaira Katamori to gather peasants from the surrounding villages; however, he was refused. Ōtori remained in the vicinity of Wakamatsu for some time, however, with the advance of the Imperial Army, he was forced to retreat, making his way to Sendai. There he met with Enomoto Takeaki, who had arrived in Matsushima Bay with six warships of the former Shogunate. Boarding these ships, the force headed for Hakodate, Hokkaidō.
Soon afterward, the Republic of Ezo was established, and as a result of the first attempt at democratic elections that Japan had ever seen, Ōtori was elected Minister of the Army. However, in terms of battlefield experience, Ōtori was expert mostly in theory; while his second-in-command Hijikata Toshizo was far more experienced in combat, and Ōtori's awkwardness, as well as his tendency to laugh and say Mata maketa yo! ("Oh I lost again!") in the face of defeat gave him a bad reputation with his men.
In the Battle of Hakodate when the Imperial Army surrounded the Goryokaku fortress, Enomoto Takeaki wanted to go down fighting; however, it was Ōtori who suggested a peaceful surrender, changing Enomoto's mind with his words of "If it's dying you want you can do it anytime."
Ōtori was taken into custody and transferred to a prison in Tokyo; a building which ironically he had built himself as Ōdaira-mae Infantry Barracks.
[edit] Life in the Meiji era
While in prison, Ōtori continued to make use of his knowledge of things Western, to the benefit of his fellow prisoners. In a rather amusing anecdote, it is said that while in prison, he not only reformed the bad habits of the prison boss, but also managed to institute a parliamentary system amongst the prisoners.
After his release in 1872, Ōtori agreed to work in the Meiji government, first becoming involved in land reclamation, and later becoming president of the Gakushuin Peers’ School in 1886. In 1889, Ōtori was sent as an ambassador to Qing dynasty China and Joseon dynasty Korea. He was also instrumental in the opening of the First Sino-Japanese War.
Ōtori was also involved in efforts to preserve history. Beginning in 1898, he assisted with the editing and publication of the magazine Kyū Bakufu, which focused on archiving memoirs and accounts of the former Shogunate by the men who had made up its ranks. He also contributed to the building of a monument to the war dead in Hakodate.
Ōtori passed away from esophageal cancer on 15 June 1911, at age 80.
