4/18/2023 0 Comments Yasu takekoSimilarly, it’s unclear whether she was still alive after, and whether Yuko attempted the decapitation herself, or with her mother’s help.ġ5 The best source I could find indicated that Yuko required the assistance of an Aizu soldier, Ueno Yoshisaburo. They all determined to not survive the next day’s battle.ġ4 Two different versions exist as to where Takeko was shot: the chest, or the head. Part of the concern was that Yuko was very attractive, and they feared what the enemy might do to her should she be captured. Due to sanitary concerns, this edict was eventually overturned, and in its place, they took to executing people and burying them near Yanagi bridge.ġ3 Several other women woke up during the night and were involved in this discussion. Initially the Meiji had, due to their scorched-earth policies, decided to not perform any burial rites on anyone, and leave them to rot in the open. 12 There’s a ton of Yanagi bridges in Japan – this one is in Fukushima. The first force was comprised of a group of soldiers, the Joshitai, and some volunteer peasants. It was to attack the bridge head-on. The matter eventually escalated up the chain of command to a field commander who let the Joshitai become their own squadron.ġ1 The plan was to split into three forces, and attack the imperials from three sides. While Takeko was undoubtedly more diplomatic, the leader did refuse to join forces, on account of it reflecting poorly on his brigade. Takeko then threatened to kill herself on the spot. 10 This interaction with the head of the Machiya Cannon Brigade is not much of a mischaracterization. However, when they arrived at Bange, they realized she was still inside the castle, and that they had been misinformed. 8 The patriarch of the Nakano clan was Commander Heinei Nakano, who was helping with defenses at Crane Castle (aka Aizuwakamatsu, or Tsurugajo).ĩ The Joshitai had organized to defend the princess Teruhime, and had heard that she had fled to a nearby area called Bange. Most seem to err on the side of Yuko, though, so I’m defaulting to that. While the writing for Yuko’s name indicates the pronunciation should be Yuko, she was also called Masa or Masako, and is referred to as Masako in some writeups. Takeko was somewhere between 18-22, most estimates assuming 21 or 22. 7 There’s debate on Takeko’s age, and the pronunciation of Yuko’s name. They are also sometimes referred to as the Joshigun. I realized after the illustration that she would have had cropped her hair and been wielding a naginata, but hey.Ħ They were not called the Joshitai at the time, that was a name applied after the battle. She had decapitated her daughter and mother-in-law earlier that day and gone out to die in battle in her previously-unstained white silk robes. In all, 230 people committed mass suicide when the town surrounding Aizu’s Crane Castle fell. The Meiji forces had espoused a no-mercy policy towards the rebels, and rumor had it that all men were to be killed, and all women sold to Westerners. They did so in large part to avoid capture by the enemy. Although it shows up a lot on Japanese websites, I didn’t have enough time to translate source books and fact check it beyond that.Ĥ The majority of the women left outside the castle walls when the town fell committed suicide. 3 The bathhouse part is more thinly-sourced than the rest. She was even engaged to his nephew, but when the Boshin War broke out, she ended the engagement and moved to Aizu – previously, she and her family had been living in Edo (Tokyo). She was taught martial arts skills by Akaoka Dainosuke, the retainer of the lord of Aizu. While this proved the end of Aizu, other shogun loyalists regrouped in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and made a short-lived independent nation called the Ezo Republic, which died out in 1869.Ģ Takeko taught naginata (Japanese halberd) and general literacy, poetry, and calligraphy. The shogun, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, surrendered in April 1868 (technically for the second time, I think), but this battle occurred in October. 1 This conflict was known as the Battle of Aizu, part of the Boshin war.
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