Last Stand of the Samurai | Republic of Ezo
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ค. 2024
- In the final stages of the Boshin War, a sizable group of Tokugawa loyalists, led by Enomoto Takeaki, fled the former shogunate's capital, Edo - soon to be renamed Tokyo - to Japan's far north. Here, they established themselves on Ezogashima (modern Hokkaido), creating a short-lived polity later known as the Republic of Ezo. And, despite its eventually defeat by imperial forces, the Republic would leave an indelible mark on Japanese and, indeed, world history. Attempts were made to introduce democracy on Ezo - though, voting was limited to just members of the samurai class - and, in the Battle of Miyako Bay, a former Confederate ironclad, the CSS Stonewall (renamed Kotetsu), faced off against the Republic's fleet in Japan's own version of the American Civil War. Moreover, the actions of a small cadre of French military officers, most notably Jules Brunet, who helped train the Republic's military, would later inspire the novel and 2003 film, "The Last Samurai." Of course, the Republic's defeat also marked a conclusion to the Boshin War itself and the beginning of the Meiji Era, which saw transformational change occur within Japan.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:06 Boshin War & the Fall of Edo
02:48 Making the Republic of Ezo
03:11 Early Years of Enomoto Takeaki
03:36 What's in a Name?
04:59 Government of the Republic
05:40 Jules Brunet & Training the Republic's Military
05:57 Concerns Over Foreign Influence
06:17 Balance of Power: Imperialists vs the Republic of Ezo
06:42 Japan's Ironclad
07:30 Battle of Miyako Bay
08:55 Battle of Hakodate
09:53 Fall of the Republic
10:28 Key Players & Legacy
12:15 Conclusion
#japan #hokkaido #history
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Intro Animation / Character Design: Emily Clearwater (iamprettyawesome.co.nz)
Intro Music: “Darxieland” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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Background Music: “The Descent” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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🔴 ANNOUNCEMENTS - Okay, first off, we're trying out a new publishing schedule for videos starting today. We'll see how it goes, but always can switch back if needed.
Secondly, after counting all of the comments, it appears that #SIKKIM is the winner of our first "Help Us Choose the Next Ghost Country" episode! If you voted for any of the others though, don't worry - they'll more than likely be covered at some point here on the channel and might even feature in another "Help Us Choose."
Hijikata Toshizō died at the last stand for the Republic of Ezo. I really like his participation in the Manga Golden Kamuy
Great video, my friend!!!
Hey, thank you so much Raúl, glad you liked the video! Kind of hard to believe I hadn't actually watched (or read) Golden Kamuy before working on this episode - though it was sitting in my watchlist. 😅
@@GhostCountries I didn't read it entirely, but it's totally worth it until the Abashiri prison arch
"The Last Samurai" has some creative liberties indeed, especially if we are to treat it as inspired by Burnet. Let's take the story of this French guy, except make him American, move him 8 years later to the other side of Japan, to a different rebellion, led by a guy that was on the other side in this one, overromanticize the Samurai to a ridiculous degree, make them not use the firearms on principle, and make the whole thing kinda like "Dances with Wolves".
Exactly 😅; even as just an inspiration, the story differs considerably from Jules Brunet's - there is a thematic link, I guess though. That being said, it's still a good kind of historical movie.
Could maybe say the same for "Apocalypto" or "Kingdom of Heaven."
I didn't know about all the ironclads and naval components of the Boshin War - especially the Battle of Miyako Bay / Hakodate - really interesting stuff!
Thanks Nomad; the sort of tie in with the American Civil War (à la the CSS Stonewall) just goes to show how interconnected history can be, but also makes sense when you consider the influence foreign nations had on Japan's military modernization efforts during the time. It really is neat though and something we might explore further in future episodes!
i just really wanna say i love the idea behind this channel and the little ghost guy is super cute, hope to see lots more :)
Oh, really glad to hear it Griff and we've got plenty more planned for the channel!
A war between semi Fuedal gun toting samurai with some being emperor supporting modernists on one side and emperor supporting traditionalists in the other side.
Feels like an epic idea for a story
Agree. Well worth the wait!!! Fascinating episode
Thank you so much! 🙌
I was waiting for part 2 and this video did not disappoint! Really, just a fascinating chapter from Japanese history. Will be rewatching the Last Samurai now.
Thank you so much John; it really was and, you known, how there's that sort of (loose) tie-in with the American Civil War. Just like you said: a fascinating chapter from history.
Interesting video, I am really interested in the history of Enomoto Takeaki himself. Unfortunately there is not so much available, or I haven't found the right place yet
As a Dutch person living on Hokkaido. There is a shrine in a place on Hokkaido called Otaru where they have a statue of Enomoto Takeaki.
Thank you so much! And yeah, there’s unfortunately a definite lack of accessible information relating to early Japanese history. I had to dig into some pretty obscure sources to get anything of value when talking about Mizutani Shinroku in our Minami-Torishima video.
I actually didn’t know there is a statue of Enomoto in Otaru! If I’m ever back up in Hokkaido, I’ll have to check it out. Last time I was in Tokyo, I finally made it over to Togo Heihachiro’s shrine in Harajuku.
This was really good and really well researched, even the pronunciation on the names was spot on
Oh, thank you man; I'm glad to hear my Japanese has held up over the years, but I know I made a pronunciation mistake in our Z flag video. 😅
This is such a good history channel mann great job 😄
Oh, thanks SenteQ.; plenty more historical content (plus, a few miniseries) on the way!
Another great vid! Keep em coming
Oh, thanks Matt; plenty more to come and we've got some special content planned for October! 🎃
First! (I think)
Great episode! Despite being interested in the topic for some time, I learned a lot of new things. For example, I thought that the flag with the star was legit.
Thanks Artur, glad you enjoyed this one! We actually began working on it before you made the suggestion - still giving you credit 😉 - but yeah; there's a lot of fuzzy details with the Republic of Ezo, the name itself being a prime example of that. It's kind of the same with that flag design; there was some historical president (i.e. the Hokkaido Development Commission or Kaitakushi), but it seemingly got muddled with other stuff over time.
S/O from Hakodate. Well Done Sir
Oh, thank you so much; would love to visit Sapporo again or even make it up to Nemuro when travel restrictions ease up...whenever that is. Hokkaido (and I'd say the Tohoku region too) is just so different from the rest Japan and its history really shows that!
The sci-fi novel and anime series "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" actually takes one of its major plot points from the Republic of Ezo. In the latter half of the series, Admiral Yang Wen-Li's fleet seizes control of impregnable Iserlohn Fortress (basically Goryokaku in outer space) and declares themselves to be an independent country. The final battle of the series even closely mirrors the Battle of Miyako Bay, with the "Republic of Iserlohn" betting everything on boarding and seizing control of the enemy flagship. As to how it turns out, well, I won't spoil anything...
That is really interesting! I might have to check out the series sometime.
Thanks for the vídeo!
Oh, no problem; thanks for commenting!
Great subject.
Glad you liked the episode Dave; yeah, the context behind the Boshin War (especially the fighting up north) is just fascinating! All the more so when you consider how this and other events occurring in the period would shape Imperial Japan.
Keep it up!!!
Thanks Joyce; oh, and we've got some special content planned for October! 🎃
This is kinda underrated my my…
Oh, thank you; we’ll definitely be returning to cover some other lesser-known chapters of Japan’s history. I’ve been want to do something on Iga, which effectively was independent during by the Muromachi Period.
Good video
Thank you so much Jiayi; glad you like it!
👍👍
Thanks Garrett!
Golden Kamuy bring me here
Great manga / anime
Republic of Ezo 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 it