was a Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

of the late Edo period, later a figure in efforts to colonize Hokkaido. He is also known by his court title, ''Tango no kami'' (丹後守). Takenaka Shigekata was born in 1828 in the town of Iwate, in

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

, the son of Tokugawa retainer Takenaka Motoyuki. Motoyuki, though the head of a branch house, was a descendant of the great Sengoku-era strategist Takenaka Hanbei Shigeharu . Following his father's death, Shigekata was adopted by Takenaka Shigeakira, the 5000 ''koku''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

who was head of the main Takenaka house. Though a senior

due to his rank, he entered the ranks of the Greater Guardsmen (''Ōbangumi''; 大御番組) in 1864. He later became an Army Magistrate, and took part in the campaign that put down the Tengu Party. He also concurrently held the rank of

wakadoshiyori The ', or "Junior Elders", were high government officials in the Edo period Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). The position was established around 1633, but appointments were irregular until 1662. The four to six ''wakadoshiyori'' we ...

. In 1868, Takenaka was part of the force headed for the Fushimi ''bugyōsho'', but was beaten back by the new Imperial Army. Returning to Edo as part of the Tokugawa withdrawal, he was singled out as a scapegoat for the defeat, and was stripped of his court rank and title, and prohibited from entering

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established the ...

. Though he briefly entered the priesthood, he still wanted to fight the Imperial army, and so he formed the Junchūtai (純忠隊). He initially had tactical coordination with the Shogitai, but following the defeat at the

Battle of Ueno The was a battle of the Boshin War, which occurred on July 4, 1868 (''Meiji 1, 15th day of the 5th month''), between the troops of the Shōgitai under Shibusawa Seiichirō and Amano Hachirō, and Imperial "Kangun" troops. Prelude Though the S ...

, he led the unit northward (together with former roju

Ogasawara Nagamichi was a Japanese samurai and official in the Bakumatsu period Tokugawa Shogunate. Before the Meiji Restoration, his courtesy title was '' Iki no Kami'' and lower 5th Court rank.Beasley, W.G. (1955). ''Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 18 ...

and his men), engaging in guerilla warfare as he moved farther into

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

. Joining

Enomoto Takeaki Viscount was a Japanese samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate and fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War. He later served in the Mei ...

's fleet in Sendai, he traveled to Hokkaido, where he became a Judge Advocate General officer in the new

Ezo Republic The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt t ...

. Just before the end of the

Battle of Hakodate The was fought in Japan from December 4, 1868 to June 27, 1869, between the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate army, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the armies of the newly formed Imperial government (composed ...

, he headed to Tokyo on a foreign steamship, ostensibly to find some unexplored option for fighting the Imperial Army; however, as he no longer had any solutions, he heeded his father Shigeakira's advice and surrendered. As punishment he forfeited his holdings, and was placed under the supervision of the

Fukuoka domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Chikuzen Province in modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. The domain was also sometimes referred to as Chikuzen Domain, or as Kuroda Domain, after the ruling Kuroda ...

. Later transferred to the guardianship of his father, he followed the latter to Hokkaido, where they settled. Moved by the plight of the impoverished former ''samurai'' there, Takenaka submitted a memorandum to the new government on the increase of agricultural productivity in Hokkaido. This reached the right ears, and he was pardoned in 1873, being allowed to return to Tokyo and work in the new government. However, in 1875, he left that post, and worked in the Hoeisha Company that his younger brother Motoyori had started, furthering the cause of increased productivity in Hokkaido. Takenaka died in 1891 at the age of 63, and is buried Takanawa-Sengakuji Temple.

Sources

''Meiji Ishin Jinmei Jiten''. Nihon Rekishi-gakkai, ed. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1981, n.p. {{DEFAULTSORT:Takenaka, Shigekata Samurai 1828 births 1891 deaths People from Gifu Prefecture Hatamoto Meiji Restoration Wakadoshiyori Recipients of Japanese royal pardons