The , also known as and , took place in May and July 1868, when the Japanese capital of

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

(modern

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

), controlled by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, fell to forces favorable to the restoration of

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

Saigō Takamori was a Japanese samurai and nobleman. He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Living during the late Edo and early Meiji periods, he later led the Sats ...

, leading the victorious imperial forces north and east through Japan, had won the Battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma in the approaches to the capital. He was eventually able to surround

in May 1868.Kornicki, Peter F. (1998). ''Meiji Japan'', p. 96.

Katsu Kaishū Count , best known by his nickname , was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku ) by Sakuma Shōzan. H ...

, the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...

''s Army Minister, negotiated the surrender, which was unconditional.Perkins, Dorothy. (1997). ; Marius Jansen. (1995). Some groups continued to resist after this formal surrender but were defeated in 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 ...

in northeastern Tokyo, on 4 July 1868. The city was fully under control in July 1868. During that time,

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

had been under voluntary confinement at

Kan'ei-ji (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by Tenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious center Enryaku-ji, in Kyoto. The main object of worship is .Ni ...

temple. On 3 September 1868, the city was renamed

("Eastern capital"), and the Meiji Emperor moved his capital to Tokyo, electing residence in

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 ...

, today's Imperial Palace. A small monument has been erected at the location of the surrender meeting between Saigō Takamori and Katsu Kaishū, at Minato-ku, Shiba 5-33-1.

Cultural depictions

The Fall of Edo was depicted in various films and television series: ;Film *''Edojō Sōzeme'' (1930, dir. Seika Shiba) *'' Edo Saigo no Hi'' (1941, dir. Hiroshi Inagaki) *''Dai Tokyo Tanjō Ōedo no Kane'' (1958, dir. Tatsuyasu Ōsone) ;Television drama * Taiga drama **''San Shimai'' (1967), 5th taiga drama **''Katsu Kaishū'' (1974), 12th taiga drama **''Tobu ga Gotoku'' (1990), 28th taiga drama **''Tokugawa Yoshinobu'' (1998); 37th taiga drama **'' Atsuhime'' (2008); 47th taiga drama **'' Segodon'' (2018); 57th taiga drama *Other **'' Ōoku'' (2003)

Notes

References

* Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 44090600
* Kornicki, Peter. (1998). ''Meiji Japan: Political, Economic and Social History, 1868–1912''. London: Routledge. ; ; ; ;
OCLC 470242993
* Perkins, Dorothy. (1997). ''Japan Goes to War: a Chronology of Japanese Military Expansion from the Meiji Era to the Attack on Pearl Harbor (1868–1941)''. Upland, Pennsylvania: Diane
OCLC 638765414
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fall Of Edo 1868 in Japan Boshin War Conflicts in 1868 Sieges involving Japan