Keisuke Ōtori

Keisuke Ōtori (大鳥圭介) (April 14th 1833 - June 15th 1911) Japan board was a military commander during the last years of the shogunat of the Tokugawa and the beginning of the era Meiji.

Beginning of its life and education

Keisuke Ōtori was born in the village from Akamatsu, in the han of Ako in the Province of Harima (today the Préfecture of Hyōgo). He is the son of Doctor Naosuke Kobayashi. He studied at the school of Shizutani in the Province of Bizen. Then it entered the famous Dutch school of Ogata Kōan where it studied Dutch and medicine. After having left this school, it entered to the school Tsuboi Tadamasu in Edo (today Tōkyō). In Edo he learned also the military strategy who was taught to him by Tarōzaemon Egawa and English by Nakahama Manjiro. He thus had incredible knowledge on the occident for the time. Consequently, it was engaged in the army of the shogunat in 1859 to be used as instructor.

Service in the army of the shogunat

Just after being entered the army, Keisuke became an instructor considered about the tactics of infantry. It still enriches its knowledge in military strategy by studying the tactics by the French infantry with Yokohama with the admiral Jules Brunet. It was promoted magistrate of infantry ( Hohei bugyō 歩兵奉行), an excellent rank.

It used its statute of professor respected to emit many suggestions concerning the reform of the shogunat. In 1864, it explains the benefit of a legislature based on a double chamber system. It was one of the first but not the last to want to make of Japan a democracy based on a Western system.

As a hohei bugyō , Keisuke involved the shogunat worms of the reforms about its army. It is thanks to him that was creates the Denshūtai (伝習隊), a brigade of elite made of 800 men.

War of Boshin

After the defeat of the forces shogunales to the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, the shogun Yoshinobu Tokugawa in its castle of Edo prepared to lend imperial allegiance to the mode set up by the troops of Meiji. However Keisuke Ōtori did not wish to capitulate also quickly what it informed the shogunat. To the moment or the castle of Edo went, Ōtori obtained five hundred men of the shogunat to the temple Hō' one-ji with Asakusa and left Edo accompanied by Tadamasa Oguri. When they arrived at Ichikawa, they were joined by the forces of the Shinsengumi and others what changed the full number of men to 2000. It divided the whole of the men into three groups to prepare an attack against the imperial troops.

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Nevertheless, the imperial troops always advanced and Keisuke had to take refuge with its troops with Sendai. There they met Takeaki Enomoto and they left with him towards Hokkaidō.

Little time afterwards, they founded together the République independent of Ezo. This republic based on a democratic model named Keisuke Minister for the armies. The republic, based with Hakodate and more particularly in the fortress of the Goryōkaku fell finally under the blows of the imperial army.

Following that, Ōtori was imprisoned in Tōkyō in a prison which it had made build when it served the army shogunale.

Era Meiji

Even in prison, Keisuke continued to use its knowledge of the occident in favor of the other prisoners. It would have even succeeded in setting up a parliamentary system among the prisoners.

After its release in 1872, it worked for the Meiji government and became president of Gakushuin in 1886. In 1889, it was also sent in China and Korea to deal with the relations between these countries and Japan. It had a considerable role in the opening of the Sino-japonaise war of 1895.

Keisuke also fought to preserve the history by taking part in the drafting of a magazine the Kyū Bakufu the purpose of which was to file the memories of the combatants of the forces shogunales.

He died of a cancer of the esophagus on June 15th, 1911 with nearly 80 years.

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