[Yoshino Washiyaguchi] (Higashiyoshino Village, Nara Prefecture, former province name: Yamato)
＜The final resting place of Tenchu-gumi, the pioneers of the overthrow of the shogunate. A detailed account of the minute-by-minute historical movements＞
The Tenchu-gumi (Tenchu-gumi) aspired to pro-revere the emperor, expel the barbarians, and even to overthrow the shogunate, and in 1863 they raised an army. They invaded Yamato Province (present-day Nara Prefecture) to coincide with the visit of Emperor Komei (1831-1867), and occupied Gojo, where the shogunate magistrate's office was located. They then loudly proclaimed the arrival of a new era. However, on the same day, a coup d'état broke out in Kyoto, the visit of the emperor was canceled, and the pro-revere the emperor, expel the barbarians, were ousted. The Tenchu-gumi was, so to speak, left without a ladder, and in a single day they suddenly turned into a rebel army (the so-called "August 18th Coup"). The shogunate ordered the feudal lords of the Kinai region and surrounding areas to suppress the Tenchugumi, while the Tenchugumi themselves recruited soldiers from Totsukawa in the southern part of Yamato Province and continued to resist fiercely, relying on the natural fortresses of Yoshino and Omine, but their power gradually wore down. After about a month of difficult marches in the deep Kii Mountains, the Tenchugumi reached Washikaguchi on September 24th. They challenged the assembled Shogunate forces to a final battle.
The Tenchugumi were originally an extremist faction of rōshi who advocated the Sonno Joi theory, which was boiling over at the time, and who developed that theory into "overthrowing the Shogunate." They had Chamberlain Nakayama Tadamitsu (1845-1864, Emperor Meiji's uncle) as their commander, but the three ronin's ideological leaders, Fujimoto Tesseki (1816-1863, escaped from Okayama Domain), Matsumoto Keidou (1832-1863, escaped from Kariya Domain), and Yoshimura Torataro (1837-1863, escaped from Tosa Domain), were in actual command as "general leaders." The members of the unit under their command were mainly ronin who had escaped from their domains in the western provinces, and as they had no place to stay in their homelands, they were prepared to sacrifice their lives for the cause. They had become a group of people determined to die, and when they reached Washiokaguchi, they tried to surround Tadamitsu, allowing him to escape to Osaka or even Choshu (Nagato Province, currently the northwestern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. The Mori clan, the feudal lord, was the leading pro-imperial, anti-foreign faction).
Washiokaguchi was the junction of the Higashi-Kumano Kaido, which the Tenchu-gumi took north from the Kii Mountains, and the Ise-Minami Kaido, which linked Ise Province (now most of Mie Prefecture) and Wakayama, and was a rare transportation hub in a mountainous region, with water transport available along the route. The Shogunate forces also took this geographical location into consideration, and on September 24th, troops from the Hikone and Kishu domains were stationed along the route. For this reason, it was extremely difficult for the Tenchu-gumi, which had only about 50 members, to escape, but six people including Nasu Shingo (1829-1863, defector from Tosa) organized a suicide squad and launched a surprise attack on the Hikone clan's camp. This caused great confusion in the Shogunate forces, and Tadamitsu and his men took advantage of the opportunity to break through the camp and escape to Osaka. However, Nasu and the other members of the suicide squad, as well as many others, were captured or killed in battle at Washi-kaguchi or in the nearby mountains. The three presidents also met a heroic end (Fujimoto escaped once, but returned to Washi-kaguchi, where only two of them attacked the Kishu clan's camp and were killed in battle. Matsumoto was shot dead while hiding in the mountains after going blind. Yoshimura, who was seriously injured, hid for about three days with the help of villagers, but was discovered and killed by soldiers of the Tsu clan), and the Tenchu-gumi was annihilated. If you visit Washikaguchi today, you can clearly see the slope that the Tenchugumi ran down, and signs and monuments guide you through the battle. If you look closely at each one, you can see that they not only describe the positions of the soldiers during the minutes or seconds before they died, and you can't help but be amazed at how realistic they are. The deep shadows of the forests and valleys before your eyes keep the scenery as it was at the time, giving you a chilling feeling.
In the end, the Tenchugumi were annihilated just one month after they raised their arms, and the flames of overthrowing the shogunate were extinguished, but the Meiji Restoration was not realized until just five years later. Looking back at their plans at the time, they can be seen as extremely reckless, but on the other hand, they are worthy of being described as the "pioneers of the Restoration." Above all, their dark fate, full of hardships, had a strong impact not only on their comrades, but also on the Shogunate army, which had been enjoying peace, and their tragic story has been passed down to the present day. In particular, the villager who carried Torataro Yoshimura's palanquin lived until the Showa era, so detailed records of his life are available. According to this story, Yoshimura encouraged the villagers by saying, "Be patient, be patient, if you persevere, the world will change, so enjoy it," and his exquisite use of words and passion are full of charisma. The footsteps of the Tenchugumi are engraved at Washi-yaguchi, and are detailed in "Ryuritan" by Shotaro Yasuoka (1920-2013), a distant relative of the Tenchugumi. When you look at these documents and the mountain ranges before your eyes, you cannot help but feel a tremendous sense of realism in the mysterious atmosphere that still surrounds Yoshino and Omine, the "deep part of Japan."
Recommended for solo travelers: ★★★★★ (You can explore to your heart's content. It's almost a private venue!)
Visit date: Sunday, second week of October, around 2pm
Access: About 40 minutes by car from Hari IC (to the Washikaguchi area)