The Byakkotai was part of Aizu's four-unit military, formed in April 1868 in the domain's drive to finalize its military modernization, in the wake of the
Battle of Toba–Fushimi. The other three units were the
Genbutai (
Black Tortoise Unit), the
Seiryūtai (
Azure Dragon Unit), and the
Suzakutai (
Vermilion Bird Unit). Each of the four was named after the
protecting gods of compass directions. Byakkotai was meant to be a reserve unit, as it was composed of the young, 16- to 17-year-old sons of Aizu samurai. It was subdivided further, along the lines of rank within the domain's samurai population: two squads were from the upper (
shichū) rank, two from the middle rank (
yoriai), and two from the lowest (
ashigaru). Twenty of the members of the 2nd
shichū squad, cut off from the rest of their unit in the wake of the
Battle of Tonoguchihara, retreated to
Iimori Hill, which overlooked the
castle town. From there, they saw what they thought was the castle on fire, and committed
seppuku (with one failed attempt) in desperation, believing their
lord and families dead. However these 20 Byakkotai members were mistaken in their assessment of defeat, as the castle defenses had not actually been breached; the castle town surrounding the inner citadel was aflame. As the majority of the town was between Iimori Mountain and the castle, the boys saw the rising smoke and assumed that the castle itself had fallen. • Adachi Tōzaburō • Ishiyama Toranosuke •
Shinoda Gisaburō (acting commander) • Nagase Yūji • Mase Genshichirō • Aruga Orinosuke • Itō Teijirō • Suzuki Genkichi • Nishikawa Shōtarō • Yanase Katsusaburō • Ikegami Shintarō • Itō Toshihiko • Tsuda Sutezō • Nomura Komashirō • Yanase Takeji • Ishida Wasuke • Ibuka Shigetarō • Tsugawa Kiyomi • Hayashi Yasoji The sole survivor,
Iinuma Sadakichi, attempted suicide but was unsuccessful. He was saved by a local peasant. After the war, he moved to the nearby city of
Sendai, and lived there until his death. He also served as an officer in the army (retiring with the rank of captain) and as an official of the local post office in Sendai. After the war, their bodies remained exposed to the elements until permission was finally granted by the imperial government to bury them. A memorial was later erected at Iimori Hill, and all 20 of the Byakkotai members named above are buried there. A stone bearing a
poem by
Matsudaira Katamori also stands at the site: 幾人の 涙は石にそそぐとも その名は世々に 朽じとぞ思ふ
Ikutari no namida wa ishi ni sosogu tomo sono na wa yoyo ni kuchiji to zo omou "No matter how many people wash the stones with their tears, these names will never vanish from the world." The rest of the Byakkotai continued to fight over the course of the
Battle of Aizu, with many of the members contributing to the defense of the
castle. Many Byakkotai members survived the war. Two of them who went on to prominent roles during the
Meiji Era were the physicist and historian Dr
Yamakawa Kenjirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy admiral
Dewa Shigetō. ==European fascism and the Byakkotai==