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Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 132, The Fall of the Samurai, Part 15.

So first, quick apology, I'm getting over a bit of a cold, so if I sound a little more nasal or anything like that,

then I usually do, well, that's why, and I apologize. I hope it's not too distracting.

Anyway, we left things off with the Tokugawa defeat at Tobofushimi, the Tokugawa retreat from Kyoto,

and the subsequent surrender of Osaka Castle and the flight of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu towards Edo. In the wake of loyalist victory at Tobafushimi, it seemed that a new

equilibrium had developed. The loyalists were broadly speaking in control of the West, and had just

proven they were the stronger force on the land.

The Tokugawa, however, remained in control of the East and had by far a stronger Navy.

This appearance of equilibrium is the reason that the Tokugawa and their allies did not immediately

fold after Toba Fushimi. Yes, there had been a setback,

but that setback had been the result of poor planning and execution, not a result of being

...