Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei

The Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei (奥羽越列藩同盟, Alliance of the domains of Mutsu, Dewa, and Echigo) was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War. Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black interwoven five-pointed star on a white field. It is also known as the Northern Alliance (北部同盟, Hokubu Doumei).

Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei
奥羽越列藩同盟
Standard-bearer in 2006 Aizu parade bearing the flag of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei
FormationSpring 1868
TypeMilitary and political alliance
HeadquartersShiroishi, Sendai Domain, Japan
Membership
31 domains of Northern Japan
Official language
Japanese
Meishu (Alliance Head)
Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa
Sotoku (Governor-General)
Date Yoshikuni, Uesugi Narinori

History

The Alliance centered on the Sendai, Yonezawa, and Nihonmatsu domains, and drew together nearly all domains from the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa, several domains of northern Echigo Province, and even the Matsumae Domain of Ezo (modern-day Hokkaidō). Headquartered at Shiroishi Castle, the alliance's nominal head was Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa, the onetime abbot of Kan'eiji Temple in Edo who fled north following the Satsuma–Chōshū takeover of the city, who declared himself "Emperor Tobu" (東武天皇), with Date Yoshikuni of Sendai and Uesugi Narinori of Yonezawa as the head of the Alliance. Although heteroclite in nature, the Alliance formed of a combination of modern and traditional forces, and mobilized a total of about 50,000 soldiers. Though the alliance did its best to support the Aizu domain (会津藩), Aizu was not formally part of the alliance "Kaishō Alliance" (会庄同盟); neither was Shōnai (庄内藩).

In addition, though it technically no longer existed as a domain, the forces of the Hayashi clan of Jōzai Domain also fought on behalf of the Alliance.

While the alliance was a bold, innovative step that combined the military forces of several dozen domains, it was unable to fully act as a single, cohesive unit, and with the fall of Sendai and Aizu, it effectively collapsed.

Members of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei
Troops from Sendai, following their mobilization in April, joined the Northern Alliance against Imperial troops in May 1868.
Flag
Domain Ruling Family Province
Matsumae Matsumae Ezo
Morioka Nanbu Mutsu
Nihonmatsu Niwa Mutsu
Hirosaki Tsugaru Mutsu
Tanagura Abe Mutsu
Sōma Sōma Mutsu
Sendai Date Mutsu
Ichinoseki Tamura Mutsu
Miharu Akita Mutsu
Iwakitaira Andō Mutsu
Fukushima Itakura Mutsu
Moriyama Matsudaira Mutsu
Izumi Honda Mutsu
Hachinohe Nanbu Mutsu
Yunagaya Naitō Mutsu
Miike Tachibana Mutsu
Akita Satake Dewa
Yonezawa Uesugi Dewa
Shinjō Tozawa Dewa
Yamagata Mizuno Dewa
Kaminoyama Matsudaira Dewa
Honjō Rokugō Dewa
Kameda Iwaki Dewa
Tendō Oda Dewa
Yashima Ikoma Dewa
Shibata Mizoguchi Echigo
Nagaoka Makino Echigo
Murakami Naitō Echigo
Muramatsu Hori Echigo
Mineyama Kyōgoku Echigo
Kurokawa Yanagisawa Echigo

Notes

    References
    • Keene, Donald (2005). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12341-8.
    • Hoshi, Ryōichi (1995). Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei: Higashi Nihon seifu juritsu no yume 奥羽越列藩同盟 : 東日本政府樹立の夢 (in Japanese). Chūō Kōronsha. ISBN 4-12-101235-6.
    • Ravina, Mark (2004). The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigō Takamori. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-08970-2.
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