Perspectives
| Government officials | |
|---|---|
| President | Enomoto Takeaki |
| Vice-President | Matsudaira Taro |
| Navy Minister | Arai Ikunosuke |
| Army Minister | Otori Keisuke |
| Assistant Army Minister | Hijikata Toshizo |
| Hakodate Magistrate | Nagai Naoyuki |
| Assistant Hakodate Magistrate | Nakajima Saburosuke |
| Esashi Magistrate | Matsuoka Shirojiro |
| Assistant Esashi Magistrate | Kosugi Masanoshin |
| Matsumae Magistrate | Hitomi Katsutarō |
| Minister for Land Reclamation | Sawa Tarozaemon |
| Finance Minister | Enomoto Michiaki |
| Finance Minister | Kawamura Rokushiro |
| Commander of Warships | Koga Gengo |
| Infantry Commander | Furuya Sakuzaemon |
| Judge Advocate General Officer | Takenaka Shigekata |
| Judge Advocate General Officer | Imai Nobuo |
While later history texts were to refer to May 1869 as being when Enomoto accepted the Meiji Emperor's rule, the Imperial rule was never in question for the Ezo Republic, as made evident by part of Enomoto's message to the Dajōkan (太政官, Dajōkan?) (the Imperial governing council) at the time of his arrival in Hakodate:
| “ | The farmers and merchants are unmolested, and live without fear, going their own way, and sympathising with us; so that already we have been able to bring some land into cultivation. We pray that this portion of the Empire may be conferred upon our late lord, Tokugawa Kamenosuke; and in that case, we shall repay your beneficence by our faithful guardianship of the northern gate. | ” |
Thus from Enomoto's perspective, the efforts to establish a government in Hokkaidō were not only for the sake of providing for the Tokugawa house on the one hand (burdened as it was with an enormous amount of redundant retainers and employees), but also as developing Ezo for the sake of defense for the rest of the country, something which had been a topic of concern for some time. Recent scholarship has noted that for centuries, Ezo was not considered a part of Japan the same way that the other "main" islands of modern Japan were, so the creation of the Ezo Republic, in a contemporary mindset, was not an act of secession, but rather of "bringing" the politico-social entity of "Japan" formally to Ezo.
Enomoto was sentenced to a brief prison sentence, but was freed in 1872 and accepted a post as a government official in the newly renamed Hokkaido Land Agency. He later became ambassador to Russia, and held several ministerial positions in the Meiji Government.
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Enomoto Takeaki, president.
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Otori Keisuke, Commander-in-Chief.
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Arai Ikunosuke, Commander of the Navy.
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Hijikata Toshizo, Commander of the Shinsengumi.
Read more about this topic: Republic Of Ezo