Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4-1 Chosen-ji Temple

 

     Chosen-ji Temple was founded in 1650 in the residential area of the vassals of the Kubota Domain.  The temple might have religiously served the vassals under the danka system imposed by the Tokugawa Shogunate.  As a result, its precincts have many graves of those who were killed in the Boshin War.

     In the series of battles of the Boshin War, the Shonai Domain Army suffered its first major defeat.  Hearing that the Shonai Domain Army was advancing, the Kubota Domain forces built a fort at Tsubakidai, the nearby hills, as their last line of defense.  Tsubakidai was only about 12 kilometers away from Kubota Castle, and if Tsubakidai was breached, Kubota Castle would inevitably be exposed to direct fire.

     On September 10th, 1868, the Fourth Battalion of the Shonai Domain Army began an attack on Tsubakidai Fort, occupied Nukazukayama (Nukazukayama, Yamagomori, Yuwatsubakigawa, Akita, 010-1211), and advanced from Anyoji (Anyoji, Yuwatsubakigawa, Akita, 010-1211) toward Tsubakidai Fort.  The Kubota Domain forces held out.  A seesaw battle was going on.

     On September 11th, the allied forces of the Satsuma, Fukuoka, Sadowara, Shinjo, Yashima, and Honjo Domains as well as Kubota Domain launched a counterattack.  The Kubota and Shinjo Domains had been using matchlock guns, just like in the Warring States Period (1467-1568), but they were finally given modern guns and were powerful.  In the afternoon, they recaptured Nukazukayama.  They pursued the Shonai Domain forces, and, by evening, they drove the forces away from the northern bank of the Omono River.   The Shonai Domain forces suffered 15 dead and 81 wounded and retreated to Jingamura (Yuwajingamura, Akita, 010-1342). .

     On September 14th, the First and Second Battalions of the Shonai Domain Army, which were in Mineyoshikawa (Mineyoshikawa Kyowamineyoshikawa, Daisen, Akita 019-2431), Senboku County, was scheduled to intercept the anti-shogunate forces.  However, they heard the news that the Kaminoyama Domain had submitted to the anti-shogunate forces on the 12th.  They decided to return home and focus on defending the Shonai Domain's mainland.

Address: 68 Narayama Furukawashinmachi, Akita, 010-0026

Phone: 018-832-4252

Tsubakidai Fortress Site

Address: Okutsubakidai Yuwatsubakigawa, Akita, 010-1211