About the Tondenhei

 

About the Tondenhei

 

It has been over one hundred years since the Tondenhei was abolished by the Meiji government.  The Tondenhei were a little different from a regular soldiers, because they were the soldiers , but they also had to engage in farming! So they should not only fight but also engage in farm. Then , when the Meiji government thought that they must protect Hokkaido from other countries , for example Russia in those days, and must develop in Hokkaido, the system of Tondenhei started.

 

Let’s think about their lives and their battles.

 

Their lives were very sad when they moved to Hokkaido at first. Because Hokkaido in those days was not developed , there were no houses , food, clothes and so on. I think that this situation is not suitable for people live in. But they and their families worked hard at the situations so Hokkaido  became one of the big and productive prefectures of Japan.

 

They developed the cities of Hokkaido. For example Otaru, Muroran, Date, Noboribetsu, Ebetsu,Sapporo and so on. The prefectural office in Hokkaido is located in Sapporo.

Then when did they fight ?

 

In 1877, Takamori Saigo rose in rebellion against the Meiji government in Satuma. This time, the Tondenhei was assembled by the Meiji government. They fought against Takamori Saigo’army in the Kyusyu area. As a result , the Meiji government won and Takamori Saigo died.

 

This battle is called the Seinan War and this battle was a civil war. Actually they also took part in foreign wars too. For example, the Sino-Japanese war and the Russo-Japanese war. Especially, when they took part in the Russo-Japanese war , many soldiers but also Tondenhei died. In 1904, the war started and the war was very hard so many weapons and soldiers were needed . As a result, many people who were involved in the Tondenhei were injured or died.

 

When I think about Tondenhei like these case, I find that the roles of the Tondenhei were very important for the Japanese government, Hokkaido, and people who lived in Japan, Hokkaido.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Ryoma