Saigō Tanomo

Saigō Tanomo
One of the few images of Saigō Tanomo
Born	(1830-05-16)May 16, 1830 Wakamatsu, Aizu domain, Japan
Died	April 28, 1903(1903-04-28) (aged 72) Japan
Allegiance	Aizu domain
Years of service	1860-1869
Rank	karō (senior councilor)
Battles/wars	Battle of Shirakawa, Battle of Aizu, Battle of Hakodate
Other work	Priest at Tōshō-gū Shrine

Saigō Tanomo (西郷 頼母, May 16, 1830 – April 28, 1903) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. Chief senior councilor (hittōgarō 筆頭家老 ) of the Aizu clan, he achieved fame due to his distinguished action in the Boshin War. He adopted the name Hoshina Chikanori (保科 近野里). Surviving the war, he became a Shinto priest, and achieved renown as a martial artist. He is considered as one of the teachers of the famed Takeda Sōkaku.

Succeeding to family headship and the position of chief senior councilor in 1860, he served the 9th generation Aizu daimyō, Matsudaira Katamori. However, with Katamori's selection for the post of Kyoto Shugoshoku in 1862, his views sharply diverged with those of his lord. Wanting to warn Katamori of the dangers of Aizu's deeper political involvement in the troubled Tokugawa regime, he and his fellow karō Tanaka Tosa rode nonstop from Aizu to Edo and spoke directly to Katamori. The lord, while understanding Tanomo's views as well as the domain's financial situation, nevertheless could not disobey what was both a direct shogunal order as well as part of the greater scheme put together by his colleagues (Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu and Matsudaira Yoshinaga), and so he dismissed Tanomo. Tanomo thus spent the following six years in Aizu, informally dismissed from his position.

In 1868, with the rout at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, and with Katamori back in Aizu for the first time in years, Tanomo's services were again called upon. While he recommended submission to the Imperial Army early in 1868, the arrival in Aizu of former Bakufu soldiers forced Aizu's hand in the direction of continued military action. Once again, Tanomo's voice was drowned out. During the Battle of Aizu, Tanomo fought in defense of the castle town of Aizu-Wakamatsu, the women of Tanomo's family are still famous in the region for having committed mass suicide.