Before and After

Tokugawa Yoshinobu (sometimes also: Tokugawa Keiki), the last shôgun. At left (both images) he is pictured before the Meiji Restoration; at right after the Restoration. A highly capable administrator, Yoshinobu might have been able to salvage some sort of role for the Tokugawa family in the new order had he come to office a few years earlier. By the time he took office in late 1866, however, the bakufu had become too weak to survive in any form. Although he never played an active role in politics after resigning as shôgun in 1867 and surrendering to the imperial armies in 1868, he did receive formal honors later in life. In 1902 Tokugawa Yoshinobu received the highest peerage rank, Prince, and later entered the legislative House of Peers.

The image at bottom left is especially interesting: the shôgun is dressed in the manner of Napoleon, on a horse given to him by Napoleon III. In its last years, the bakufu turned to France for advice and assistance in revitalizing its military forces. The main result, however, was sharp looking uniforms.