Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei

Northern Alliance
Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei

File:Standard-bearer in 2006 Aizu parade.JPG Standard-bearer in 2006 Aizu parade bearing the flag of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei
Formation	Spring 1868
Type	Military and political alliance
Headquarters	Shiroishi, Sendai Domain, Japan
Membership	31 Domains of Northern Japan
Official language	Japanese
Meishu (Alliance Head)	Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa
Sotoku (Governor-General)	Date Yoshikuni, Uesugi Narinori

The Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei (奥羽越列藩同盟) "Alliance of the domains of Mutsu (陸奥), Dewa (出羽) and Echigo (越後)", Northern Alliance (北部同盟, Hokubu Doumei) or Oh-U-Etsu (奥羽越, Oh-shu (奥州), U-shu (羽州) and Etsu-shu (越州)) Confederation of Allied Domains (列藩同盟)　was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War (戊辰戦争). Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black interwoven five-pointed star on a white field.

History

Sometimes referred to as the "Northern Alliance" (北部同盟) or "Reppan Domei" (列藩同盟), it centered around the Sendai (仙台藩), Yonezawa (米沢藩), and Nihonmatsu (二本松藩) domains, and drew together nearly all domains from the provinces of Mutsu (陸奥国) and Dewa (出羽国), several domains of northern Echigo Province (越後国), and even the Matsumae domain (松前藩) of Ezo (蝦夷地) (modern-day Hokkaidō (北海道)). Headquartered at Shiroishi Castle (白石城), the alliance's nominal head was Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa (北白川宮能久親王), the onetime abbot of Kan'eiji Temple (寛永寺) in Edo (江戸) who fled north following the Satsuma-Chōshū (薩長) takeover of the city, who declared himself "Emperor Tobu" (東武皇帝), with Date Yoshikuni (伊達慶邦) of Sendai and Uesugi Narinori (上杉斉憲) of Yonezawa as the head of the Alliance. Although heteroclitic in nature, the Alliance formed of a combination of modern and traditional forces, and mobilized a total of about 50,000 soldiers. Though the alliance did its best to support the Aizu domain (会津藩), Aizu was not formally part of the alliance "Kaisho Alliance" (会庄同盟); neither was Shōnai (庄内藩).

In addition, though it technically no longer existed as a domain, the forces of the Hayashi clan (林忠崇) of the Jōzai Domain (請西藩) also fought on behalf of the Alliance.

While the alliance was a bold, innovative step that combined the military forces of several dozen domains, it was unable to fully act as a single, cohesive unit, and with the fall of Sendai and Aizu, it effectively collapsed.

Members of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei

Troops from Sendai, following their mobilization in April, joined the Northern Alliance against Imperial troops in May 1868.

Flag

Domain	Ruling Family	Province
Matsumae	Matsumae	Ezo
Morioka	Nanbu	Mutsu
Nihonmatsu	Niwa	Mutsu
Hirosaki	Tsugaru	Mutsu
Tanagura	Abe	Mutsu
Sōma	Sōma	Mutsu
Sendai	Date	Mutsu
Ichinoseki	Tamura	Mutsu
Miharu	Akita	Mutsu
Iwakidaira	Ando	Mutsu
Fukushima	Itakura	Mutsu
Moriyama	Matsudaira	Mutsu
Izumi	Honda	Mutsu
Hachinohe	Nanbu	Mutsu
Yunagaya	Naito	Mutsu
Miike	Tachibana	Mutsu
Akita	Satake	Dewa
Yonezawa	Uesugi	Dewa
Shinjō	Tozawa	Dewa
Yamagata	Mizuno	Dewa
Kaminoyama	Matsudaira	Dewa
Honjō	Rokugō	Dewa
Kameda	Iwaki	Dewa
Tendō	Oda	Dewa
Yashima	Ikoma	Dewa
Shibata	Mizoguchi	Echigo
Nagaoka	Makino	Echigo
Murakami	Naito	Echigo
Muramatsu	Hori	Echigo
Mineyama	Kyōgoku	Echigo
Kurokawa	Yanagisawa	Echigo

External links

• Background on the Ouetsu Reppan Domei
• More background information