Takenaka Shigekata (16 September 1828-24 January 1891) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period and a general of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Bakumatsu era.
Biography[]
Takenaka Shigekata was born in Iwate, Mino Prefecture in 1828, a descendant of Takenaka Hanbei. He was adopted by the main branch of the Takenaka clan and became an army magistrate, later fighting in the Tokugawa Shogunate's army during the Boshin War. He was scapegoated for the pro-Shogunate forces' defeat at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi and was stripped of his court rank and title; while he briefly entered the priesthood, he went on to form the Junchutai unit to fight alongside the Shogitai. After the Battle of Ueno, he engaged in guerrilla warfare in Mutsu Province before moving to Hokkaido and becoming a Judge Advocate General of the Ezo Republic. He surrendered after the Battle of Hakodate and became a settler in Hokkaido, and he died in 1891.