The Meiji government institutes new offices. A veteran of Antietam commands the defense of the foreign legations in Osaka. And in the north, the heirs of Date Masamune nervously eye the approaching war-clouds. #IntoTheScaleOfBattle Ep. 5 is "Realignments" buff.ly/aO8v1km
The emperor's brocade banner appears on the battlefield south of Kyoto. The Tokugawa army shatters, and Tokugawa Yoshinobu flees to a US warship. And we examine a likely reason anglophone scholarship is reluctant to cover the war. #IntoTheScaleOfBattle Ep. 4 is "Force Multiplier." buff.ly/YDBf9Hw
This week on #FridayNightHistory Season 5: #IntoTheScaleOfBattle, we examine one of the likely reasons why focused anglophone scholarship on the Boshin War has been so sparse.
It might not be what you're thinking!
An overconfident, disorganized Tokugawa force blunders its way into battle at Fushimi and Lower Toba against the Satsuma-Choshu men. Soon, the latter receive a force multiplier so memorable that even Gilbert and Sullivan immortalized it. #IntoTheScaleOfBattle Ep. 3 is "Shots Fired" buff.ly/WUKj7Z5
This is apparently the week in the Boshin War chronology on #IntoTheScaleOfBattle where we mention Shimada Kai hoisting Nagakura Shinpachi over a wall.
As I write the next episode of #IntoTheScaleOfBattle, it occurs to me that I might want to post a reminder, gentle reader: military history is not simply a blow by blow recitation of tactical action over terrain, and it's not what I'm doing here. But if you want that, I have a recommendation ⬇️
A strange interregnum follows Tokugawa Yoshinobu's resignation. Satsuma and Choshu fan the flames of war with a terror campaign hoping to provoke a response. In Edo, Shonai Domain takes the Satsuma bait.
#IntoTheScaleOfBattle Episode 2 is "War Within a Breath"
riverside-wings.com/2026/02/27/f...
This week of #IntoTheScaleOfBattle has me in mind of one of my favorite Boshin War conspiracy theories: the one that claims that Emperor Meiji died that year and was replaced by a Chōshū samurai named Ōmuro Toranosuke who sort of vaguely looked like him.
Next week on #FridayNightHistory Season 5: #IntoTheScaleOfBattle--
Satsuma domain's campaign of "I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you" goes up in smoke and flame as Shōnai Domain and the Shinchōgumi say enough is enough and finally shoot back.
#FridayNightHistory Season 5: #IntoTheScaleOfBattle, Members' ep. 1: "Mahan and Boyer." A deep dive into two US Navy eyewitnesses to Japan's Boshin War of 1868-- one of them, an obscure doctor, the other, a naval strategist you might have heard of! #podcasts #JapaneseHistory
Going to try and get the season premiere of #IntoTheScaleOfBattle written this coming week.
The story of the Boshin War, the bloody price by which men from southern Japan imposed their idea of enlightenment on the nation at the point of a sword, begins soon.
Subscribe to catch it early:
New on the Patreon: an update on #FridayNightHistory Season 5, the troubles when communications from a library fail, and what the first run of 5 episodes will look like from me. #IntoTheScaleOfBattle, A History of the Boshin War, comes to your podcast feeds in late January 2026! #podcasts
FridayNightHistory Season 5: Into the Scale of Battle: A History of the Boshin War Keyword: boshin war, bakumatsu, meiji era, sendai domain, satsuma, choshu, tosa, meiji, samurai, bushi
Coming Lunar New Year 2026! #FridayNightHistory Season 5 is #IntoTheScaleOfBattle, A History of the Boshin War. on your podcast feeds at anchor.fm/fridaynighth... or wherever you #podcast!
Support this project and get early access and bonus content: patreon.com/riversidewings
As was the case with Season 4, #DragonAscendant, the closing words of #FridayNightHistory Season 5, #IntoTheScaleOfBattle, have come to me from the beginning.
Now to write the roughly 99,980 words between here and there 😅
