すごいにほんのものがたり - Piccole Storie Giapponesi

白虎隊 - Byakkotai

Byakkotai (白虎隊 Corpo della Tigre Bianca) deriva da Byakko 白虎 (Tigre Bianca) e furono un gruppo di 305 giovani samurai (eta' dai 16 ai 17anni) del dominio Aizu (che comprendeva altre 3 unita': Genbutai: Tartaruga nera, Seiryūtai: Dragone azzurro e Suzakutai: uccello vermiglio)
Ciascuna unita' fu chiamato cosi' in onore dei quattro animali che tutelano i punti cardinali.
I Byakkotai dovevano essere una unita' di riserva, data la giovane eta',e a loro volta vennero divisi secondo le linee di rango all'interno della popolazione samurai del dominio:2 squadre provenivano dal superiore (shichū),2 dal rango medio (yoriai) e 2 da quello piu' basso (ashigaru).
20 tra gli shichū, durante la guerra Boshin, rimasero tagliati fuori dalla loro unita' dopo la battaglia di Tonoguchihara. Ritiratosi sulla collina Limori, adiacente al Castello di Aizuwakamatsu, il gruppo vide quello che pensava fosse il castello in fiamme e commise seppuku in preda alla disperazione, credendo che il loro signore Matsudaira Katamori e le famiglie fossero perite per mano nemica. Ma fu un errore: le mura del castello non furono mai violate e solo la citta' che circondava la cittadella interna era in fiamme.19 ragazzi su 20 morirono sul momento.
Un memoriale a loro dedicato venne eretto sulla collina Limori. Una pietra con incisa una poesia del daimyo Matsudaira Katamori si trova presso il sito:
(JA) 幾人の涙は石にそそぐともその名は世々に朽じとぞ思う
(IT) Non importa quante persone hanno lavato le pietre con le loro lacrime, questi nomi non potranno mai sparire dal mondo
Curiosita': Benito Mussolini saputa la storia e rimasto impressionato dalla fedelta' al loro signore, nel 1928 fece dono di una colonna pompeiana per essere eretta presso la tomba sulla collina Limori.
L'iscrizione dice:
S.P.Q.R. / nel segno del littorio / Roma / madre di civilta' / con la millenaria colonna / testimone di eterna grandezza / tributa onore imperituro / alla memoria degli eroi di Biacco-tai / Anno MCMXXVIII - VI era fascista

The Byakkotai (白虎隊 White Tiger Force) was a group of around 305 young teenage samurai of the Aizu domain, who fought in the Boshin War (1868-1869).
The Byakkotai was part of Aizu's four-unit military, and other three units were Genbutai, Seiryūtai, and Suzakutai.
Byakkotai was meant to be a reserve unit, as it was composed of the young, 16- to 17-year-old sons of Aizu samurai. It was subdivided further, along the lines of rank within the domain's samurai population: two squads were from the upper (shichū) rank, two from the middle rank (yoriai), and two from the lowest (ashigaru). 20 of the members of the 2nd shichū squad, cut off from the rest of their unit in the wake of the Battle of Tonoguchihara, retreated to Iimori Hill, which overlooked the castle town. From there, they saw what they thought was the castle on fire, and committed seppuku (with one failed attempt) in desperation, believing their lord and families dead. However these 20 Byakkotai members were mistaken in their assessment of defeat, as the castle defenses had not actually been breached; the castle town surrounding the inner citadel was aflame.
After the war, A memorial was erected at Iimori Hill, and all 20 of the Byakkotai members named above are buried there. A stone bearing a poem by Matsudaira Katamori also stands at the site:
JP "Ikutari no namida wa ishi ni sosogu tomo sono na wa yoyo ni kuji to zo omou"
ENG "No matter how many people wash the stones with their tears, these names will never vanish from the world"
Curiosity: The Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini heard of the story of the Byakkotai members who committed suicide, and was deeply impressed by their loyalty to their lord. In 1928, he donated a column from Pompeii to be erected by the graves at Iimori Hill.

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慶応4年（1868年、鳥羽・伏見の戦いにより戊辰戦争が勃発した。
白虎隊は本来は予備兵力であった。
会津藩では若松城（鶴ヶ城）を死守すべく、若松へと至る街道口に主力部隊を展開させて防備に努めたが、圧倒的な物量で迫る新政府軍に対しては劣勢は否めず、その上重要な進軍路であった十六橋を落とすことに失敗したという防衛戦略上の不備も重なり、本来城下防衛の任に当たるべく組織された白虎隊も、これを支援する形で前線へと進軍した。
しかし会津軍の劣勢は如何ともし難く、白虎隊も各所で苦戦を強いられ、最精鋭とされた士中隊も奮戦空しく撤退を余儀なくされた。このうち一番隊は藩主・松平容保護衛の任に当たったが、二番隊は戸ノ口原（戸ノ口原の戦い）で決定的打撃を受けて潰走し、戦死者も少なからずあり、8月23日に負傷者を抱えながら郊外の飯盛山へと落ち延びた（この間、庄田保鉄ら隊員数人が農家で草鞋を貰い受けている間にはぐれた）。このとき、ここから眺めた戦闘による市中火災の模様を目にし、結果総勢20名が自刃を決行し、唯一喉を突いた飯沼貞吉（のち貞雄と改名）のみが一命を取り留め、その他19名が死亡した。一般に白虎隊は若松城周辺の火災（もしくは城周辺から上がる湯気）を目にし落城したと誤認して悲観したとされているが、飯沼が生前に伝え残した手記『白虎隊顛末略記』（飯沼からの聞き書きに飯沼本人が朱を入れたもの）によれば、当時隊員らは鶴ヶ城に戻って敵と戦うことを望む者と、敵陣に斬り込んで玉砕を望む者とのあいだで意見がわかれ激論を交わし、いずれにせよ負け戦覚悟で行動したところで敵に捕まり生き恥をさらすことを望まなかった隊員らは、城が焼け落ちていないことを知りながらも、武士の本分を明らかにするために飯盛山で自刃を決行したという。
飯盛山での出来事についてその重い口を開いたのは晩年だったそうで、そこから白虎隊の悲劇が現在に伝わっている。