1988: a sister-city proposal turned down1988: a sister-city proposal turned down
In 1988, marking 120 years since the Boshin War, the city of Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture — the former castle town of the Choshu domain — proposed a sister-city agreement with Aizuwakamatsu. But strong opposition rose from the Aizuwakamatsu city assembly and residents, with voices saying things like "we have not forgotten the grudge of the Boshin War" and "a grandson of the Aizu domain lord is still alive" — and the agreement never came to be. Locally, it's said that a single handshake with Hagi could cost votes at the ballot box.
Quietly, exchange continued at the grassroots levelQuietly, exchange continued at the grassroots level
Though the official agreement never happened, the episode ironically energized grassroots exchange between the two cities. Dr. Yamamoto Sadatoshi, a physician from Hagi and head of a society dedicated to friendship between Choshu and Aizu, visited Aizu more than fifty times, steadily building ties over the years. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Hagi sent a substantial donation of relief funds to Aizuwakamatsu.
Dr. Yamamoto reportedly said during his lifetime that he had never once spoken of "apology" or "reconciliation." Rather than loudly proclaiming reconciliation, he built steady, grassroots exchange around showing people the good in each other — and it's this stance that, over 150 years, is thought to have gradually shifted public sentiment.
2019: a Hagi mayor's first official visit2019: a Hagi mayor's first official visit
In November 2019, the mayor of Hagi attended the ceremony marking the 120th anniversary of Aizuwakamatsu's founding as a city — the first official visit ever made by a sitting Hagi mayor. That Aizuwakamatsu honored the visit, in part as thanks for earthquake relief support, symbolized the change brought about by years of accumulated grassroots exchange.
A case for Choshu, too, as a side "caught up" by its eraA case for Choshu, too, as a side "caught up" by its era
The harsh treatment Aizu received — the "enemy of the court" brand, the relocation to Tonami — was not simply Choshu's own decision. It was a political judgment the new government, centered on Satsuma and Choshu, needed to make to secure its own legitimacy. Because troops from Choshu happened to stand at the front, the image of "Choshu, the chief villain who bullied Aizu" took hold — but that is only one side of history.
In fact, as with Okudaira Kensuke sheltering and educating Yamakawa Kenjiro, personal relationships between Choshu and Aizu people could not be reduced to simple hostility. The slow reconciliation that has advanced over 150 years teaches us that the original structure of conflict was, in a sense, a "division of roles" produced by the political dynamics of the time.
For the story of the Meiji Restoration as seen from Hagi's side, see our sister site, Hagi Historia.