On September 20 of the same year, the island was given its present name, Hokkaidō, the ‘Northern Sea Region’. Kuroda is said to have been deeply impressed by Enomoto’s dedication in combat, and is remembered as the one who spared the latter’s life from execution. Enomoto surrendered on June 26, 1869, turning the Goryōkaku over to Satsuma staff officer Kuroda Kiyotaka on June 27, 1869. Enomoto made a last effort to petition the Imperial Court to be allowed to develop Hokkaidō and maintain the traditions of the samurai unmolested, but his request was denied. They progressed swiftly, won the Battle of Hakodate, and surrounded Goryōkaku, the fortress of the Ezo Republic. The Imperial troops soon consolidated their hold on mainland, and in April 1869 dispatched a fleet and an infantry force of 7,000 men to Ezo. Alas, their response were not encouraging. Through Hakodate Magistrate, Nagai Naoyuki, attempts were made to reach out to foreign legations present in Hakodate to obtain international diplomatic recognition. Domains, such as Chōshū (modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) and Satsuma Province (the western half of the Kagoshima Prefecture) were the main players of the rebellion that brought down the shogun regime. Sonnō-jōi was thus adopted as the battle cry by many rebellious provinces who disliked the presence of foreigners on Japanese soil, and wanted to reinstate the emperor to power. Russia, Britain, France, and Holland all followed suit and used their fleets to force Japan to sign unbalanced treaties that promised regular relations and trade with them. Perry’s small squadron was not enough to force massive changes in Japan, but the Japanese knew that his ships were just the beginning of Western interest in their islands. The internal hostility materialised into a radical movement, the Sonnō-jōi (Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians). The fact that the Tokugawa Shogunate was powerless against the encroachment of the foreigners despite the will expressed by the Imperial court was taken as evidence by anti-Tokugawa leaders that the Shogunate must be replaced by a government more able to show its loyalty to the Emperor. Commodore Perry was vehemently opposed in the samurai quarters. The humiliating-unequal treaty signed by the Bakufu under duress with the U.S.
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