Takenaka Shigekata

Takenaka Shigekata (竹中 重固, September 16, 1828– January 24, 1891) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, later a figure in efforts to colonize Hokkaido.

He initially had tactical coordination with the Shogitai, but following the defeat at the Battle of Ueno, he led the unit northward (together with former roju Ogasawara Nagamichi and his men), engaging in guerilla warfare as he moved farther into Mutsu Province.

Joining Enomoto Takeaki's fleet in Sendai, he traveled to Hokkaido, where he became a Judge Advocate General officer in the new Ezo Republic.

Just before the end of the Battle of Hakodate, he headed to Tokyo on a foreign steamship, ostensibly to find some unexplored option for fighting the Imperial Army; however, as he no longer had any solutions, he heeded his father Shigeakira's advice and surrendered.

However, in 1875, he left that post, and worked in the Hoeisha Company that his younger brother Motoyori had started, furthering the cause of increased productivity in Hokkaido.