The focus of my doctoral dissertation project is on the portrayal and memory of Japan's Boshin War (1868-1869) in contemporary Aizuwakamatsu, the political center of the former Aizu domain that fought on the losing Tokugawa shogunate's side. Based on pre-existing Japanese and English research on Boshin War, works on collective memory as well as case studies from other civil wars from the perspectives of the defeated, it will bring more awareness to the multiple narratives that exist on the creation of the modern Japanese nation state within Japan, as well as their influence on the local identity in Aizuwakamatsu.