Enomoto became one of the few former Tokugawa loyalists who made the transition to the new ruling elite, as politics at the time was dominated by men from Chōshū and Satsuma, who had a strong bias against outsiders in general, and former Tokugawa retainers in particular.
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Enomoto was born as a member of a samurai family in the direct service of the Tokugawa clan in the Shitaya district of Edo (modern Taito, Tokyo).
Years later, he negotiated with Enomoto Takeaki the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, which brought entire Sakhalin Island into the Russian fold.
The future Admiral Enomoto Takeaki was one of the students of the Nagasaki Training Center.
In the Battle of Hakodate when the Imperial Army surrounded the Goryokaku fortress, Enomoto Takeaki wanted to go down fighting; however, it was Ōtori who suggested a peaceful surrender, changing Enomoto's mind with his words of "If it's dying you want you can do it anytime."