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Shinsengumi
The Shinsengumi was a police force that worked directly under the shogunate in the last years of the Tokugawa era in Kyoto, the imperial capital.
Background
After Commodore Perry's force opened Japan to the world in 1853, the tensions between the Japanese and foreigners grew in intensity, and the country was torn over how to react to the Western threat. Radical followers of sonno joi ("Respect the emperor, expel the foreign barbarians") reacted through violence. The Tokugawa Shogunate responded by forming the Roshigumi, a group formally meant to protect the Shogun Iemochi as he journeyed to Kyoto from Edo to meet with the Emperor Komei. Kiyokawa Hachiro was responsible for recruiting members, despite his anti-Tokugawa sentiments and his plan to turn the Roshigumi into a pro-sonno joi force upon reaching Kyoto. In early 1863, the Roshigumi journeyed to Kyoto; however, not long after, Kiyokawa was ordered to return to Edo.
Thirteen members of the Roshigumi petitioned Matsudaira Katamori, the Protector of Kyoto and head of the Aizu clan, to remain in Kyoto under his command and continue to protect the shogun. Bolstered by five new recruits, the ex-Roshigumi were renamed the Mibu Roshigumi (or Mibugumi), after the village where they were stationed, Mibu. Matsudaira reevaluated their mission and amended it from simply protecting the shogun to patrolling the streets of Kyoto and restoring the name of the shogunate. To reflect this change, the group was renamed in August of 1863 the Shinsengumi: "the newly selected corps."
The Shinsengumi uniform is a standard of haori over kimono and hakama, the most famous and recognizable of which is the haori, which is a pale blue (asagiiro), its sleeves trimmed in "white mountain stripes." The uniform acted as a means of easy identification in battle, as well as a highly visible threat to the enemy.
Members
The Shinsengumi was briefly comprised of three main factions, but after two of the members of one of the groups (led by Tonouchi Yoshio) were assassinated (Iesato Suguo and Tonouchi himself), the others were quickly elimated. This left two groups: the group from Tama's Shieikan dojo, led by Kondo Isami, and the group from Mito, led by Serizawa Kamo.
Serizawa and Niimi were reckless, and Kondo and Hijikata plotted to remove them from the Shinsengumi. In October of 1863, Hijikata and Yamanami forced Niimi to commit seppuku, and less than two weeks later, Matsudaira ordered Serizawa's assassination. With Serizawa's faction broken, Kondo and Hijikata had absolute control over the Shinsengumi.
Ikedaya Affair
The Ikedaya Affair, named for the Ikedaya Inn, took place on July 8, 1864, and made the Shinsengumi famous overnight. The greatest threat to the shogunate was, at the time, the Choshu clansmen and their extreme isolationist sentiments. The clansmen met at the Ikedaya Inn to discuss their plot to set fire to Kyoto and abduct Matsudaira. The Shinsengumi arrested one of the clansmen beforehand (Shuntaro Furutaka) and tortured the information out of him, then raided the inn and arrested or killed 31 men. The incident is credited with delaying the Meiji victory by at least a year, and it brought the Shinsengumi to the attention of pro-sonno joi forces as a power to be feared.
from Byakkotai (1986)
After the Ikedaya Affair, the hierarchy of the Shinsengumi reshuffled, and stricter rules were imposed to maintain order over the growing force.
Post-Ikedaya Hierarchy
Commander: Kondo Isami Vice-Commander: Hijikata Toshizou General Secretary: Yaminami Keisuke Military Advisor: Ito Kashitaro
Squad Captains: 1. Okita Souji 2. Nagakura Shinpachi 3. Saito Hajime 4. Matsubara Chuji 5. Takeda Kanryusai 6. Inoue Genzaburo 7. Tanji Sanjuro 8. Todo Heisuke 9. Suzuki Mikisaburo 10. Harada Sanosuke
Regulations
1. Deviating from bushido. 2. Leaving the Shinsengumi. 3. Raising money privately. 4. Taking part in litigations. 5. Engaging in private fights. 6. Anybody who breaks the rules will be ordered to commit seppuku.
Decline
Despite the shogunate hiring the group as direct retainers in 1867, the Shinsengumi weakened as several disputes broke out among the core members, resulting in Yamanami's seppuku, and Ito splitting away form his own group and, later, their systematic elimination. The Shinsengumi moved to Toshimi and fought in the Boshin War when it began with the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, where the Shinsengumi lost 100 members, including Inoue and the spy Yamazaki Susumu. The group fled and was reorganized under the new name of the Koyo Chinbutai, even as Nagakura and Harada defected. In the spring of 1868, Kondo was captured and beheaded at Itabashi. Harada died later of injuries received at the Battle of Ueno, and soon after, Okita died of what is believed to be tuberculosis. Saito assumed leadership of the dwindling group when Hijikata was wounded and later left for Hakodate. Hijikata was shot and killed in 1869 in the Battle of Hakodate, and the last Shinsengumi commander, Soma Kazue, surrendered.
"I am not going to battle to win. With the Tokugawa government about to collapse, it would be a disgrace if no one is willing to go down with it. That is why I must go. I will fight the best battle of my life to die for the country". - Hijikata, on fighting the losing battle at Hakodate
In popular culture
Sources: Wikipedia, SamuraiWiki C.D.
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