Historical backgroundAfter
Japan opened up to the West in the 1860s following U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's visits in 1853, sentiment towards the Tokugawa shogunate grew negative while citizens longed for return to power of the emperor.
In 1863, the Roshigumi (浪士組), a group of 234 masterless
samurai (rōnin), was founded by Kiyokawa Hachirō to act as the protectors
of the Tokugawa shogun in Kyoto.
Kiyokawa Hachirō
formed the Rōshigumi with funding from the Tokugawa regime. However, his goal was
to gather rōnin to work with the imperialists. In response, thirteen members of the
Rōshigumi became the thirteen founding members of the Shinsengumi, while other members
loyal to the Tokugawa government returned to Edo and formed the Shinchogumi (a special police force in Edo.)
The Shinsengumi members were originally also known as the Miburō
(壬生浪), meaning "ronin of Mibu", Mibu being the town where they were stationed. However, the reputation of the
Shinsengumi became tarnished quite early on, and their nickname soon changed to "Wolves of Mibu" (壬生狼, pronounced the same). Shinsengumi could be translated to "Newly Selected
Corps" (Shinsen means "new chosen (ones)," while "gumi" translates to "group," "team,"
or "squad.")
The original Commanders of the Shinsengumi were Serizawa Kamo, Kondō Isami, and Niimi Nishiki. At first, the group was composed of three major factions: Serizawa's group, Kondo's
group, and Tomouchi's group (members below). However, Tomouchi and Iesato were assassinated shortly after its foundation.
After the elimination of Tomouchi Yoshio and his third faction, the group was composed of just two factions: Serizawa's Mito group
and Kondō Isami's Shiekan members, both based in the Mibu neighborhood of Kyoto.
The group submitted a letter to the Aizu clan requesting permission to police Kyoto, and to counteract revolutionaries who supported
the emperor against the Tokugawa shogunate. Their request was granted.
On September 30th (lunar calendar August 18), the Chōshū clan were forced out of the Imperial court by the Tokugawa regime, the Aizu clan and the Satsuma clan. All members of the Mibu Rōshigumi were sent
to aid Aizu and help keep Chōshū out of
the imperial court by guarding its gates. This caused a power shift in the political arena in Kyoto, from the extreme anti-Tokugawa
Chōshū forces to the pro-Tokugawa Aizu forces.
The new name "Shinsengumi" was said to have been given to the group by either the Imperial Court or Matsudaira Katamori (the daimyo of the Aizu clan) for their job in guarding the gates.
The
Shinsengumi's greatest enemies were the imperialist-supporting ronin samurai of the Mori clan of Chōshū
(and later, former ally Shimazu Clan of Satsuma.)
Ironically, the reckless actions of Serizawa
and Niimi, done in the name of the Shinsengumi, caused the group to be feared in Kyoto when their job was to keep the peace.
On October 19, 1863, Niimi Nishiki, who was demoted to sub-commander due to a fight with wrestlers, was
forced to commit seppuku by Hijikata and Yamanami. Less than two weeks later, Serizawa was assassinated by Kondō's faction under Matsudaira Katamori's order.
The
Ikedaya Affair of 1864, in which they prevented the burning of Kyoto, made the Shinsengumi famous overnight;
they had a surge of recruits.
The Shinsengumi remained loyal to the Tokugawa bakufu, and when the latter collapsed, they were driven out of Kyoto. They fought to the very end.
Isami Kondō was captured and beheaded by the Meiji government. Generally, the death of Toshizō Hijikata
on June 20 (lunar calendar May 11), 1869 is seen as marking the end of the Shinsengumi.
A
few core members, such as Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Hajime, survived the demise of the group.Members of the group
At its peak, the Shinsengumi had about 300 members. They were the first samurai group of the Tokugawa
era to allow those from non-samurai classes like farmers and merchants to join. Previously, Japan had had a strict class hierarchy
system. Many joined the group due to the desire to become samurai and be involved in political affairs. However, it is a misconception
that most of the Shinsengumi members were from non-samurai classes. Out of 106 Shinsengumi members (among a total of 302 members
at the time), there were 87 samurai, 8 farmers, 3 merchants, 3 medical doctors, 3 priests, and 2 craftsmen. Quite a few leaders,
such as Yamanami, Okita, Nagakura, and Harada, were born samurai.
