Shinsengumi - Historical Facts

Historical Facts

The Rōshigumi was funded by the Tokugawa regime. However, Kiyokawa Hachirō's goal, which he revealed following the group's arrival in Kyoto, was to gather rōnin to work with the supporters of the emperor. In response, thirteen members of the Rōshigumi became the thirteen founding members of the Shinsengumi. Other members loyal to the Tokugawa government returned to Edo and formed the Shinchōgumi (新徴組?), which came under the patronage of the Shōnai domain.

The Shinsengumi members were originally also known as the Miburō (壬生浪?), meaning "ronin of Mibu", Mibu being the then-suburb of central Kyoto 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, Miburō?). Shinsengumi could be translated as "Newly Selected Corps" (Shinsen means "new chosen (ones)", while "gumi" translates as "group", "team", or "squad".)

The original Commanders of the Shinsengumi were Serizawa Kamo, Kondō Isami, and Niimi Nishiki. At the beginning, the group was composed of three major factions: Serizawa's group, Kondō's group, and Tonouchi's group (members below). However, shortly after its foundation, Tonouchi was assassinated by Kondo Isami on Yojou Bridge and Iesato was ordered by Serizawa Kamo to commit seppuku after he deserted to Osaka.

After the elimination of Tonouchi Yoshio and his third faction, the group was composed of just two factions: Serizawa's Mito group and Kondō Isami's Shieikan 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 30 (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 ronin samurai of the Mori clan of Chōshū (and later, former ally Shimazu clan of Satsuma, who supported the emperor.)

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 the Bakufu recruited ronin to guard Shogun Iemochi on a visit to Kyoto to meet with the Emperor Komei. This visit was a precedent breaking event—not since the third Shogun of the Tokugawa Bakufu, Tokugawa Iemitsu, had a reigning shogun gone to Kyoto. This was a difficult time for Japan as the country was violently struggling to find consensus on how to deal with the threat sparked by the arrival of American and then European naval squadrons demanding that Japan open up or face military action. Tokugawa Iemochi, as head of the military government, was being summoned to confer on how to enact the recent imperial edict calling for the expulsion of foreigners to be backed up by the use of force. 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 left Kyoto peacefully under the supervision of the wakadoshiyori Nagai Naoyuki, shortly after the withdrawal of Tokugawa Yoshinobu. However, as they had been posted as security forces in Fushimi, they soon took part in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi. Kondo Isami suffered a gunshot wound, but still continuing to fight, went on to the battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma against incredible odds, and was subsequently captured in Nagareyama to the east of Edo a few days later. After surrendering to imperial government forces, he was declared guilty of participation in the assassination of Sakamoto Ryouma and beheaded three weeks later in Itabashi. A group of Shinsengumi men under Saitō Hajime fought in defense of the Aizu domain, and many of the others went on northward under Hijikata, joining the forces of the Republic of Ezo. During this interval, the Shinsengumi was able to recover some of its strength, bringing its numbers above 100. Generally, the death of Hijikata Toshizō on June 20 (lunar calendar May 11), 1869 is seen as marking the end of the Shinsengumi, though another group of survivors, under Sōma Kazue, which had been under Nagai Naoyuki's supervision at Benten-daiba, surrendered separately.

A few core members, such as Nagakura Shinpachi, Saitō Hajime, and Shimada Kai, survived the demise of the group. Some members, such as Takagi Teisaku, would even become prominent figures in society.