Harada Sanosuke - Shinsengumi Period

Shinsengumi Period

In 1863, Harada, together with Kondō and others associated with the Shieikan, joined Kiyokawa Hachirō's Roushigumi. Shortly after, Kondō and Serizawa Kamo separated from the Roushigumi, and formed the core of the group which later became the Shinsengumi.

Later, Harada became the tenth Unit Captain of the Shinsengumi. He trained briefly under a dojo run by Tani Sanjūrō, whom he introduced into the Shinsengumi. In 1865, Tani became the seventh Unit Captain. In Kyoto, Harada married a local woman named Masa, and briefly had a private family residence near the Shinsengumi headquarters at Nishi-Honganji. The couple had a son, whom Harada named Shigeru (茂?), taking the second character from the shogun Iemochi (家茂?)'s name. Harada was very trusted by vice-commander Hijikata. He was involved in many of the crucial missions the group faced and was very likely involved in the Serizawa Kamo (original commander of the Shinsengumi) assassination. He was involved in the Uchiyama Hikojirō assassination, the Ikedaya Affair, and the elimination of Itō Kashitarō's Kōdaiji faction. Harada became a hatamoto, together with the rest of Shinsengumi, in 1867.

At one time he was accused (by former Shinsengumi officer Itō Kashitarō) as the assassin of the famous Sakamoto Ryōma. The truth behind the incident remains unclear, but according to the confession of the Tokugawa retainer Imai Nobuo, Ryōma's assassins were men of the Mimawarigumi (another Tokugawa-affiliated unit) under the hatamoto Sasaki Tadasaburō.

Harada, together with the rest of the Shinsengumi, fought at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi. He and his family subsequently left the Kyoto region for Edo. He joined Shinsengumi's advance on Kai Province, and fought at the Battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma; however, the unit was defeated and forced to retreat. In the wake of this defeat, Harada and Nagakura left the old Shinsengumi, after disagreements with Kondō and Hijikata. According to Nagakura's version of events, Kondō wanted the surviving men to become his retainers; Nagakura, Harada, and a few others staunchly refused. Nagakura and Harada, taking with them some other Shinsengumi members, joined with a group of former Tokugawa retainers to form a new unit, the Seiheitai. Seiheitai left Edo shortly after Edo Castle's surrender, and headed north, hoping to take part in the fighting that was moving northward, toward Aizu.