Shinsengumi
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- For the NHK television series, see Shinsengumi!.
The Shinsengumi (Japanese: 新選組 or 新撰組) were a special police force of the late shogunate period.
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[edit] Historical background
After 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.
[edit] Historical facts
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.
| Serizawa's faction:
Serizawa Kamo |
Kondo's faction:
Kondo Isami |
Tomouchi's faction:
Tomouchi Yoshio |
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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Post-Ikedaya Shinsengumi hierarchy
Commander: Kondō Isami, fourth master of the Tennen Rishin Ryū
General Secretary(Vice Commander): Yamanami Keisuke
Vice Commander: Hijikata Toshizō
Military Advisor: Ito Kashitarō
Troop Captains:
- Okita Sōji
- Nagakura Shinpachi
- Saitō Hajime
- Matsubara Chūji
- Takeda Kanryūsai
- Inoue Genzaburō
- Tani Sanjūrō
- Tōdō Heisuke
- Suzuki Mikisaburō
- Harada Sanosuke
Spies: Shimada Kai, Yamazaki Susumu
[edit] Shinsengumi regulations
The code of the Shinsengumi Regulations was most likely to have been written by Hijikata Toshizō
The code included five articles, prohibiting the following:
- Deviating from the samurai code (Bushido)
- Leaving the Shinsengumi
- Raising money privately
- Taking part in others' litigation
- Engaging in private fights
The penalty for breaking any rule was seppuku. In addition, the Shinsengumi had these regulations:
- If the leader of a unit is mortally wounded in a fight, all the members of the unit must fight and die on the spot.
- Even in a fight where the death toll is high, it is not allowed to retrieve the bodies of the dead, except the corpse of the leader of the unit.
The most prominent of which is this: "If a Shinsengumi member engages in a fight with a stranger, be it on duty or not, if he is wounded and can't kill the enemy, allowing him to run away, even in case of a wound in the back, seppuku is ordered."
Hijikata forced them to follow extremely strict rules to make the group reflect bushido (or samurai) ideals, and to create fear within the group so that they would absolutely obey the orders of Hijikata and Kondo. These rules are a major reason why they rose to be such a strong, feared force consisting of hundreds of expert swordsmen, each endowed with official sanction and an unflinching readiness to kill.
Quite a few members were forced to commit seppuku for breaking the rules, or were killed for being spies.
[edit] The uniform
The members of the Shinsengumi were highly visible in battle due to their distinctive uniforms. Following the orders of Shinsengumi captain Serizawa Kamo, the standard uniform consisted of the haori and hakama over a kimono, with a white cord called a tasuki crossed over the chest and tied in the back. The function of the tasuki is to prevent the sleeves of the kimono from interfering with moving the arms. The uniqueness of the uniform was most evident in the haori, which was colored asagiiro (浅葱色, generally light blue, but can also be light yellow). The haori sleeves were trimmed with "white mountain stripes", resulting in a very flashy outfit, quite unlike the usual browns, blacks, and greys found in warrior clothing. In the midst of a fight, the uniforms of the Shinsengumi provided not only a means of easy identification, but also a highly visible threat towards the enemy.
[edit] Depictions in media
In 2004, Japanese television broadcaster NHK began making a year-long television drama series following the history of the Shinsengumi, called 新選組! (Shinsengumi!), which airs on Sunday evenings. Actors include Kōji Yamamoto, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Joe Odagiri, and Katori Shingo of the pop idol group SMAP. It was written by Japanese director and playwright, Mitani Koki. Many other series and specials have featured the history and fiction surrounding this group.
In 2003, a Japanese samurai drama, When the last sword is drawn [1], depicts the end of shinsengumi, focusing on various historical figures such as Saito Hajime.
In the historical fiction manga Kaze Hikaru, a girl named Tominaga Sei disguises herself as a boy named Kamiya Seizaburo to join the Mibu-Roshigumi (later known as Shinsengumi) in order to avenge her murdered father and older brother.
The historical fiction anime Peacemaker Kurogane chronicles a dramatization of the events leading up to the Ikedaya Affair. The manga it was based on continues the story.
Another popular historical fiction manga, Rurouni Kenshin, which also became an anime, includes Saito in his post-Shinsengumi job in the Meiji's police department, as Gorō Fujita. Saito is also featured in Rurouni Kenshin's OVA, localized in America as Samurai X. Both the OVA and manga show scenes of the Shinsengumi around the time of the Ikedaya Affair. Saito often quotes "Aku Soku Zan" (Destroy-Evil-Immediately) as being the Shinsengumi's one and only rule. It must be noted that "Aku-Soku-Zan" is fictional. In addition, several of the other Shinsengumi members are briefly seen in the series.
The 1999 film Gohatto depicts the Shinsengumi a year after the Ikedaya Affair.
The SNK Playmore video game series The Last Blade features two fictional Shinsengumi members: Keiichiro Washizuka and Kojiroh Sanada, as part of the fictional Shinsengumi Zero Squadron.
The Shinsengumi were made into anime girls in the eroge Kyosatsu♥Shinsengumi, and also in Line-Kill Spirits.
Hijikata and Okita played a major part in the third arc of the anime and volume 2-3 of the manga series Shura no Toki.
Hijikata Toshizou Shiro no Kiseki was an one episode OVA based on the Shinsengumi after the Meiji Restoration took place.
The Sword of Doom(1966) is about Ryunosuke who at one point joins the Shinsengumi under Serizawa Kamo, Ryunosuke receives orders to kill Kondo.
In the anime Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, the main character Akizuki Yōjirō has a past with Okita and Hijikata. Episode 9 and 10 depict Okita's last days.
The Playstation 2 games Fu-un Shinsengumi and Fu-un Bakumatsuden follow the history of the group.
[edit] Further reading
- Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps, by Romulus Hillsborough (2005) ISBN 0804836272
- Samurai Sketches: From the Bloody Final Years of the Shogun, by Romulus Hillsborough (2001) ISBN 0966740181
[edit] External links
- Shinsengumi Headquarters Website created to address the needs of those who are interested in the history, related film/TV/anime, fanfiction, fanart and various incarnations of the Shinsengumi.
- Hajimenokizu A site dedicated to Saitou Hajime and the Shinsengumi in various fictional and historical incarnations.
- Historical article on the Shinsengumi
