Ronin Anime Club - Shinsen Gumi

After the arrival of Commodore Perry, Japan was thrown into chaos and fear. Many samurais, especially those of lower ranks, began to doubt the power of the Shogunate in defending the country against foreign powers, especially when they had seen the armed blackships. The slogan "Sonno-Joi" (Rever the emperor, dispel the barbarians) was winning more and more support, such that samurais desert their hans to come to Kyoto to join the revolutionary movements. (In those days deserting your hand can be one of the most condemned sins - once you desert, you can never return to it, on pain of death.)

Such roshis (masterless samurais, but not ronins and definitely not rurounis:)) increased in Kyoto, causing more and more disturbances at the capital. In those early days of unsatisfied feelings, most of the roshis still did not have a clear idea of what movement or who they should follow. All they knew was that they were impatient and eager to do something to defend Japan. There were myriads of schools of thought - Sonno-joi, open up the country to learn from the gaijin and in turn attact them using the same technologies, support the Bakufu - as Watsuki once remarked, it was an era where 100 people may hold 100 different arguments and you can't say who's wrong. It's one factor which makes this era as tumultuous and interesting as it is. The Bakufu decided that it would be to their advantage if they took such roshis without any stand yet into their service, rather than letting them roam about the capital. Hence, Roshi-tais (bands of wave samurais) were formed and roshis enlisted under respective Bakufu samurais, where the "entry requirements" were one's sword skills (kenjutsu matches, something like an exam, were held.) This happened in 1863 or 3rd Year of Bunkyuu, one year after Kaoru's birth.

(Right, shift the scenes for a while...) Now in the district of Tama near Edo, there was a kenjutsu dojo, the Shieikan, practising the Tennen Rishin Ryuu. The master was one Kondou Isami, and among the students are Hijikata Toshizou, Okita Souji and Inoue Genzaburou. These four were like brothers, with Okita as the youngest and also the strongest. There were also many frequenters at the dojo who take their meals there (like Sano frequenting the Kamiya Dojo), among them Yamanami Seisuke, Harada Sanosuke and Nagakura Shinpachi. When Kondou and Hijikata heard of the formation of Roshitais in Kyoto and being the patriotic hunks that they were, they went to Kyoto with a few other disciples of Tennen Rishin Ryuu (including all of the above named), leaving the dojo in the care of Hijikata's elder brother.

In Kyoto, they were enlisted under Kiyokawa Hachirou, after passing the "entry requirement exams". 13 roshis, including Kondou and Co, were appointed "Kyoto Defenders" by Matsudaira Katamori, the Daimyo of Aizu.

Now, although Kiyokawa acted in public like a pro-Bakufu, he was actually on the other side. What he wanted to do was to gather a troupe of roshis in the name of the Bakufu, BUT to train these roshis to be Ishin Shishis - ironic, isn't it? He had planned with the other Shishis to attack the gaijin settlement at Yokohama, setting fire to the buildings and killing the foreigners, so that the Bakufu's foreign diplomacy, as well as their image, would plummet as low as it could get. The Shogunate had news of this, however, and they sent assassins to elimainate Kiyokawa on 13/4, 3rd year of Bunkyuu, before their plan could be carried out. After that, Kondou and co. insisted on supporting the Shogunate, and they set up the Shinsengumi, with 13 members. (Actually there are other developments before this happened, but then it was so complicated that I've given up trying to figure it out. Help, anyone?) It was then that the kanji "Makoto" was chosen as the group flag. There were some arguments on this: Kondou insisted on "Makoto", while Serizawa on "Ryu" (Dragon). (from one historical novel) The first committee was as follows:

Joint Captains: Serizawa Kamo(character model for Shishio), Kondou Isami, Niimi Nishigi
Vice Captains: Hijikata Toshizo (character model for Aoshi), Yamanami Keisuke. At this point, several new members joined in, including Saitou Hajime.

The Dreaded Five Articles Of The Shinsen Gumi Law

(from Serizawa Kamo's Biography)

Soon after the formation of Shinsengumi, the laws of the group were established. In "Shinsengumi Shimatsuki", it's Kondou Isami who devised the laws, while other sources claim that Serizawa Kamo was the author. IMHO, I prefer the "Moeyo Ken" version, where Hijikata Toshizou devised them. The reason is simple: none of the above two is likely to have created them. Kondou Isami was a very harsh person when on duty, but he was known by his gentleness off-duty and they say he was even a bit light-hearted. Serizawa Kamo wouldn't establish laws that were clearly against his usual deeds. But Hijikata Toshizou is widely known for his cunning and craftiness and feared because of his iron will. He is the most probable author of the Shinsengumi law.

There were five articles:

Dai ichijou: Shidou ni somuki majiki koto.

First Article: It's not allowed to deviate from the path proper to man.

Dai nijou: Kyoku wo dassuru kotowo yurusazu.

Second Article: It's not allowed to leave the Shinsengumi.

Dai sanjyou: Katte ni kinsaku itasubekarazu.

Third Article: It's not allowed to raise money privately.

Dai shijou: Katte ni soshou toriatsukaubekarazu.

Fourth Article: It's not allowed to take part in other's (other than Shinsengumi's) litigation.

Dai gojou: Watakushi no tousou wo yurusazu.

Fifth Article: It's not allowed to engage in private fights.

These five articles were read in front of every Shinsengumi member, along with some more items. The most famous ones were the following:

"Kumigashira ga moshi toushi shita baaiwa, kumishuu wa sono ba de toushi subeshi."

"If the leader of a unit (that is, a Jokin (later called Kumichou and after that, Fukuchou Jokin), Petty Officer) is mortally wounded in a fight, all the members of the unit must fight and die on the spot."

"Hageshiki kokou ni oite shishou zokushutsusutomo kumigashira no shitai no hoka wa hikishirizokukotomakarinarazu."

"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."

And the most dreaded one was:

"Moshi taishiga koumuni yorazushite machi de taigai no mono to arasoi, teki to yaiba wo kawashi, jibunga kizu wo oite aite wo shitomekirazuni nigashita baai, ushirokizu no baai no gotokimo seppuku wo meizuru."

"If a Shinsengumi member engage 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 (meaning a treacherous attack), seppuku (self-disembowelment, more famous as 'harakiri') is ordered."

There was only one penalty for the non-compliment of the law: death.

Japan had never seen such laws (even in the Civil War (Sengoku), it was allowed to retreat and to retrieve the bodies of the dead comrades). Of course, the death order was preceded by a deep investigation, in order to bring all the relevant facts, and sometimes the order was not issued. But more often than not, the blood of Shinsengumi members flowed like water in Kyoto.

You may have noticed by now that the Shinsengumi now comprises mainly of Kondou's men. Needless to say, they were the souls of the Shinsengumi from the start to the end - 'cos they are the more powerful. ("This is a world where the strong survive and the weak perish...") Anyway, Serizawa Kamo wasn't quite an impressive piece of goods. He was famous for wielding an iron fan as a weapon and frequented brothels, killed people at whims, got drunk and got all the more impertinent, while using his power as "Captain of the Shinsengumi" to cover up his wrongs all the time. This caused the birth of the nickname, Mibu Wolf: the troupe first gathered at a village called Mibu, so Roshis of Mibu -> Mibu-ro but this became Wolves of Mibu -> Mibu-ro. The troupe was despised throughout Kyoto. It was the last straw for Kondou and Hijikata when Serizawa summoned a prostitue to the hostels of the Shinsengumi - they were men of high morale and held fast to the codes of samurais.

On the other hand, Niimi wasn't much better off. As the troupe was travelling to Kyoto, a fire broke out at the inn that they were staying, and Kondou had taken all the blame for negligence. He was further mocked by Niimi and Serizawa. A few weeks later, however, Hijikata and the others uncovered the truth: Niimi and Serizawa were demanding some discount (or some other luxurious services) from a certain shop-tender, who declined to obey them as their demands were just too ridiculou. Angered, the two of them fired a cannon - which travelled with the troupe and was being kept in the inn's store - at the shop. They blundered somewhere, however, and the inn was plundered in fire. Hijikata managed to uncover enough evidence to convict Niimi only, however, and he ruled Niimi to commit seppuku. After which the hostility between Serizawa and Kondou became more intense. Finally, on 18/9/1863, Serizawa and other corrupted members were assasinated by a special killer group, comprising of Inoue, Yamanami, Toudou, Harada and Okita. (Refer to RK chapter on Udou Jine - he was supposed to be one of the corrupted members, but of course he doesn't really exist. His sword skills do, though.)

Well, members came and went, usually by decapitations and commiting seppuku. After the Serizawa affair, Kondou and Hijikata were determined to keep up the qualities of their members, so not only was the "entry exams" made more difficult (more notes on this later), any members found guilty of doing something which stain the "way of samurais" was decapitated, assasinated or ordered to commit suicide. (Refer to Saitou's quote when fighting Kenshin in Kamiya Dojo: "The first rule of Shinsengumi - never do anything that stain the way of samurais!")

I got this from a historical novel: Roshis who wish to join the Shinsengumi would have to fight other candidates in the same "intake", fighting the matches using shinais (bamboo swords). The stronger ones would usually be required to fight some of the more accomplished Shinsengumi members, usually Saitou (who joined the Shinsengumi later), Nagakura or Toudou. The referee for these matches would usually be Okita. Actual selections of new members were done by Hijikata and Yamanami.

Essentially, the Shinsengumi was a police troop, patrolling the streets of Kyoto and keeping the peace. They vowed to protect Kyoto with their swords. In the heat of the Ishin movements, Shishis flowed over to Kyoto to plot the downfall of the Shogunate. Add the radical actions of the Shishis, such as setting fires to the gaijin's abodes (this was done by Takasugi Shinsaku, Katsura Kogorou/Kido Koin. Takasugi is the guy who set up the Kiheitai, and in RK, the guy who first introduced Kenshin to Katsura.), and it made roshis other than Shinsengumi, especially those who'd deserted their hans, very suspicious and dangerous persons in Kyoto. So if you cannot produce a satisfactory identity, i.e. your name and your han when questioned by the Shinsengumi members, chances are that you'd be cut down at once. To quote Kenshin, in the Bakumatsu times, Kyoto was a hell where people died and blood flowed every single day. This made the Shinsengumi feared by many indeed, especially Hijikata, for he was strict and merciless, both when it comes to punishments and cutting down suspicious persons.

Their favourite combat style was many-against-one(or a few), and this became more evident as the size of the Shinsengumi increased. If the first layer of Shinsengumi members surrounding suspicious persons got cut down, further layers of members will converge on them, until they are totally exhausted and cut down. Quoting Kaoru and Kenshin, "but isn't that a coward's way, to have many on one?" Well, their main aim was to ensure the peace of Kyoto, so the method's not so important to them."

Finally. This is the turning point of the career of the Shinsengumi. The essentials of what happened are covered in RK #93 and in one of the Flashbacks in the current chapter, if I'm not mistaken. (I've seen only the translations and not the mangas.) I'm just adding that most of the killed Shishis are from Choshu and Tosa. It was after this affair that the Shinsengumi became national heroes overnight. However, the affair costed Okita a heavier price than anyone bargained for... (see section on Okita for more info)

As the group's name struck admiration nationwide, it's size increased so rapidly and large (300 strong at its peak) that a more thorough, detailed committee was called for. Following is a list, though I don't know how to translate some of the posts properly... please help anyone who has any idea!!

Captain (Commisioner? I don't know what to call him): Kondou Isami
Vice Captain: Hijikata Toshizo *char. model for Shinomori Aoshi
Military/Strategems Advisor: Itou Kashitarou (head of literatures/records(?)

Captains of the 10 battle/patrol troops:
1st: Okita Souji (instructor in Kenjutsu) *char. model for Seta Soujirou
2nd: Nagakura Shinpachi (instructor in Kenjutsu)
3rd: Saitou Hajime (instructor in Kenjutsu)
4th: Matsubara Tadaji (instructor in Jujitsu)
5th: Takeda Kanryuusai (instructor in military strategies) *char. model for Takeda Kanryuu
6th: Inoue Genzaburou
7th: Tani Sanjyuurou (instructor in spearing skills)
8th: Toudou Heisuke
9th: Suzuki Mikisaburou
10th: Harada Sanosuke *char. model for Sagara Sanosuke

Head of sentries/spies: Yamazaki Susumu *char. model for Henya (His job was to keep an eye on the members' conduct, sort of like a disciplinary master, besides being a spy to make sure of the coast before an important operation. Kondou and Hijikata relied and had a lot of faith in him)