Founding of the Shinsengumi

In the 2nd month of Bunkyū 3 (1863), the Edo bakufu sent the rōshigumi (band of masterless samurai) to Kyoto ahead of Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi's journey to the capital. Organized on the proposal of Kiyokawa Hachirō, this band was at first nominally for guarding the shogun. When Kiyokawa's sonnō jōi aims came to light, however, the bakufu recalled the group to Edo. But Kondō Isami, Hijikata Toshizō and their Shieikan faction, together with the Mito faction led by Serizawa Kamo and others, argued for remaining in Kyoto to guard the shogun, and they stayed behind in Mibu village. This is the direct origin of the Shinsengumi. (The membership at its founding is said to have been 24, though there are several theories.)

On the 12th day of the 3rd month of the same year, the group was placed under the Aizu Domain and took the name Mibu rōshigumi (Mibu Band of Masterless Samurai). It was later renamed the Shinsengumi, and it functioned as a field unit specialized in guarding the city of Kyoto and suppressing sonnō jōi shishi.

Organization and Regulations

The Shinsengumi maintained discipline through its extremely strict Kyokuchū Hatto (Rules Within the Corps). The rules forbade five acts: going against the samurai way, leaving the corps, raising money on one's own initiative, engaging in private fights, and handling lawsuits. Violators were reportedly ordered to commit seppuku. (The five-article form spread through Shimozawa Kan's “Shinsengumi Shimatsuki.”) This was both an attempt to purify the way of the warrior and a practical means of controlling a band of masterless samurai of diverse origins.

Kyokuchō Kondō Isami was a practitioner of Tennen Rishin-ryū. Although he was born a farmer in Tama, Musashi Province, he maintained a samurai's pride for the rest of his life. Fukuchō Hijikata Toshizō was a strict organizational manager feared as the “Demon Deputy Commander,” and he was the enforcer of the rules without exception. Okita Sōji, captain of the First Unit, was known as a genius swordsman, and his “three-step thrust” became legendary.

Deep Ties to Swords

For members of the Shinsengumi, the Japanese sword was not merely a weapon but the very soul of a samurai. In the many raids beginning with the Ikedaya Incident (1864), members fought with their swords in hand, and their skill decided between life and death.

Their ties to swordsmiths were also deep, and some senior members carried famous blades. The Kotetsu by Nagasone Okisato, known as Kondō Isami's favorite sword, is renowned as a battle blade of the bakumatsu period. Hijikata Toshizō always carried the Izumi no kami Kanesada (the eleventh-generation Kanesada of Aizu). This sword still survives today at the Hijikata Toshizō Museum in Hino City, Tokyo, as a valuable historical document.

The bakumatsu period was the last era in which the Japanese sword still played a decisive role, even as firearms were spreading across the battlefield. As social upheaval intensified after Perry's arrival, Shinsengumi members devoted themselves day and night to swordsmanship training, dedicating their lives to sharpening the edge of their blades and their own skill. Their activities record abundantly the last historical cases in which the Japanese sword functioned not as a mere craft object or symbol but as a practical weapon.

The Ikedaya Incident and Its Impact

On the 5th day of the 6th month of Genji 1 (1864), the Shinsengumi raided a group of sonnō jōi shishi hiding at the inn Ikedaya in Kiyamachi, Sanjō, Kyoto. This “Ikedaya Incident” made the Shinsengumi's name known throughout the land. The shishi side consisted of more than twenty sonnō jōi men from Chōshū, Tosa, Higo and other domains. The Shinsengumi searched the city in separate units, the Kondō unit and the Hijikata unit. The Kondō unit entered the Ikedaya first, and the Hijikata unit joined later. Inside the building, they cut down and captured many shishi in close combat.

Okita Sōji was said to have been forced to withdraw partway through due to an attack of his chronic illness (pulmonary tuberculosis). The remaining members, however, overcame their numerical disadvantage and succeeded in suppressing the shishi. The encounter at the Ikedaya was a close-quarters fight between pure swordsmen. As a rare case in which the quality of the blade and the skill of the swordsman directly decided victory or defeat, it attracts attention from both historians of the bakumatsu period and sword enthusiasts.

The Kinmon Incident and Cooperation with the Aizu Domain

In the month following the Ikedaya Incident, the Chōshū Domain led its domain troops to the Kyoto Imperial Palace in what became known as the Kinmon Incident (the 7th month of Genji 1). The Shinsengumi also took part in defending the Palace, in coordination with the Aizu Domain troops of the Kyoto Shugoshoku. This battle was a large-scale armed clash involving cannon fire, but the main force of the Shinsengumi still functioned as close-combat fighters.

Their close cooperation with the Aizu Domain continued until the Battle of Toba–Fushimi (Keiō 4, 1868), and in the Boshin War they also played a role as part of the former bakufu forces.

Decline and Final Battles

When the bakufu system collapsed with the Taisei Hōkan (Return of Political Power to the Emperor) in Keiō 3 (1867) and the Ōsei Fukko no Daigōrei (Restoration Decree) in the 12th month of the same year, the Shinsengumi too shared the fate of the former bakufu forces. After their defeat at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, they continued to fight through Edo, Kōshū and the Tōhoku region. Kondō Isami surrendered at Nagareyama in the 4th month of Meiji 1 (1868) and was beheaded the same year. Hijikata Toshizō fought on as far as Hakodate in Hokkaidō, and he was killed in action in the 5th month of Meiji 2 (1869).

With Hijikata's death, the Shinsengumi effectively ceased to exist, but its story continued to be told after the Meiji era as a symbol of the bakumatsu period. In the context in which modern Japanese recall “bushidō,” “loyalty,” and “the aesthetics of the sword,” the Shinsengumi has remained an indispensable point of reference.

Significance in the History of Japanese Swords

The bakumatsu period in which the Shinsengumi was active marks a turning point in the history of the Japanese sword. Throughout the Edo period, the sword had increasingly taken on the meaning of a symbolic object (an ornament) of the samurai. The members of the Shinsengumi, however, continued to use the sword literally as a practical implement of combat, in their nightly patrols and raids.

This culture of the “sword in use” stands in contrast to the Edo-period “sword to be displayed,” and it serves as a historical testimony that highlights the dual nature of the Japanese sword: its practicality and its artistry.