Historical
Background
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. |
--------------------------------
First
Internal Turbulence
--------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------
Their
Job
--------------------------------
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."
--------------------------------
The
Ikeda-ya Affair
(June 1864, First Year of Genji)
--------------------------------
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)
--------------------------------
A
More Organized Structure
--------------------------------
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)
The
Men of the Shinsen Gumi
