The most feared police force in Tokugawa history consisted of hundreds of expert swordsmen, each endowed with the official sanction and an unflinching propensity to kill. Their purpose: to restore law and order to the blood-soaked streets of the imperial capital. “Fight fire with fire, and terror with terror,” reasoned the powers that were, with a single-minded objective bolstered by the corps’ draconian code.

The radicals from Choshu and Tosa unleashed a reign of terror and assassination in Kyoto during the early 1860s. In the spring of 1863, the Tokugawa Bakufu made its final preparations for the first visit to Kyoto by a shogun in over two centuries. To restore order to the imperial capital, the Tokugawa authorities recruited over two hundred ronin from provinces around Japan, under the slogan of “loyalty and patriotism.” Shortly after the “loyal and patriotic corps” reached Kyoto, the bakufu had second thoughts about the wisdom of their plan. Many of the ronin they had recruited were actually Imperial Loyalists who shared the xenophobic sentiments of the Choshu and Tosa men whom they had been enlisted to suppress. Most of the enlistees were soon sent back to Edo, where they could do little harm. Some twenty of them, however, remained in Kyoto, under the supervision of the Lord of Aizu, a staunch Tokugawa ally and the shogunate’s official Protector of Kyoto.

They were nicknamed 'Mibu-roshi,' as their headquarters were located in Mibu. By their outstanding activities at the time of the 8.18 coup in the 3rd year of Bunkyu (August 18, 1863), they were formally given the name of 'Shinsengumi' (literally the "Newly Selected Team") by the Imperial Court. The Shinsengumi were led by two particularly lethal swordsmen, Serizawa Kamo and Kondo Isami, who were bitter rivals. Serizawa, who hailed from a wealthy samurai family of the Mito domain, one of the elite Go-sanke, the three branch houses of the Tokugawa, was a highly skilled swordsman. Kondo, originally of peasant stock from the province of Musashi, near Edo, had been adopted by a local sword master for his ferocity on the practice floor. Serizawa had a reputation as a violent drunk. He felt that he was above the law. He took advantage of his newfound power to embezzle money from wealthy Kyoto merchants, to carouse at his favorite house of pleasure at the expense of the perplexed proprietress, and to have his way with women, including other men’s wives. The Protector of Kyoto, unhappy that this leader of his police corps behaved contrary to his raison d’etre, ordered Kondo to assassinate Serizawa. Kondo carried out this order with the same cold-blooded expedience by which his corps would subdue the enemies of the Tokugawa. He now became the sole commander of the Shinsengumi, which he, and his best friend and right-hand man, Hijikata Toshizo, would lead with an iron rule.


As suggested by the corps’ symbol, the Chinese character for sincerity, Kondo and Hijikata commanded the Shinsengumi based on the severest of codes. Any man who failed to abide by this code was forced to commit seppuku, and it was through this code which the Shinsengumi secured its place in Japanese history.

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Ambush Tactics employed by the Shinsen-gumi


Photo of Kondo Isami, commander of the Shinsengumi: Courtesy of Minato City Local History Museum.

Photo of Shinsengumi banner: Courtesy of Hijikata Toshizo Museum.