Ça va pas mal plaire aux fans de Rurouni Kenshin, a cause du personnage de Hajime Saito, ben oui, il a vraiment éxisté.
Following the arrival of the American Commodore Matthew Perry, in 1853, Japan was found in a serious situation of chaos and panic.
Many samurais, in first place those of the lowest ranks, started to doubt about the real ability of the Shogun to defend the nation and they abandoned their lords to reach Kyoto and join the revolutionary movement.
Nevertheless they didn't know what movement to join and in this way they created a even more chaotic situation in the capital. In fact there were different schools of thought all with the common patriotic ideal of helping Japan.
At the same time, in the district of Tama, near Edo (the actual Tokyo), there was a school of kenjutsu, the Shieikan, where the Tennen Rishin Ryuu was practiced. The teacher was Kondou Isami, and among his students there were Hijikata Toshizou, Okita Souji and Inoue Genzaburou, that were just like brothers. There were also others that attended the school to only receive a free lunch as Yamanami Seisuke, Harada Sanosuke and Nagakura Shinpachi. When at the dojo they heard about the situation of Kyoto, these samurais decided to reach the capital, pushed by a strong patriotism, followed by some other disciples.
To Kyoto, they enlisted with the Kiyokawa Hachirou and they were enrolled as "Defenders of Kyoto" by Matsudaira Katamori, the Daimyo of Aizu.
In reality Kiyokawa, although officially declaring himself on the part of the Bakufu, it was on the other side and he wanted to gather as many samurais as possibile and train them as Ishin Shishis. The Shogun however was informed about his betrayal and he gave order to murder Kiyokawa before its plan was realized. After these facts Kondou decided to support the Shogun and founded the group of the Shinsengumi composed of 13 members reunited under the kanji "Makoto" (loyalty).
The hierarchical structure was the following:
Captains: Serizawa Kamo, Kondou Isami, Niimi Nishigi
Vice Captains: Hijikata Toshizo, Yamanami Keisuke.
At this point different other samurais joined to the group.
Nevertheless the relationships among the members inside the Shinsengumi were not very friendly. This also because of the behavior of people as Serizawa and Niimi that hid behind the name of the Shinsengumi all of their iniquities. Thanks to the attitude of Serizawa that was often drunk and wrangler, the Shinsengumi gained the appellative of "Wolves of Mibu", since to the beginning the troops were gathered in the village of Mibu, so vagabond of Mibu (Mibu-ro) became Wolves of Mibu (Mibu-ro).
Niimi, after a fire hung to an inn by Niimi himself and from Serizawa, was ordered to practice seppuku by Serizawa himself who manage to revert on the companion the whole guilt.
Following these facts, Serizawa was murdered by a special group, together with the other corrupted Shinsengumi, and Kondou and Hijikata decided to make the entry of new samurais in the group more difficulty and to make the rule more severe. This way whoever was not involved according to the rules of honor of the samurais was killed or it was ordered to practice seppuku.
The assignment of the Shinsengumi was essentially to patrol the roads of Kyoto and keep the peace and the order. They swore to protect Kyoto with their own sword.
In that epoch who was not able to prove his identity and not to be a member of some group that plotted against the Soghun was immediately killed. This facts made the Shinsengumi become very feared for their lack of pity and for their severity in the punishments.
Their preferred combative technique was many against one (or few), and this became more evident as soon as the group of the Shinsengumi enlarged.
A night, in June of 1864, the Ikeda-ya's Affair happened. The Shinsegumi succeeded in killing quite a lot members of the Ishin Shishis, theirs harshest enemies, and they became in a night the national heroes. Although victorious this mission resulted for the Shinsengumi in a very high price to be paid in lifes.
With the grow of national admiration, the Shinsegumi became a more and more large group, up to count 300 members, and it was necessary therefore to constitute a more organized inside structure.
Captain: Kandou isami
Vice captain: Hijikata Toshizo
Military adviser: Itou Kashitarou
Commanders of the 10 unities:
1: Okita Souji
2: Nagakura Shinpachi
3: Saitou Hajime
4: Matsubara Tadaji
5: Takeda Kanryuusai
6: Inoue Genzaburou
7: Tani Sanjyuurou
8: Toudou Heisuke
9: Suzuki Mikisaburou
10: Harada Sanosuke
Every unity included besides the commander, two lance-corporals and ten men.
The Five Articles Of The Shinsen Gumi Law
(from Serizawa Kamo's Biography)
First Article: It's not allowed to deviate from the path proper to man.
Second Article: It's not allowed to leave the Shinsengumi.
Third Article: It's not allowed to raise money privately.
Fourth Article: It's not allowed to take part in other's litigation(other than Shinsengumi's).
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.
"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."
"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, seppuku is ordered."
