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49-647: Kōfu Castle is located in the physical center of the city of Kōfu on a small hill. The city itself is located at the confluence of the Kamanashi River and the Fuefuki River . During the Sengoku Period after the local warlord ( Takeda Shingen ) seized control of the province from his father. He made Tsutsujigasaki Castle his seat. Before this time, the Kōfu area was subject to frequent flooding, and it

98-662: A watershed of 3,990 square kilometres (1,540 sq mi). With the Mogami River and the Kuma River , it is regarded as one of the three most rapid flows of Japan. The river arises from Mount Nokogiri in the Akaishi Mountains in northwest Yamanashi as the Kamanashi River ( 釜無川 , Kamanashi-gawa ) , and meets the Fuefuki River at the town of Ichikawamisato . There it changes its name to

147-531: A cell of twenty Chōshū revolutionaries, possibly preventing the burning of Kyoto. The incident made the squad more famous and led to soldiers enlisting in the squad. Troop Captains ( 組長 , Kumichō ) : At its peak, the Shinsengumi had about 300 members. They were the first samurai group of the Tokugawa era to allow those from non-samurai classes (farmers and merchants, for example) to join. Many joined

196-621: A few selected Shinsengumi members led by Hijikata went into the Yagi Gennojō's house and assassinated Serizawa, his woman Oume, and Hirayama Goro, with Hirama Jūsuke being the only survivor who fled that night. All this infighting left Kondō as leader. Three months later, Noguchi Kenji was ordered to commit seppuku for an unknown reason. On July 8, 1864, in an incident at the Ikedaya Inn in Kyoto, thirty Shinsengumi suppressed

245-404: A new castle at Ichijyomodoriyama, a small hill a short distance away, which had a small fort guarding the valley. This was later called "Kōfu Castle". He died before the completion of the new castle, and was succeeded by Asano Nagamasa (1547–1611), Hideyoshi's step-brother-in-law. Asano completed the castle in 1593. Kōfu Castle was originally T-shaped, with the main body spreading on the ridge of

294-698: A new headquarters in Nagareyama on April 25, 1868. However, on the same day, the Imperial forces' Staff Officer Kagawa Keizō of Mito Domain received news that an armed unit had set up camp at Nagareyama and dispatched the forces there. During their training at Nagareyama on April 26, 1868, the Kōyō Chinbutai members were caught by surprise by the 200-strong Imperial forces, the Imperial forces' vice-chief of staff Arima Tota of Satsuma Domain ordered Kondō to go with them to their camp at Koshigaya. Kondō

343-415: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Shinsengumi The Shinsengumi ( 新選組 , "Newly Selected Corps") was a small, elite group of swordsmen that was organized by commoners and low rank samurai , commissioned by the bakufu (military government) during Japan 's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate ) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect

392-481: The Kaiten warship, a number of oppositionists, including Nomura Risaburō , managed to board the ship, but were soon mowed down by its Gatling gun . Many others including the captain of Kaiten were also killed by gunfire from the Imperial ships. The battle lasted only thirty minutes and the survivors and Kaiten retreated to Hakodate. On the fourth week of May 1869, Hijikata led 230 Republic of Ezo forces and

441-580: The Shinchōgumi ( 新徴組 ) under the patronage of Shōnai Domain . However, nineteen Rōshigumi members, mainly from the Mito clan, remained and formed the Mibu Rōshigumi ( 壬生浪士組 ) . Serizawa's faction: Kondō's faction: Tonouchi's faction: Initially, the Mibu Rōshigumi were called Miburō ( 壬生浪 ) , meaning " rōnin of Mibu ". At the time, Mibu was a village south west of Kyoto, and

490-414: The haori and hakama over a kimono , with a white cord called a tasuki crossed over the chest and tied in the back. The function of the tasuki was to prevent the sleeves of the kimono from interfering with movement of the arms. The Shinsengumi wore a light chainmail suit beneath their robes and a light helmet made of iron. The uniform was best defined by the haori , which

539-538: The Shinchōgumi . Matsudaira Katamori , after the careful evaluation of the political scene in Kyoto, felt it was needed to change the scope of the Mibu Rōshigumi 's mission from protecting the shogunate to patrolling the streets of Kyoto and restoring order in the name of the Tokugawa bakufu . On August 18, 1863, the Mibu Rōshigumi was renamed the Shinsengumi . The new name Shinsengumi may have been coined by Matsudaira Katamori (the daimyō of

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588-535: The Shinsengumi left peacefully under the supervision of the wakadoshiyori , Nagai Naoyuki . The new emperor had been named the head of a new government (meaning the end to centuries of military rule by the shōgun ). This marked the beginning of the Boshin civil war . Following their departure from Kyoto, the Shinsengumi were one of the shogunate forces fought in the Battle of Toba–Fushimi against

637-410: The Shinsengumi , famously created by Hijikata Toshizō, included five articles, prohibiting deviation from the samurai code ( bushido ), leaving the Shinsengumi , raising money privately, taking part in others' litigation, and engaging in private fights. The penalty for breaking any rule was seppuku . In addition, if the leader of a unit was mortally wounded in a fight, all the members of

686-481: The Battle of Sekigahara , Kōfu Castle came into the hands of the Tokugawa clan with whom it remained until the end of the Tokugawa shogunate . The Tokugawa shogunate initially used Kōfu Castle as a stronghold that the shōgun could retreat to, should any enemies take Edo Castle . Although the tenshu constructed by Asano Nagamasa had fallen into ruin and was not replaced, the castle itself was kept in good repair and

735-616: The Battle of Shirakawa in June 1868. After the Battle of Bonari Pass in October 1868, when Hijikata decided to retreat from Aizu, Saitō and a small group of Shinsengumi parted with Hijikata and continued to fight alongside the Aizu Domain against the Imperial forces until the very end of the Battle of Aizu , where he and a handful of surviving members were apprehended and became the prisoners-of-war . In December 1868, Hijikata and

784-564: The Imperial forces consisting of allied forces of Chōshū , Satsuma and Tosa in January 1868 where Kondō would suffer a gunshot wound at Fushimi during the battle. The Shinsengumi returned to Edo, where it was later reformed into a unit known as the Kōyō Chinbutai ( 甲陽鎮撫隊 , "Pacification Corps") and departed from Edo for Kōfu Castle on March 24 on orders to suppress uprisings there. However, upon receiving news on March 28 that

833-793: The Meiji (1868–1912) and Taisho (1912–1926) periods, the Shinsengumi were generally unpopular. At that time, the Japanese considered the Meiji Restoration a great achievement and regarded the current system centered around Satsuma and Choshu as just. Therefore, the Shinsengumi were perceived as a foolish group resisting the Meiji Restoration. This prevailing notion began to change with Kan Shimozawa 's novel "Shinsengumi Shimatsuki" (1928). Furthermore, after World War II, there

882-575: The Shingen-zutsumi ( 信玄堤 ) . Flood control efforts continued under the Tokugawa shogunate of the Edo period , when extensive dikes were completed in 1674 after 50 years of construction, to divert the lower river away from populated areas, which were prone to flooding. Water transportation up the river from Suruga Bay to inland Kai Province prospered in the Edo period and early Meiji period , until

931-463: The 17th century. Tokugawa Iemochi , the head of the military government, the bakufu , had been invited to discuss how Japan should enact the recent imperial edict calling for the expulsion of foreigners. Although the Rōshigumi was funded by the Tokugawa bakufu , the leader Kiyokawa Hachirō and others had strong loyalties to the emperor and planned to gather other rōnin in Kyoto to police

980-782: The Aizu and guard the gates of the imperial court. The opposition forces included the Mori clan of the Chōshū and the Shimazu clan of Satsuma . Serizawa's erratic and disruptive behavior in Kyoto eventually led to Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu giving the Shinsengumi an order to assassinate Serizawa and his group. On October 19, 1863, Niimi Nishiki, a member of the Serizawa faction was forced by Yamanami Keisuke and Hijikata Toshizō to commit seppuku for breaking regulations. On October 30 (or October 28),

1029-436: The Aizu clan) around this time. The opposition forces included the Mori clan of the Chōshū and the Shimazu clan of Satsuma . The Shinsengumi were led by Serizawa Kamo ( born 1830, Mino Province), Niimi Nishiki , and Kondō Isami ( born 1834, Musashi Province – he came from a small dojo in Edo called Shieikan ). The Shinsengumi submitted a letter to the Aizu clan, another powerful group who supported

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1078-571: The Battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma, Nagakura Shinpachi , Harada Sanosuke and some of the members left the Kōyō Chinbutai after disagreements with long-time comrades Kondo and Hijikata and later formed a new unit Seiheitai with a former Tokugawa retainer Haga Gidou as its commander. On April 11, 1868, the Kōyō Chinbutai departed Edo again and set up a temporary headquarters at the Kaneko family estate, northeast of Edo. They would later move to

1127-654: The Fuji River. It then flows around the west foot of Mount Fuji and into Suruga Bay at its mouth in the city of Fuji . The banks of the Fuji River was the location of the Battle of Fujikawa in 1180, one of the most important early battles of the Genpei War . The Sengoku period warlord Takeda Shingen built extensive dikes along the Kamanashi portion of the river, which allowed water to flood buffer zones to control damage. These dikes still exist, and are called

1176-535: The Kōfu Castle was taken by the Imperial forces led by Itagaki Taisuke , they settled at a town of Katsunuma 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Kōfu. On March 29, 1868, the Kōyō Chinbutai resisted an attack by the Imperial forces at the Battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma for about two hours but lost, with eight dead and more than thirty wounded, while the Imperial forces had only one dead and twelve wounded. The surviving members were scattered and retreated to Edo. Right after

1225-469: The Tokugawa regime, requesting permission to police Kyoto. The request was granted. Saeki Matasaburō, having killed Araya Shingorō, was believed to be killed by a Chōshū samurai Kusaka Genzui on September 22, 1863. On September 30, 1863 (lunar calendar August 18), the Chōshū (anti-Tokugawa) clan were forced from the imperial court by the Tokugawa, Aizu and Satsuma clans. The Shinsengumi were sent to aid

1274-440: The city from insurgents . On March 26 ( lunar calendar February 8), 1863, Kiyokawa led the Rōshigumi out of Edo as the vanguard of shōgun Iemochi's procession to Kyoto, which they arrived on April 10 (lunar calendar February 23), 1863. When Kiyokawa's scheme was revealed in Kyoto, he immediately commanded the Rōshigumi to return to Edo. The members were disbanded and then returned to Edo where they would later form

1323-576: The east, and 60 hertz to the west. The view of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen train crossing the river against the background of Mount Fuji is a celebrated scene representative of Japan. 35°06′56″N 138°38′28″E  /  35.115437°N 138.641111°E  / 35.115437; 138.641111 (mouth) This article related to a river in Japan is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Shizuoka Prefecture location article

1372-562: The gate and a yagura tower were completed in 2004. The tower functions as a museum that features many artifacts from the castle's original buildings. The castle is a ten-minute walk from Kōfu Station on the JR East Chūō Main Line . Fuji River The Fuji River ( 富士川 , Fuji-kawa or Fuji-gawa ) is a river in Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures of central Japan. It is 128 kilometres (80 mi) long and has

1421-486: The group out of a desire to become samurai and be involved in political affairs. However, it is a misconception that most of the Shinsengumi members were from non-samurai classes. Out of 106 Shinsengumi members (among a total of 302 members at the time), there were 87 samurai, eight farmers, three merchants, three medical doctors, three priests, and two craftsmen. Several of the leaders, such as Sannan, Okita, Saitō, Nagakura, and Harada, were born samurai. The code of

1470-416: The hands of the advancing Imperial army. However, the Imperial army led by Itagaki Taisuke reached Kōfu first and took the castle without a fight. The Imperial Army then defeated the Shinsengumi at the Battle of Katsunuma to keep the castle. At the start of the Meiji period , the castle was abandoned, and in 1877 in accordance with government orders that all old fortifications were to be destroyed, all of

1519-464: The hill from east-to-west, separated into three or four layers of terraces over a 200 by 100 meters area. The front of the castle protruded north-to-south and had the main gate. The inner bailey was at the top of the hill measuring 100 by 50 meters, with a four-story tenshu painted black with gold-colored roof tiles . Below the inner bailey were several enclosures with a complex system of stone walls, in some places up to 15 meters in height. After

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1568-561: The last commander Sōma Kazue , who had been under Nagai Naoyuki 's supervision at Benten Daiba , surrendered three days later on June 23, ( lunar calendar May 14), 1869, marked the end of the Shinsengumi . The forces of the Republic of Ezo would later surrender on June 27, ( lunar calendar May 18), 1869, which marked the end of the Boshin War. A few core members, such as Nagakura Shinpachi, Saitō Hajime, and Shimada Kai survived

1617-509: The opening of the Tōkaidō Main Line , Chūō Main Line and Fuji Minobu Railway railways. Commercial river transport ceased in 1923. There are numerous dams for hydroelectric power generation and flood control along the various tributaries in the upper reaches of the river. The Fuji River also marks the divide of Japan's electrical grid , with the utility frequency of 50  hertz to

1666-404: The remaining castle structures were pulled down. The outer areas of the castle became the location of Kōfu Station , and other areas were occupied by government offices. In 1904 the area around the inner bailey was opened to the public as Maizuru Castle Park. Since the 1990s, archaeological excavations and reconstruction of the important castle features have been ongoing, and reconstructions of

1715-464: The rest of the surviving Shinsengumi joined the forces of the Republic of Ezo in the north. The Shinsengumi numbers decreased to around one hundred in this period and they fought on despite the fall of Edo and clear defeat of Tokugawa. In the Battle of Miyako Bay on 6 May 1869, Hijikata led a daring but doomed raid to steal the imperial warship Kōtetsu , in the early morning, from

1764-721: The shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time when a controversial imperial edict to exclude foreign trade from Japan had been made and the Chōshū clan had been forced from the imperial court. They gained considerable fame in the Ikedaya incident and the August 18 coup events, among others. The men were drawn from the sword schools of Edo . Japan's forced opening to the west in 1854 , which required it to open its shores for trade or face military conflict, exacerbated internal political instability. One long-standing line of political opinion

1813-402: The surviving Shinsengumi against the 600 strong Imperial forces during the Battle of Futamata for sixteen hours and were forced to retreat. The Imperial forces attacked again on the next day, only to retreat. On the following night, Hijikata led a successful raid on the Imperial forces' camp, forcing them to flee. Hijikata and his forces would later retreat to Hakodate on June 10. Hijikata

1862-406: The unit must fight and die on the spot and, even in a fight where the death toll was high, the unit was not allowed to retrieve the bodies of the dead, except the corpse of the leader of the unit. The members of the Shinsengumi were highly visible in battle due to their distinctive uniforms. Following the orders of the Shinsengumi commander Serizawa Kamo , the standard uniform consisted of

1911-587: The war. Some members, such as Takagi Teisaku  [ ja ] , went on to become prominent figures. In 1875, Nagakura Shinpachi, with the help of the physician Matsumoto Ryōjun and several surviving former Shinsengumi comrades including Saitō Hajime among others, erected the monument for Kondō Isami, Hijikata Toshizō, and the fallen comrades of the Shinsengumi at Jutoku-ji temple boundary known as Graves of Shinsengumi in Itabashi , Tokyo and held requiems for their past comrades' souls. During

1960-525: Was sonnō jōi (meaning, "revere the emperor, expel the barbarians"). Loyalists (particularly in Chōshū Domain ) in Kyoto began to rebel. In response, the Tokugawa shogunate formed the Rōshigumi ( 浪士組 , "the rōnin squad") on October 19, 1862. The Rōshigumi was a squad of 234 rōnin ( samurai without masters) drawn from the sword schools of Edo . The squad's nominal commander

2009-415: Was colored asagi-iro ( 浅葱色 , light blue) . In the old days of Japan, during the ritual, the samurai committing seppuku would wear an asagi-iro kamishimo . Thus the colour, in the samurai's eyes, characterized an honourable death. The haori sleeves were trimmed with "white mountain stripes", resulting in a very distinctive uniform. In 1867, when Tokugawa Yoshinobu withdrew from Kyoto,

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2058-553: Was fought over by Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Late Hōjō clan , with Ieyasu emerging victorious. However, after the 1590 Siege of Odawara , Toyotomi Hideyoshi forced Ieyasu to exchange his holdings for new territories in the Kantō region and gave Kai Province to his Kato Mitsuyasu (1537–1593). Kato originally governed from the old Tsutsujigasaki palace, but as that site had minimal defenses and had little room for expansion, he began work on

2107-564: Was killed from a gunshot wound on June 20 ( lunar calendar May 11), 1869, during the Battle of Hakodate in Hokkaido . Before his death, he wrote of his loyalty to the Tokugawa on the death poem sent by his page Ichimura Tetsunosuke to the house of his brother-in-law: Though my body may decay on the Island of Ezo, My spirit guards my lords in the East. A remaining group of survivors, under

2156-512: Was later brought to Itabashi on April 27 for questioning. Kondō was declared guilty of participation in the assassination of Sakamoto Ryōma on April 30, 1868 and was beheaded three weeks later at the Itabashi execution grounds on May 17, 1868. Due to Hijikata being incapacitated as a result of the injuries sustained at the Battle of Utsunomiya Castle in May 1868, the Kōyō Chinbutai fought in defense of Aizu territory under Saitō Hajime in

2205-576: Was only through massive flood control projects which were undertaken by Takeda Shigen over a 20-year period that the area was considered inhabitable. After Takeda Shingen's death, his son Takeda Katsuyori was defeated by a coalition of the Oda clan and the Tokugawa clan in 1582. Oda Nobunaga placed his general Kawajiri Hidetaka in charge of Kai Province , but Nobunaga was assassinated only three months later and vengeful former Takeda clan retainers assassinated Kawajiri soon afterwards. The vacant province

2254-496: Was ruled by a cadet branch of the clan. Tokugawa Tsunatoyo , the daimyō of Kōfu, became the heir of the fifth Shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi and moved to Edo Castle . He was replaced in 1704 by Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu , one of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's closest retainers. Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu was also a descendant of the Takeda clan, and made strong efforts for restoring the prosperity of the region. However, his son Yanagisawa Yoshisato

2303-464: Was the hatamoto Matsudaira Katamori , and their leader was Kiyokawa Hachirō , a rōnin from Shōnai Domain . The Rōshigumi 's mission was to protect Tokugawa Iemochi , the 14th shōgun , during an important trip to Kyoto to meet with the Emperor Kōmei . There had not been such a meeting since the third shōgun of the Tokugawa bakufu , Tokugawa Iemitsu , had visited Kyoto in

2352-608: Was the place where they were stationed. Mibu Rōshigumi was initially formed in three factions under Serizawa (the Mito group), Kondō (the Shieikan group) and Tonouchi. Abiru Eisaburō later died of illness, a month after arriving in Kyoto. Internal strife soon developed within the group, Tonouchi was assassinated by Kondō on Yojō bridge, Serizawa had ordered a member, Iesato Tsuguo, to commit seppuku for deserting, Negishi Yūzan also deserted and returned to Edo, where he joined

2401-624: Was transferred to Yamato Kōriyama Domain, and Kai province became tenryō territory ruled directly by the shogunate though an appointed hatamoto administrator. During this period, the honmaru of the palace and the Akagenenmon gate were destroyed by a large fire in 1727. During the Boshin War of the Meiji restoration , Katsu Kaishū dispatched the Shinsengumi under Kondo Isami to seize Kōfu Castle before it could fall into

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