Takasugi Shinsaku
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Photograph of Takasugi Shinsaku.
A militant Choshu loyalist, Takasugi is credited with forming the first modern non-samurai fighting force in Japanese history, allowing commoners to bear arms. This militia unit was known as the Kihetai, and under Takasugi's leadership, the unit played a pivotal role in defeating the pro-Tokugawa conservative faction with Choshu during its mini-civil war in 1865. He also successfully led this unit against the Bakufu-sponsored expedition to punish Choshu for its part in attacking the Imperial Palace's Hamaguri Gate. Neither blade nor bullet brought Takasugi down, but rather it was illness that ended his short life before he could see his goal of the Imperial Restoration realized.
References
- Hillsborough, Romulus. RYOMA- Life of a Renaissance Samurai. Ridgeback Press, 1999
- Jansen, Marius B. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. Columbia University Press, 1994.
