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→Roshigumi: heavily edited introduction
==Roshigumi==
==Roshigumi==
In [[1863]], the [[Bakufu]] recruited [[ronin]] to guard [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Iemochi|Iemochi]] on during a visit to [[Kyoto]] to meet with the Emperor [[Komei]]. This visit was a precedent breaking event—not since the third Shogun of the Tokugawa Bakufu, [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], had a reigning shogun gone to Kyoto. This was a difficult time for a Japan, as the country was violently struggling to find consensus on how to deal with the threat sparked by the arrival of American and then European naval squadrons demanding that Japan open up or face military action. Tokugawa Iemochi, as head of the military government, was being summoned to confer on how to enact the recent imperial edict calling for the expulsion of foreigners to be backed up by the use of force.
[[Matsudaira Katamori]], daimyo of [[Aizu]] han was given the newly created post of Protector of Kyoto and charged with the responsibility of curtailing the lawlessness that had gripped Kyoto as well as guaranteeing the Shogun’s safety during his stay in Kyoto. As the anarchy being wreaked in Kyoto in the name of [[sonno joi]] (revere the Emperor; expel the foreigners) by pro-imperial [[ronin]], the Bakufu felt that the best way to fight ronin was with other ronin. The actual plan for the Roshigumi is credited to Matsudaira Chikaranosuke, chief fencing instructor at the Shogunate’s military academy. This new corps of pro-Bakufu ronin was named the Roshigumi and [[Kiyokawa Hachiro]] of [[Shonai]] han, was given the responsibility of recruiting members. Kiyokawa Hachiro was chosen to recruit ronin for the newly created Roshigumi while [[Yamaoka Tesshu]], Kiyokawa’s longtime friend, provided support and additional leadership. In reality, Kiyokawa harbored anti-Tokugawa sentiments and was a vehement supporter of the principles of sonno joi and proceeded to recruit like-minded ronin to fill the Roshigumi’s ranks. Additionally, Kiyokawa secretly planned to turn the Roshigumi into an instrument of sonno joi upon arrival in Kyoto, abandoning the mission of protecting Iemochi. With this plan in mind, Kiyokawa marched out of Edo with a force of 250 men on February 8, [[1863]], as the vanguard of Shogun Iemochi’s procession to Kyoto.
Not long after arriving in Kyoto, Kiyokawa made his intentions regarding his sonno joi plans for the Roshigumi clear. This did not come as a surprise to some senior Bakufu officials, who long regarded Kiyokawa as a dangerous subversive. Anxious to get Kiyokawa and his men out of the explosive situation in Kyoto, orders were arranged telling Kiyokawa to bring the Roshigumi back to Edo to partake in the military preparations for expelling the foreigners. However, 18 of the Roshigumi refused to return to Edo and petitioned Matsudaira Katamori to stay in Kyoto in order to complete their original mission of protecting the Shogun.
These eighteen ex-Roshigumi members were hence named the Mibugumi, after the village of Mibu on the outskirts of Kyoto where they were headquartered. Matsudaira Katamori, after careful evaluation of the political scene in Kyoto, felt it was needed to change the scope of the Mibugumi’s mission from one of protecting the shogun to one of patrolling the streets of Kyoto and restoring order in the name of the Bakufu. To reflect the change in mission, the Mibugumi, on August 18, 1863, were named the Shinsengumi— “Newly Selected Corps”.
and [[Serizawa Kamo|Serizawa Kamo's]] Mito group.
==Shinsengumi==
==Shinsengumi==