| The Hachiôji One-Thousand ''[[Doshin|Dôshin]]'' were a special detachment of guards based at [[Hachioji castle|Hachiôji]] and assigned to defend the border of [[Musashi province]] with [[Kai province]]. | | The Hachiôji One-Thousand ''[[Doshin|Dôshin]]'' were a special detachment of guards based at [[Hachioji castle|Hachiôji]] and assigned to defend the border of [[Musashi province]] with [[Kai province]]. |
− | Named "one thousand" as a result of having numbered roughly that many during the [[battle of Sekigahara]], the group was maintained down into the [[Edo period]]. They stand apart from many similar guardsmen detachments in that the Hachiôji guards were of farmer/peasant lineage, and yet acted as [[samurai]], too, in their role as guardsmen. Following the end of the wars of the [[Sengoku period]], the group came to serve as shogunal guards accompanying the shogun on his journeys to [[Kyoto]], [[Nikko|Nikkô]], and elsewhere, as well as helping to guard [[Edo castle]] at times when it was under renovation or repair. | + | Named "one thousand" as a result of having numbered roughly that many during the [[battle of Sekigahara]], the group was maintained down into the [[Edo period]]. They stand apart from many similar guardsmen detachments in that the Hachiôji guards were of farmer/peasant lineage, and yet acted as [[samurai]], too, in their role as guardsmen. Following the end of the wars of the [[Sengoku period]], the group came to serve as shogunal guards accompanying the shogun on his journeys to [[Kyoto]], [[Nikko|Nikkô]], and elsewhere, as well as helping to guard [[Edo castle]] at times when it was under renovation or repair. Further, the Hachiôji Guards were regularly assigned to serve terms in guarding [[Nikko Toshogu|Nikkô Tôshôgû]]; they did so over one thousand times over the course of the Edo period. |
| + | In the [[Bakumatsu]] period, members of the Hachiôji Guards participated in the [[First Choshu Expedition|shogunate's expeditions]] against [[Choshu han|Chôshû han]], the settlement of [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidô]], the compilation of regional geographical & demographic reports, and the guarding of the city of [[Edo]]. |
| The house of the detachment's leader has been maintained and restored, and can be visited at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, in Koganei Park, in western Tokyo. | | The house of the detachment's leader has been maintained and restored, and can be visited at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, in Koganei Park, in western Tokyo. |