[Yamagata Prefecture] Hachiro Kiyokawa, the creator of the Shinsengumi | What is the true personality of the Joi Shishi who ushered in the end of the Edo period?

Do you know Hachiro Kiyokawa, the man who started the formation of the Shinsengumi?

He had such a great influence on Japan at the time that it is said that ``Hachiro Kiyokawa opened the curtain on the end of the Edo period, and Ryoma Sakamoto closed it.'' However, compared to Ryoma Sakamoto and other Bakumatsu patriots, his name recognition is far from high. No.

It is also true that among history buffs, people do not have a very good image of him as an ``agitator'' who greatly disrupts Japan, or a ``charlatan'' who deceives the shogunate.

We would like to introduce you to what kind of person Hachiro Kiyokawa was, focusing on his personality.

Who is Hachiro Kiyokawa?

Hachiro Kiyokawa was a patriot from the Shonai Domain (present-day Shonai Town) in Yamagata Prefecture at the end of the Edo period, and was a person who actively engaged in activities aimed at overthrowing the Shogunate. He was later referred to as ``Yoshida Shoin of the west and Kiyokawa Hachiro of the east'' as a pioneer of the Sonno-joi movement.

One of the greatest geniuses at the end of the Edo period, a person with both literary and military skills

Disappointed with the best education in Japan, he opened his own cram school

After Kiyokawa ran away from home at the age of 18, he pursued his academic career at a private school in Edo.

The only sleep I got was a 2 hour nap at my desk without going to bed.

He continued this academic life for 74 days, and finally entered Shohei-kou, an educational facility under the direct control of the Shogunate where talented people from all over Japan gathered. Shohei-Ko was said to be the best academic school in Japan at the time, but Seikawa, disappointed with the authoritarian atmosphere and educational content, decided to drop out and opened a private school called Seikawa Juku. At that time, Kiyokawa was the only scholar in Edo who was able to teach academics and swordsmanship at the same time. Seikawa Juku quickly became popular and became famous.

The face of a swordsman

Kiyokawa was famous in Edo not only as a scholar but also as a great swordsman.

You will learn swordsmanship at Genbukan, the Chiba Shusaku Dojo of Hokushin Itto-ryu, one of the three major dojos at the end of the Edo period, and will acquire the ``Hatsumoku'' in just one year, which normally takes two to three years to acquire.

Why did you become wanted by the Shogunate?

Formation of the Sonno-joi group “Torao-no-kai”

By the time Kiyokawa was 31 years old, all the patriots of the radical Sonno-joi school had begun to gather at Kiyokawa Juku.

Around this time, Kiyokawa and his friends were deeply shocked by the ``Sakuradamongai Incident'' in which Dairo Ii Naosuke was murdered by ronin who defected from the Mito domain and formed the ``Torao Association.''

The Torao no Kai plans actions to drive foreign countries away from Japan. In the end, some of the patriotic members assassinated Heusken, who was an interpreter at the American legation and was known as a pro-Japanese person, and the wave of sonno-joi rapidly accelerated throughout Japan.

Kiyokawa caught in the Shogunate's trap

The shogunate suspected that Kiyokawa was the mastermind behind Heusken's assassination, and sent assassins to capture Kiyokawa, who deliberately interfered with him on the street and provoked a fight. Kiyokawa fell into the shogunate's trap and cut off the assassin's neck in an instant, becoming a wanted person of the shogunate.

Life on the run changes, Cheongha Theater opens

pardoned by the shogunate

Despite being a wanted man, Kiyokawa was actively campaigning to overthrow the shogunate among patriots all over the country, but in order to save his captured wife and companions, he submitted a petition to the shogunate called ``Three Urgent Measures.'' To do.

Three urgent measures

1. Execution of Joi
2. Exoneration of past sins of Roshigumi participants (amnesty)
3. Education of English materials that excel in literature and martial arts

At that time, the shogunate, which was faced with pressure from the Imperial Court to ``exterminate Joi,'' adopted Kiyokawa's opinion.

He gathers all the ronin in Edo to form the ``Roshi-gumi'' and gives them the job of guarding the shogun's visit to Kyoto. This Ronin-gumi gathered 234 Ronin, including Isamu Kondo, Kamo Serizawa, Toshizo Hijikata, and Souji Okita, who later became the Shinsengumi.

For the first time in Japanese history, a ronin receives an imperial proclamation from the emperor.

In the third year of Bunkyu, an event that all Shinsengumi fans know happens.

Kiyokawa gathered all the Roshi-gumi who had arrived in Kyoto to protect the shogun, and delivered a speech that would make you doubt your ears.

"Our purpose is not to protect the shogun! We have nothing to do with the shogunate. We support the imperial court, stand up for the Emperor, and for Japan!" The

shogunate guard unit instantly became a unit that overthrew the shogunate. It's a moment.

Captivated by the power of Kiyokawa, everyone signed a letter of intent to the Imperial Court. The Imperial Court accepts this and sends an imperial reprimand (words from the Emperor) to the Roshi-gumi. It was an unprecedented event for the emperor to issue a command to civilians, especially the lowly samurai samurai.

After this, Kiyokawa and the Roshi-gumi decided to return to Edo in order to carry out the sonno-joi campaign, but Isamu Kondo and others opposed this decision and left the Roshi-gumi, believing that it was an act of deceiving the shogunate. This event led to the formation of the Shinsengumi.

Half-hearted assassination

Sixteen days after the Roshi-gumi returned to Edo, and two days before the expulsion of the Joi, Kiyokawa was assassinated by an assassin from the shogunate, and his short life of 34 years came to an end, half way through his ambitions.
Perhaps instinctively sensing something, Kiyokawa left behind a song on the day of his assassination.

``The mountain of sakigake and sakigake and death, the path of the Semaji emperor who has lost his way, and the wave that approaches even if it is broken, and the rock's corner.''

Kiyokawa's ally Deishu Takahashi, who felt that this song was a bad omen, desperately tried to stop Kiyokawa from going out, but because he had an appointment with a senior patriot from his hometown of Yamagata, he went out and never returned.

Kiyokawa was known as an eccentric man who even deceived the shogunate, but it can be said that this was the last moment in his life when we could get a glimpse of his true, loyal personality.

Hachiro Kiyokawa Memorial Museum

Introducing the Hachiro Kiyokawa Memorial Museum in Shonai Town, Yamagata Prefecture.

It is a valuable place where you can get a glimpse of Kiyokawa's warm and sincere personality, which is different from the image of him as one of Japan's most talented people.

``Roshi-gumi Meijidome'' where the names of Shinsengumi members are lined up

In this memorial hall, a list of Roshi-gumi participants, ``Roshi-gumi Kaijodome,'' is displayed. This time, I took a photo of a copy of "Roshigumi Kaijodome".

It is said that descendants of the Ronin group also visit this memorial hall, and you can see sticky notes added to the copy of the ronin with information about the visitors and the relationships among the ronin.

This is an extremely valuable document that clearly shows how each soldier survived the end of the Edo period as a human being, rather than as a historical figure.

Hachiro Kiyokawa Memorial Museum＜Information＞

• Name: Kiyokawa Hachiro Memorial Museum
• Address: 37 Kamikawara, Kiyokawa, Shonai-cho, Higashitagawa-gun, Yamagata 999-6606
• Phone number: 0234-57-2104
• Official URL: https://hachiro.navishonai.jp/

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Hachiro Kiyokawa's true desire

Although Kiyokawa is known as a radical advocate of respecting the king and banishing the foreigners, he did not actually hate foreign countries.

There is a record that Heihachi Tanaka, a great businessman who later earned a huge fortune through the raw silk trade, met Kiyokawa on a trip and told him, ``From now on, the era of trade will come.''

Kiyokawa could not tolerate the pressured American diplomacy and the way the Shogunate gave in to it, and what he really wanted was to be on an equal footing with foreign countries.

summary

During the turbulent times of the opening of the country and the expulsion of foreigners, Hachiro Kiyokawa was known as a ``charlatan'' due to his strong will and clear mind, and his strategies that were difficult for ordinary people to understand.

On the inside, he was honest and warm-hearted, and was a person who spared no effort and action to follow through on his beliefs.

Reference: “Hachiro Kiyokawa Graffiti: The life of a hero who ran through the end of the Edo period” (Tachikawa Town editor)