Hachiro Kiyokawa, the creator of the Shinsengumi | What was the character of this anti-foreigner patriot who opened the curtain on the end of the Edo period? [Yamagata Prefecture]

Are you familiar with Kiyokawa Hachiro , the man who played a key role in the formation of the Shinsengumi ?

"the end of the Edo period began with Kiyokawa Hachiro and ended with Sakamoto Ryoma,"indicating the great influence he had on Japan at the time. However, compared to Sakamoto Ryoma and other figures of the late Edo period, his name is not as well-known.

It is also true that history buffs do not have a very good image of him, seeing him as an "agitator" who caused great unrest in Japan and a "con man" who deceived the shogunate

What kind of person was Kiyokawa Hachiro? We will introduce him by focusing on his personality

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Who is Kiyokawa Hachiro?

Kiyokawa Hachiro was a samurai born in Kiyokawa Village, in the Shonai Domain of Dewa Province (present-day Kiyokawa, Shonai Town, Yamagata Prefecture), during the late Edo period. He was a figure who energetically worked to overthrow the shogunate. Later, he was hailed as a pioneer of the Sonno Joi (Revere the Emperor , Expel the Barbarians) movement, and was even called "Yoshida Shoin of the West, Kiyokawa Hachiro of the East."

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One of the greatest geniuses of the late Edo period, a man skilled in both the arts and martial arts

After running away from home at the age of 18, Kiyokawa devoted himself entirely to academic pursuits at a private school in Edo

Disappointed with Japan's best education system, he opened his own cram school

He didn't sleep in bed, only taking two-hour naps at his desk. He continued this academically rigorous lifestyle for 74 days, and finally enrolled in the Shoheiko, a government-run educational institution where the most talented students from all over Japan gathered. Although the Shoheiko was considered the highest educational institution in Japan at the time, Kiyokawa was disappointed by the authoritarian atmosphere and the content of the education, and chose to drop out and open his own private school, the Kiyokawa Juku . At that time, Kiyokawa was the only scholar in Edo who could teach both academics and swordsmanship simultaneously. The Kiyokawa Juku quickly became a popular school and he became famous overnight.

His face as a swordsman

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

He studied swordsmanship at the Genbukan dojo of Chiba Shusaku , one of the three major dojos of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school during the late Edo period , and acquired the "Shomokuroku" (first rank), which normally takes 2-3 years to obtain, in just one year.

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Why did he become a wanted man by the shogunate?

Founding of the Sonno Joi group "Torao no Kai"

By the time Kiyokawa was 31 years old, radical sonno joi (revere the emperor, expel the barbarians) patriots had begun flocking to the Kiyokawa School

In 1860, shortly before the Sakuradamon Incident, Kiyokawa formed the "Torao no Kai" (Tiger's Tail Society) with Yamaoka Tetsutaro (later known as Yamaoka Tesshu) and others, advocating reverence for the emperor and expulsion of foreigners. The subsequent Sakuradamon Incident became a catalyst for Kiyokawa to further intensify his political activities

Those associated with the Torao Society were also involved in the assassination of Heusken, an interpreter at the American Consulate General. Following this incident, Kiyokawa also came under suspicion from the shogunate

Kiyokawa falls into the shogunate's trap

The shogunate suspected Kiyokawa to be the mastermind behind Heusken's assassination, and sent assassins to capture him, deliberately tangling with him on the street to provoke a fight. Kiyokawa fell into the shogunate's trap, slicing off the assassin's neck in an instant, and became a wanted man for the shogunate

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Life on the run changes dramatically as Qinghe Theatre opens

amnesty by the shogunate

Despite being a wanted man, Kiyokawa had been energetically traveling around the country urging patriots to overthrow the shogunate. However, in order to rescue his wife and comrades who had been captured, he submitted a petition to the shogunate titled "Three Urgent Measures."

Three urgent measures

1. Execution of the expulsion of foreigners
2. Forgiveness of past crimes of Roshigumi members (amnesty)
3. Educating talented British people who excel in both the arts and martial arts

At the time, the shogunate was at a loss as to how to respond to the pressure from the imperial court to "carry out the barbarians," so they adopted Kiyokawa's suggestion. They gathered ronin (masterless samurai) who were overflowing in Edo and formed the "Roshigumi" (a group of masterless samurai), assigning them the task of guarding the shogun on his journey to Kyoto.

This Roshigumi comprised 234 ronin, including Kondo Isami, Serizawa Kamo, Hijikata Toshizo, and Okita Soji, who would later become members of the Shinsengumi.

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For the first time in Japanese history, a ronin receives an imperial edict from the Emperor

In 1863, an event occurred that every Shinsengumi fan knows.

Kiyokawa gathered the entire group of ronin who had arrived in Kyoto to guard the shogun and delivered a speech that was hard to believe.

"Our purpose is not to guard the Shogun! We have no connection whatsoever with the Shogunate. We will support the Imperial Court and rise up for the Emperor and for Japan!"

In that instant, the Shogunate's guard unit transformed into a unit fighting to overthrow the Shogunate.

Overwhelmed by Kiyokawa's forceful presence, everyone signed a petition to the Imperial Court. The Imperial Court accepted it and sent an imperial decree (the Emperor's words) to the group of ronin. It was an unprecedented event for an imperial decree to be issued to civilians, especially low-ranking ronin.

After this, Kiyokawa and the other ronin decided to return to Edo to carry out their Sonno Joi (Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians) ideology. However, Kondo Isami and others opposed this decision, viewing it as an act of deceiving the shogunate, and left the ronin group. This incident led to the formation of the Shinsengumi

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Assassination before his ambition was over

After the Rōshigumi returned to Edo, Kiyokawa planned to carry out the expulsion of foreigners, but on April 13, 1863, he was assassinated by Sasaki Tadazaburō and others from the shogunate side before he could carry out the plan

It is said that on the day of his assassination, Kiyokawa wrote two waka poems on a fan under the care of Takahashi Deishu

"I will be the first to lead the way, on the mountain of death, I will not let anyone get lost on the path of the Emperor."

"Even if they break again and again, the incoming waves will continue to crash against the rocky edges."

Sensing something ominous in the song, Takahashi Deishuu refused to go out, but Kiyokawa insisted on going to see Kaneko Yosaburo, a samurai of the Kaminoyama domain. On his way back, he was attacked by Sasaki Tadasaburo and others near Ichinohashi in Azabu and lost his life

The anecdote about Kiyokawa prioritizing his promise and leaving despite Takahashi Deishu's attempts to stop him is an interesting insight into Kiyokawa's character

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Kiyokawa Hachiro Memorial Museum

We would like to introduce the Kiyokawa Hachiro Memorial Museum in Shonai Town, Yamagata Prefecture

This 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 sharpest men

"Roshigumi Kaijo-tome" (Roushigumi circular letter) listing the names of Shinsengumi members

The memorial hall displays the "Ronin Group Circular Record," which contains the names of the participants in the Ronin Group. This time, I was allowed to photograph a copy of the "Ronin Group Circular Record."

It seems that descendants of the Roshigumi also visit this memorial museum, and copies of the circular notices appear to have sticky notes added to them with information about the visitors and the relative relationships between the Roshi

This is an extremely valuable document that vividly shows that each soldier was not just a historical figure, but an individual who lived through the end of the Edo period as an individual human being

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Hachiro Kiyokawa's view of foreign countries

While Kiyokawa advocated for expelling foreigners, it's unlikely he was uniformly rejecting foreign countries or trade itself

There are records indicating that when he met Heihachi Tanaka, who would later become a businessman, he spoke to him about how "the age of trade is coming."

Kiyokawa's anti-foreign stance has also been interpreted as stemming from an ambition to create a nation that could interact with foreign countries on equal footing

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summary

In a turbulent era torn between opening the country to the world and expelling foreigners, Kiyokawa Hachiro, with his strong will and sometimes brilliant mind, was known as a "charlatan" for his incomprehensible strategies.

However, deep down, he was a straightforward and warm-hearted man who spared no effort or action to uphold his beliefs.

References: Tachikawa Town (ed.), "Kiyokawa Hachiro Graffiti: The Life of a Hero Who Raced Through the End of the Edo Period"

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