Shinsengumi ("Newly Selected Corps") was a small police organization of swordsmen formed in 1863 by the Tokugawa shogunate during Japan's late Bakumatsu period. Recruited largely from sword schools in Edo, its members were commissioned to patrol Kyoto and protect shogunate representatives at a time of unrest over foreign trade and the rising opposition of the Chōshū clan. The group became well known for its role in incidents such as the Ikedaya affair and the August 18 coup, and it remained active until 1869.
Origins and early members
The group grew out of the Rōshigumi, a squad of 234 masterless samurai, or rōnin, formed by the shogunate in 1862 to protect the shōgun during a visit to Kyoto. When the squad's real loyalties were revealed, most members were sent back to Edo, but nineteen remained in Kyoto and formed the Mibu Rōshigumi. Their mission was later changed from guarding the shogunate to patrolling the streets of Kyoto, and in August 1863 they were renamed the Shinsengumi.
Notable events and membership
The Shinsengumi gained fame through clashes such as the Ikedaya incident of 1864, in which a small band of members confronted a group of Chōshū revolutionaries. At its peak the group had about 300 members. Unlike earlier samurai groups of the Tokugawa era, it admitted men from non-samurai backgrounds, although most of its members were in fact samurai by birth.