Hijikata Toshizō

Hijikata Toshizō was a Japanese samurai who served as vice-commander of the Shinsengumi during the late Edo period. He died fighting imperial forces in the Boshin War in 1869.

Isami Kondō: A Japanese swordsman who led the Shinsengumi during the late Edo period. Kondō commanded the organization while Hijikata served as his principal deputy.
Mibu Rōshigumi: A Kyoto-based armed group formed in 1863 to protect the Tokugawa shogunate's interests. Hijikata joined this predecessor organization before it became the Shinsengumi.
Ikedaya Incident: A 1864 Shinsengumi raid on an inn in Kyoto where anti-shogunate activists had gathered. The raid made the Shinsengumi famous and established Hijikata's force as a major presence in Kyoto.
Meiji Restoration: The political transformation beginning in 1868 that ended Tokugawa rule and restored imperial government in Japan. Hijikata's resistance ended as this transformation consolidated the new imperial state.
Sōji Okita: A Japanese swordsman and captain of the Shinsengumi's First Unit. Okita was among the best-known fighters in the force Hijikata helped lead.
Tokugawa shogunate: The military government that ruled Japan under the Tokugawa family from 1603 to 1868. The shogunate's weakening created the political crisis in which Hijikata's service began.
Battle of Toba–Fushimi: A January 1868 battle near Kyoto that began the Boshin War and ended in an imperial victory. The defeat forced Hijikata and the shogunate's remaining forces to retreat east.
Shinsengumi: A special police force that served the Tokugawa shogunate in Kyoto during the 1860s. Hijikata's legacy is inseparable from the force he helped lead.
Keisuke Yamanami: A senior Shinsengumi member who served as its chief strategist and deputy commander. His position and death reveal internal strains within the organization Hijikata helped govern.
Sonnō jōi: A political movement advocating reverence for the emperor and the expulsion of foreign influence from Japan. Its adherents helped drive the unrest that the Shinsengumi was sent to suppress in Kyoto.

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