The Shinsengumi was a small, elite group of swordsmen that was organized by commoners and low rank samurai, commissioned by the bakufu during Japan's Bakumatsu period in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect the shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time when a controversial imperial edict to exclude foreign trade from Japan had been made and the Chōshū clan had been forced from the imperial court. They gained considerable fame in the Ikedaya incident and the August 18 coup events, among others. The men were drawn from the sword schools of Edo.
Ancient Kondō Isami's quarters at Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. One of the former Shinsengumi headquarters
Mannequins dressed in Shinsengumi uniform
Coat of mail and helmet of Kondō Isami
Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. The major ideological-political divide during this period was between the pro-imperial nationalists called ishin shishi and the shogunate forces, which included the elite shinsengumi swordsmen.
A 150-pound Satsuma cannon, built in 1849. It was mounted on Fort Tenpozan at Kagoshima. Caliber: 290mm, length: 4220mm
The Royal Navy frigate HMS Phaeton demanded supplies while in Nagasaki harbour in 1808.
The American merchant ship Morrison of Charles W. King was repelled from Edo Bay in 1837.
Russians meeting Japanese in 1779