Shinsengumi

by Hillsborough, Romulus

• ISBN13: 9780804836272
• ISBN10: 0804836272
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-01-15
• Publisher: Tuttle Pub

Summary

The Tokugawa Shogunate, a group of military governors who ruled Japan until the late 1800s, stayed in power for more than two centuries. Their fall was one of the most important events in Asian history. Also known as the Meiji Restoration, the shogun's ouster began as a reaction against the elite's willingness to collaborate with the West. The samurai took the shogun's position as a sign of weakness. The samurai plotted to overthrow the shogun. Murder, assassination, and intimidation soon followed. By the end of 1862, hordes of renegade samurai had transformed the streets of Japan's capital streets into a sea of blood. This vivid historical narrative captures one of the most enthralling and bloodied eras in Japanese history.

Author Biography

Romulus Hillsborough is a native Californian who lived in Japan for over fifteen years. Fluent in spoken and written Japanese, he is the author of two other books on the samurai, Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai and Samurai Sketches: From the Bloody Final Years of the Shogun, he lives in the San Francisco area with his wife and son.

Table of Contents

List of Photographs	xi
Map of Japan	xii
Map of Edo and Vicinity	xiii
Map of Kyoto	xiv
Map of Ezo	xv
Note on Japanese Pronunciation	xvii
Author's Note	xix
Preface	xxi
Prologue	1	(2)
Historical Background	3	(8)
Loyal and Patriotic Corps	11	(10)
Newly Selected Corps	21	(24)
Of Insult and Retribution	45	(6)
The Purge	51	(10)
A Propensity to Kill	61	(10)
Slaughter at the Ikéda'ya	71	(12)
A Tale of Bushido	83	(4)
Battle at the Forbidden Gates	87	(8)
Return of a Hero	95	(12)
Endings and Transformations	107	(10)
Blood at the Crossroads	117	(10)
Of Outrage, Fury and Inexorable Fate	127	(8)
Civil War	135	(10)
The Peasant as Feudal Lord	145	(8)
Of Defeat, Disgrace and Apotheosis	153	(14)
Epilogue: Hijikata's Last Fight	167	(8)
APPENDIX I	175	(8)
APPENDIX II: THE SURVIVORS	183	(3)
Table of Era Names and Their Corresponding Years in Western Chronology	186	(1)
Glossary of Japanese Terms	187	(12)
Bibliography	199	(3)
Source Notes	202	(9)
Index	211