Kawakami Gensai
Kawakami Gensai
Alternate name(s):	Takada Genbei
Date of birth:	December 4, 1834
Place of birth:	Kumamoto, Higo Province, Japan
Date of death:	January 13, 1871
Place of death:	Tokyo, Japan
Major organizations:	Ishin shishi

Kawakami Gensai (河上彦斎, Kawakami Gensai^?) (4 December 1834 - 13 January 1871), was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. A highly skilled swordsman, he was one of the four most notable assassins of the Bakumatsu period. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Categories: Cities in Kumamoto Prefecture | Japan geography stubs ... The article incorporates text from OpenHistory. ... is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... Shishi(志士; sometimes known as 維新志士 Ishin-shishi) was a term used to describe Japanese political activists of the late Edo period. ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Edo period ), also called Tokugawa period, is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868. ... A swordsman is one skilled in the use of swords. ... The Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu (幕末四大人斬り) was a term given to four samurai during the Bakumatsu era in Japanese history. ... The Late Tokugawa Shogunate (Japanese: Bakumatsu) is the period between 1853 and 1867 during which Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy called sakoku and modernized from a feudal shogunate to the Meiji government. ...

Birth and Early Life

Kawakami Gensai was born in Kumamoto in 1834, to Komori Sadasuke, a retainer of the daimyo of Kumamoto.^[1] Because Gensai's older brother Hanzaemon was chosen as the family's heir, at age 11 he was given in adoption to Kawakami Genbei (河上彦兵衛), another Kumamoto retainer.^[2] He then entered the domain's school, the Jishūkan (時習館), and followed its academic and martial courses of study. Given his later prowess, it is rather curious to note that during his martial he apparently did not win many training bouts. With regards to this he is said to have commented "Kenjutsu (swordsmanship) with bamboo shinai is nothing more than play."^[2] At age 16 he was called to serve in the Kumamoto castle town as a menial in charge of cleaning (Osōji-bōzu お掃除坊主). Despite the fact that this was a low-level position, Gensai devoted himself wholeheartedly to it, using his free time to polish his martial and literary skills, as well as learn sadō (tea ceremony) and ikebana (flower arrangement).^[2] It was at this time that he met two men who would later be important in the activities of the ishin shishi: Todoroki Buhei and Miyabe Teizō. Thanks to his discussions with them, he took a serious interest in the concept of kinnō (勤王), or imperial loyalty. Categories: Cities in Kumamoto Prefecture | Japan geography stubs ... Categories: Cities in Kumamoto Prefecture | Japan geography stubs ... A Shinai made from bamboo A shinai (Japanese: ) is a practice weapon used primarily in kendo and is used as if it were a sword. ... A woman wearing a kimono performs a tea ceremony outdoors, while seated in seiza position. ... Ikebana arrangement A Japanese hanging scroll (kakemono) and Ikebana Ikebana arranged flower),[1] is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, also known as kadō , the way of flowers) In contrast to the decorative form of flower arranging in western countries, Japanese flower arrangement emphasizes the linear aspects. ... Summary: The Ishin Shishi were so called patriots who helped start the Meiji period in Japanese history and who were at odds with the anti-imperialist, pro-bakufu Shinsengumi police force. ...

Activity in the 1850s

In 1851, he joined the Kumamoto lord Hosokawa Narimori and went to Edo for his lord's sankin kōtai rotation. It was during his service to the lord in Edo that Commodore Perry arrived in 1853.^[2] As the shogunate subsequently entered into a series of increasingly unfair unequal treaties, Gensai left Edo in anger and returned to Kumamoto, where he entered the Gendōkan academy of the kinnō scholar Hayashi Ōen. After a thorough schooling in Ōen's kinnō philosophy, Gensai returned to Edo.^[2] Tokiwa bashi on the Nagasaki Kaido in Kitakyushu, used for sankin kotai Sankin kōtai (参勤交代) was a policy of the shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history. ... Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 - March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy who forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, under the threat of military force. ... Japanese name Kanji: Kana: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Unequal Treaties, is a term used in reference to the type of treaties signed by several East Asian states, including Qing Dynasty China, late Tokugawa Japan, and late Joseon Korea, with Western powers and Imperial Japan, during the nineteenth and early twentieth...

Activity in the 1860s

Gensai was present at the Kumamoto residence in Edo during the Ansei Purge. In the aftermath of Ii Naosuke's assassination, when a group of the escaping assassins suddenly entered the residence, it was Gensai who calmed down the subsequent uproar, calling for a doctor and having a private tea ceremony for the men. It was during this ceremony that he told the men of his admiration for them. The Ansei Purge (安政の大獄 Ansei no taigoku) was a purge, in 1858 and 59, of over 100 people from the bakufu, various han, and the Japanese Imperial court. ... Ii Naosuke ) (November 29, 1815 - March 3, 1860) was daimyo of Hikone (1850 – 1860) and also Tairō of Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858 until his death on March 3rd, 1860. ...

In 1861, Gensai married Misawa Teiko, the daughter of another Kumamoto retainer. A martial artist herself, she was highly skilled in the use of the naginata. The couple would have a son, Gentarō, who survived even after Gensai's execution, thanks to Teiko's efforts.^[2] A samurai wielding a naginata Naginata (なぎなた, 薙刀) is a pole weapon that was traditionally used in Japan by members of the samurai class. ...

In 1862, he joined Kumamoto forces who were posted to security duty in Kyoto. It was at this point, he quit his job as bōzu, and soon after, left Kumamoto service altogether. In 1864, he lost his mentor Miyabe Teizō to a Shinsengumi raid at Ikedaya.^[2] Soon after, Gensai carried out his most famous and only confirmed assassination: that of Sakuma Shōzan. He killed Shōzan in one stroke, in broad daylight. While other assassinations have been attributed to him, only his murder of Shōzan can be proven. Gensai's high-speed sword discipline was in the Shiranui-ryū. The Shinsengumi (Japanese: 新選組 or 新撰組) were a special police force of the late shogunate period. ... The Ikedaya Jiken (池田屋事件), also known as the Ikedaya Affair or Ikedaya Inn Incident, was a famous armed encounter between the Ishin Shishi, the anti-shogunate forces from Choshu (now Yamaguchi) and the Shinsengumi, the bakufus special police force on July 8, 1864 at the Ikedaya inn in Kyoto, Japan. ... Sakuma Shōzan (1811-1864). ... Furanui Kenjutsu (also known as the Shiranui-ryu) was a possible fictional style of swordsmanship which hitokiri Kawakami Gensai created. ...

After this, he withdrew to Chōshū and took part in the military actions of Takasugi Shinsaku's Kiheitai against the shogunate's Choshu Expeditions. However, during action in Kokura, he surrendered to Kumamoto forces, and was imprisoned until just after the Meiji Restoration.^[2] Nagato (Japanese: 長門国, Nagato no kuni), often called Choshu (é•·å·ž, ChōshÅ«), was a province of Japan. ... The Irregular Militia (Kiheitai) ) was a volunteer militia raised by ChōshÅ« domain during the Bakumatsu period of Japan. ... The Meiji Restoration ), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japans political and social structure. ...

The Restoration and Gensai's Death

In the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration, Gensai was released from prison. He changed his name to Takada Genbei, and served as a military official and teacher for the Kumamoto domain. However, because of his harboring of some Kiheitai stragglers under his old comrade Oraku Gentarō, he was again put in prison, and was executed in late 1871.^[1] The Meiji Restoration ), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japans political and social structure. ... The Irregular Militia (Kiheitai) ) was a volunteer militia raised by ChōshÅ« domain during the Bakumatsu period of Japan. ...

Gensai in Fiction

The character Himura Kenshin from the anime and manga Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X was loosely based on Gensai. This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed compared to the rest of the article. ... Animé redirects here. ... This article is about the comics created in Japan. ... Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump Shonen Jump Original run September 2, 1994 – November 4, 1999 Volumes 28 TV anime Director Kazuhiro Furuhashi Studio Studio Gallop (episodes 1-66), Studio Deen (episodes 66 onwards), SPE Visual Works Licensor SPE Visual Works AnimeWorks Network Fuji Television, Animax Original run January 10, 1996...

Notes

External links

• http://web.archive.org/web/20050316235524/www.sword.ne.jp/swordsmen/bushi/gensai.html