The Kogi Kaishakunin is a fictional position appearing in the manga Lone Wolf and Cub. In the story, it was the Japanese shogun's official executioner. This article is about a Japanese manga series. ... Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate Shogun ) is a military rank and historical title in Japan. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

A position of great power, the Kogi Kaishakunin wore robes emblazoned with the Shogun's personal crest and was the personification of the Shogun as he assisted daimyo during their seppuku. Seppuku was a method of ritualized suicide the Bushi and Samurai used when confronted with shame, defeat or when ordered to do so by their master. Seppuku offered an honorable, albeit excruciatingly painful, death. Daimyo Matsudaira Katamori visits the residence of a retainer. ... Seppuku with ritual attire and second (staged) General Akashi Gidayu preparing to commit Seppuku after losing a battle for his master in 1582. ... Japanese samurai in armour, 1860 photograph. ... Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. ...

Samurai committing seppuku often had a second, or kaishaku, who would assist their death by striking a fatal sword blow, often severing the head, at the moment of greatest pain, thus expediating the death of the samurai. However, because loyal retainers had sworn never to raise their swords against their master, a daimyo committing seppuku could not have a loyal retainer help him. Thus the Kogi Kaishakunin, being the personification of the Shogun, was the only one capable of assisting a Daimyo during his seppuku. Seppuku with ritual attire and second (staged) General Akashi Gidayu preparing to commit Seppuku after losing a battle for his master in 1582. ... A kaishakunin (Japanese: 介錯人) is an appointed second whose duty is to behead one who has commited seppuku at the moment of agony. ...

In the story of Lone Wolf and Cub, Yagyū Retsudō, the head of the Yagyu clan conspired to take control of this post as part of his overall plan of taking control of the government. The Yagyu had already subverted the information gathering and secret police equivalents of the Shogun, and with the post of executioner under their control, they could protect sympathetic Daimyo by faking their deaths and then incorperate them into their shadow government while fabricating evidence and killing those opposed.