Kazurayama Takehachiro — He Denounced Kondo Isami and Died for It

One member denounced Kondo Isami to the Aizu domain. Kazurayama Takehachirō. After the matter was settled, he alone opened his belly.

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Who Was Kazurayama Takehachiro?

Kazurayama was a corporal of the Shinsengumi.

He came from the Aizu domain; his birth year is unknown. Before joining he is said to have been a komusō, one of the flute-playing mendicant monks.

He committed seppuku on 6 October 1864.

Kazurayama Takehachiro at the Ikedaya

At the Ikedaya Incident, Kazurayama fought hard.

For it he received a reward of seventeen ryō from the shogunate, through the Kyoto Shugoshoku Matsudaira Katamori.

Seventeen is a high figure. The same as Tani Sanjuro's, above Matsubara Chuji's fifteen, below Tani Mantaro's twenty. His contribution was recognised as real.

He was, in other words, a man in good standing.

Kazurayama Takehachiro's Petition

And he denounced his commander.

Taking the position that he was not Kondo Isami's personal retainer, he drew up a five-point indictment of Kondo's misconduct and overreach and submitted it to the Aizu domain.

The co-signatories are not minor names.

Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke, Saito Hajime, Shimada Kai and Ozeki Masajiro. And Kazurayama.

These are the men who would go on to hold the captaincies and inspectorships. Their 1864 posts were not the same as their later ones — but the core of the corps had turned on Kondo all the same.

The thrust of the complaint was that they were not Kondo's private retainers. The Shinsengumi was under the patronage of the Aizu domain, and its members were not one man's household troops — the petition went to the character of the organisation itself.

Why Kazurayama Takehachiro Alone Died

Matsudaira Katamori arranged a reconciliation with Kondo.

Kazurayama committed seppuku anyway.

Two explanations exist.

One: he kept protesting to the last and died of it.

Two: the leadership wanted an example made, and pinned responsibility on the hot-blooded man who would not back down.

On the second reading, one of the six signatories was handed over.

Nagakura lived into the Meiji era, and so did Saitō, Shimada and Ozeki. Harada fell at Ueno. Only Kazurayama paid for the petition.

The commander is denounced, the organisation carries on, and one of the accusers disappears. This is evidence that the Shinsengumi's internal killings were not only about factional lines of the kind that killed Serizawa Kamo and Ito Kashitaro.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Kazurayama Takehachiro?

A corporal of the Shinsengumi. He was rewarded seventeen ryō for his fighting at the Ikedaya Incident and later co-signed a petition denouncing Kondo Isami.

Why was Kazurayama Takehachiro made to commit seppuku?

He died after the quarrel with Kondo Isami had been patched up. One account has him protesting to the end; the other has the leadership making an example of him.

Who co-signed the petition?

Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke, Saito Hajime, Shimada Kai, Ozeki Masajiro and Kazurayama — senior men who went on to hold the captaincies and inspectorships.

What did the petition say?

It set out Kondo Isami's misconduct and overreach in five points, on the position that the signatories were not his personal retainers, and was submitted to the Aizu domain.

Kazurayama Takehachiro Timeline

For his co-signatories see Nagakura Shinpachi, Shimada Kai and Ozeki Masajiro; for the roster, the Shinsengumi members; for the corps, the Shinsengumi.