Tonouchi Yoshio — The First Man the Shinsengumi Killed

The first person the Shinsengumi killed was not a member but an administrator. Tonouchi Yoshio. He was in travelling clothes, his sword still bagged.

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Who Was Tonouchi Yoshio?

Tonouchi was one of the Mibu Rōshi.

He was born in 1830 at Mori village in Kazusa province — now Sanmu in Chiba — the son of a village headman. He completed his studies at the Shōheizaka academy in Edo, was powerfully built, and was reputedly a capable swordsman. He later became a retainer of the Yūki domain in Shimōsa.

On 12 May 1863 he was ambushed and killed on the Shijō bridge in Kyoto, aged thirty-four by the old inclusive count.

Tonouchi Yoshio's Position

In 1863 he joined the Rōshigumi that Kiyokawa Hachiro had proposed, was given an overseer's post, and was demoted for some lapse.

When Kiyokawa announced the return to Edo, most men followed. Tonouchi was instead charged by Udono Kyūō on the shogunate's side, together with Iesato Tsuguo, with organising those staying behind at Mibu.

That charge defined his position.

Assembled at Mibu were the Mito men around Serizawa Kamo and Niimi Nishiki; the Shieikan men around Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo; men recruited in Kyoto, Saito Hajime among them; and Negishi Yūzan's group. Each was already a faction.

Tonouchi and Iesato, by contrast, held their seniority on the shogunate's authority. They had no faction. Because they were the recruiters, they do not even appear on the member rosters.

They are said to have been closest to Negishi's men, whom they already knew.

Why Tonouchi Yoshio Was Cut Down

Kondo Isami is said to have hated him.

When Tonouchi set out on a journey to build a faction of his own, Kondo's men filled him with drink and ambushed him on the Shijō bridge.

What Kondo's letter of May 1863 establishes is that the Mibu Rōshi side struck him down on the Shijō bridge. That Kondo Isami and Okita Soji attacked him and Okita killed him is better treated as a later tradition.

He was dressed for travel, with his sword in its bag.

A man not prepared to fight, made drunk first, then cut down. This is counted as the Mibu Rōshi's first purge.

The cause of the enmity is given several ways: that Tonouchi's own character was the problem; that he was a casualty of Kondo's ambition; that it was a purge by the Serizawa faction.

A picture survives showing him fallen on the bridge.

What Tonouchi Yoshio's Death Meant

He died about a month after the Mibu Rōshi were founded.

The following month the other administrator, Iesato Tsuguo, was made to commit seppuku at Osaka, and Negishi Yūzan withdrew.

The two men the shogunate had placed in charge were gone inside two months.

What remained were the men with factions: Serizawa and Kondo. By the autumn of that year Serizawa too was dead, and the body was Kondo's.

The Shinsengumi's history of internal killing begins not with a member but with the man set above them.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Tonouchi Yoshio?

A member of Kiyokawa Hachiro's Rōshigumi, charged by the shogunate — with Iesato Tsuguo — with organising the men who stayed behind at Mibu.

Why was Tonouchi Yoshio killed?

Kondo Isami is said to have hated him. Setting out to build his own faction, he was made drunk and ambushed on the Shijō bridge. His character, Kondo's ambition and a Serizawa-faction purge are all proposed as causes.

Who killed Tonouchi Yoshio?

Not established. Kondo's letter of May 1863 shows only that the Mibu Rōshi side struck him down; naming Kondo Isami and Okita Soji is a later tradition.

Who was the first person purged by the Shinsengumi?

Tonouchi Yoshio, on 12 May 1863 — about a month after the Mibu Rōshi were founded.

Tonouchi Yoshio Timeline

For the other administrator see Iesato Tsuguo; for the man who created the Rōshigumi, Kiyokawa Hachiro; for the roster, the Shinsengumi members; for the corps, the Shinsengumi.