
Hijikata Toshizo (31 May 1835-20 June 1869) was a vice-commander of the Shinsengumi under the Tokugawa bakufu.
Biography[]
Hijikata Toshizo was born in Musashi Province, Japan in 1835, and he sold medicine as a youth before meeting Kondo Isami through his brother-in-law and enrolling in the Shieikan in 1859. He became a skilled swordsman, and he joined the Shinsengumi police force in 1863. He became a deputy leader of the group under Kondo, Serizawa Kamo, and Niimi Nishiki, but he later forced Niimi to commit seppuku after exposing his extortion of merchants. He later assassinated Serizawa for a similar crime, leaving Kondo as the sole leader of the police, with Yamanami Keisuke as his Vice-Commander. Hijikata took over as Vice-Commander after Keisuke and Okita Soji committed seppuku in 1865 following a desertion attempt, and he grew the Shinsengumi to 140 men. Hijikata was nicknamed the "Demon Vice-Commander" for his harsh enforcement of discipline, and he became a haamoto in 1867. He and Kondo battled the pro-Imperial forces during the Boshin War, forming the Koyo Chinbutai ("Pacification Corps") from the Shinsengumi after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi. He was defeated at the Battle of Koshu-Katsunuma and the Battle of Aizu, after which Hijikata and Otori Keisuke defended Goryokaku at the Battle of Hakodate, becoming Deputy Defense Minister of the Ezo Republic. Hijikata fought until the very end of the pro-Shogunate cause, and he was shot by Imperial troops near the Ippongi Kanmon on 20 June 1869 in the final battle of the revolution.