田本研造 · Public domain
Bakumatsu (late Edo) · 1835–1869
Hijikata Toshizō
土方歳三 · Japan
Vice-commander of the Shinsengumi
From a farming family, he went to Kyoto with Kondō Isami in 1863 and became vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate. In the Boshin War he fought his way north and was killed at the Battle of Hakodate in 1869, the battle that ended the war.
Where the story happened
Places connected with this person
History · Goryōkaku, Hakodate
The last samurai battle
After the fall of the Edo shogunate, former shogunate forces set up the short-lived 'Republic of Ezo' centred on Goryōkaku. In 1869 the new government's army and the republic fought a final week-long battle here, ending the Boshin War. Hijikata Toshizō, vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, was killed in this battle, and a statue of him still stands in Goryōkaku Tower.
