Kawakami Gensai

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Kawakami Gensai
Native name	河上 彦斎
Birth name	Komori Genjiro (小森 彦次郎)
Other name(s)	Kouda Genbei (高田 源兵衛)
Nickname(s)	Hitokiri
Born	(1834-12-25)25 December 1834 Ishin Shishi (former) Chōshū Domain (former) Kumamoto Domain
Unit	Kiheitai (former)
Battles/wars	First Chōshū expedition Second Chōshū expedition
Spouse(s)	Misawa Teiko ​ (m. 1861⁠–⁠1872)​
Children	Kawakami Gentarō (son)
Relations	Komori Sadasuke (father) Waka (mother) Kawakami Genbei (adoptive father) Komori Hanzaemon (brother) Kawakami Toshiharu (grandson)
Other work	military official, sword trainer, former assassin

Kawakami Gensai (河上 彦斎, 25 December 1834 – 13 January 1872) was a Japanese samurai of the late

. Gensai's high-speed sword discipline allowed him to assassinate targets in broad daylight.

Early life

He was born Komori Genjiro (小森 彦次郎) in Kumamoto, Higo Province, Japan in 1834 as the second son to Komori Sadasuke (小森 貞助), a retainer of the daimyō of the Kumamoto Domain and his wife Waka (和歌). Because Genjiro's older brother Hanzaemon was chosen as the family's heir, at age 11 he was given in adoption to Kawakami Genbei (河上 彦兵衛), another Kumamoto retainer and was renamed to Kawakami Gensai.

He then entered the domain's school, the Jishūkan (時習館), and followed its academic and martial courses of study. Given his later prowess, it is rather curious to note that during his martial training he apparently did not win many bouts. With regards to this he is said to have commented "Kenjutsu (swordsmanship) with bamboo shinai is nothing more than play." At age 16 he was called to serve in the Kumamoto castle town as a menial in charge of cleaning (Osōji-bōzu お掃除坊主).

Although this was a low-level position, Gensai devoted himself wholeheartedly to it, using his free time to polish his martial and literary skills, as well as learn

. Thanks to his discussions with them, he took a serious interest in the concept of kinnō (勤王), or imperial loyalty.

Activity in the 1850s

In 1851, he joined the Kumamoto lord

. After a thorough schooling in Ōen's kinnō philosophy, Gensai returned to Edo.

Activity in the 1860s

Gensai was present at the Kumamoto residence in Edo during the Ansei Purge. In the aftermath of Ii Naosuke's assassination, when a group of the escaping assassins suddenly entered the residence, it was Gensai who calmed down the subsequent uproar, calling for a doctor and having a private tea ceremony for the men. It was during this ceremony that he told the men of his admiration for them.

In 1861, Gensai married Misawa Teiko, the daughter of another Kumamoto retainer. A martial artist herself, she was highly skilled in the use of the naginata. The couple had a son, Gentarō, who survived even after Gensai's execution, thanks to Teiko's efforts.

In 1862, he joined Kumamoto forces who were posted to security duty in Kyoto. After the political event of Higo-han, he left there and went to Chōshū-han, where he became a personal body guard of

.

Soon after, Gensai carried out his most famous and only confirmed assassination: that of Sakuma Shōzan. Together with at least three other assassins, they ambushed and attacked Shōzan in broad daylight on 12 August 1864, and ended with Gensai killing him in one stroke. Shortly after that incident, at the Tenryuji temple in Saga Tenryu-ji, Kyoto, Gensai told his confederates, "It was the first time I actually felt I'd killed someone, the hair on my head stood on end because he is the greatest man of the time." While other assassinations have been attributed to him, only his murder of Shōzan can be proven.

After this, he withdrew to Chōshū and took part in the military actions of Takasugi Shinsaku's Kiheitai against the shogunate's Chōshū Expeditions. During the second Chōshū campaign by the Tokugawa regime, he participated for Chōshū and eventually won the battle. However, during action in Kokura, he decisively surrendered to Kumamoto forces, and was imprisoned until just after the Meiji Restoration.

Later life and death

In the aftermath of the

, Tokyo.

Gensai in fiction

The fictional swordsman and wanderer, Himura Kenshin also known as "Battosai", from the manga series Rurouni Kenshin was inspired by Gensai. The character is a repentant former assassin who has sworn never to kill 10 years after the Meiji Revolution.^[1]

The character

]

Notes