was a Japanese
swordsman and
samurai
The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
of the late
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
. He was the fourth generation master of
Tennen Rishin-ryū and was famed for his role as commander of the
Shinsengumi
The was a small secret police organization, elite group of swordsmen that was organized by commoners and low rank samurai, commissioned by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was ac ...
.
Background
He was born Miyagawa Katsugorō to a farmer Miyagawa Hisajirō and his wife Miyo in Kami-Ishihara village in
Musashi Province
was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama. ...
(present city of
Chōfu) in
Western Tokyo
Western Tokyo, known as the , or locally, in the Tokyo Metropolis consists of 30 ordinary municipalities ( cities (市 shi), towns (町 machi) and one village (村 mura)), unlike the eastern part which consists of 23 special wards.
Before i ...
on November 9, 1834. He had two older brothers, Otojirō (音次郎; later known as Otogorō 音五郎) and Kumezō (粂蔵; later known as Sōbei 惣兵衛) and an older sister Rie (リエ), who died two years before he was born. Katsugorō began training at the
Shieikan (the main dojo of the
Tennen Rishin-ryū) in 1848.

As a young man he was said to be an avid reader, and especially liked the stories of the ''
Forty-seven rōnin
The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, was a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their former master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. I ...
'' and the ''
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...
''. His renown as a scholar and his fame at having defeated a group of thieves who tried to break into his family home was great, and caught the attention of
Kondō Shūsuke, the third generation master of the Tennen Rishin-ryū. Shūsuke wasted no time in adopting the young Katsugorō in 1849, who first took the name of Shimazaki Katsuta (島崎勝太). According to a record in the possession of the former Gozu-tennōsha Shrine 牛頭天王社 (now the Hino Yasaka-jinja Shrine 日野八坂神社), Katsuta is listed, with full common name and formal name, as Shimazaki Isami Fujiwara (no) Yoshitake (島崎勇藤原義武), and thus, had the name Isami (勇) as of 1858, the document's date.
Kondō was said to have owned a
katana
A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...
called "Kotetsu" (
虎徹), the work of the 17th century swordsmith
Nagasone Kotetsu. However, the
authenticity of his "Kotetsu" is highly debatable. According to Yasu Kizu's pamphlet on the swordmaker Kotetsu, Kondō's sword may actually have been made by
Minamoto no Kiyomaro, a swordmaker of high repute roughly contemporary to Kondō.
Kondō married Matsui Tsune in 1860. This was an advantageous match for Kondō as Otsune was the daughter of
Matsui Yasogorō (松井八十五郎), a retainer to the
Shimizu-Tokugawa clan. On September 30, 1861, Isami became the fourth generation master (''sōke no yondai me'' 宗家四代目) of Tennen Rishin-ryū, assuming the name Kondō Isami and taking charge of the Shieikan. A year later, his daughter
Kondō Tama (1862–1886) was born.

Although he was never employed by the Shogunate before his Shinsengumi days, Kondō was a candidate for a teaching position at the
Kōbusho in 1862. The Kobusho was an exclusive military training school, primarily for the use of the shogunal retainers, set up by the Shogunate in 1855 in order to reform the military system after the arrival of
Perry
Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...
's
Black Ships
The Black Ships (in , Edo period term) were the names given to both Portuguese merchant ships and American warships arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries respectively.
In 1543, Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a ...
.
Shinsengumi period
In 1863, the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
organized a massive group of ''
rōnin
In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185–1868), a ''rōnin'' ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a ''rō ...
'' for the purpose of protecting the shōgun
Iemochi during his time in Kyoto. Kondō joined the unit, which became known as the
Rōshigumi, with his close friend
Hijikata Toshizō, as well as Shieikan's members and guests
Yamanami Keisuke,
Okita Sōji,
Harada Sanosuke
was a Japanese warrior (''samurai'') who lived in the late Edo period. He was the 10th unit captain of the Shinsengumi, and died during the Boshin War.
Background
Harada was born to a family of ''chūgen (samurai), chūgen'', or low-ranking qua ...
,
Nagakura Shinpachi,
Tōdō Heisuke, and
Inoue Genzaburō. After the de facto commander
Kiyokawa Hachirō revealed their true purpose as being Imperial supporters, the Rōshigumi was disbanded and most of the members returned to Edo. Kondō, Hijikata, former Mito retainer
Serizawa Kamo, and a handful of others remained in
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
and formed the
Mibu Rōshigumi. Acting under the direct orders of the shogunate,
Matsudaira Katamori of
Aizu undertook supervision of these men. Under the oversight of Aizu, acting in its role as
Protector of Kyoto, they worked as police in the imperial capital.
On August 18, his unit was given the name ''Shinsengumi''. In July 1864, the Shinsengumi became well known for arresting a cell of
shishi (the incident was known as the ''
Ikedaya Jiken'', or Ikedaya Affair).
Kondō later had at least two mistresses in Kyoto, Miyuki and Oko, who were both
geisha
{{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha
{{nihongo, Geisha{{efn, {{IPAc-en, lang, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ., ʃ, ə, {{IPA, ja, ɡei.ɕa, ɡeː-, lang{{cite book, script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典, publisher=NHK Publishing, editor= ...
s, with the latter he had an illegitimate daughter named Oyu, who would later become a geisha as well at
Gion.
On July 10, 1867, Kondō became a
hatamoto
A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...
, along with the rest of the Shinsengumi.
Boshin War

After suffering a gunshot wound at the
Battle of Toba–Fushimi
The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 (or fourth year of Keiō, first month, 3rd day, according to the lunar calendar), when the forces of the sho ...
in January 1868, Kondō returned to
Edo. There he met with the military commander
Katsu Kaishū and was promoted to the rank of
wakadoshiyori (''wakadoshiyori-kaku'' 若年寄格) in the rapidly disintegrating Tokugawa administration. Kondō created a new unit, , based on the surviving remnants of the Shinsengumi and led them under the alias of Okubo Tsuyoshi. They departed from Edo for
Kōfu Castle on March 24 on orders to suppress uprisings there. Upon receiving news on March 28 that Kōfu Castle had been taken by
Imperial Court forces led by
Itagaki Taisuke
Kazoku, Count Itagaki Taisuke (板垣 退助, 21 May 1837 – 16 July 1919) was a Japanese samurai, politician, and leader of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (自由民権運動, ''Jiyū Minken Undō''), which evolved into Japan's firs ...
, they settled at a town of Katsunuma five miles east of Kōfu.
On March 29, 1868, Kondō and his unit were attacked by the Imperial forces at the
Battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma
The took place between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle followed the Battle of Toba–Fushimi on 29 March 1868 (Gregorian calendar).
Prelude
After defeating the forces of the Tokugawa shogu ...
, holding out for about two hours but ultimately losing. They narrowly escaped from the battle and retreated to Edo.
On April 11, 1868, Kondō, Hijikata and their unit departed Edo again and set up temporary headquarters at the Kaneko family estate, northeast of Edo. Kondō later changed his alias from Okubo Tsuyoshi to Okubo Yamato.
Later on April 25, 1868, they moved to a new headquarters in
Nagareyama.
Execution
While training at Nagareyama on April 26, 1868, Kondo and his unit were caught by surprise by Imperial forces. The Vice-chief of Staff
Arima Tota of
Satsuma Domain
The , briefly known as the , was a Han system, domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.
The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of ...
suspected that "Okubo Yamato" was Kondō himself, and ordered him brought back to the Imperial forces camp at
Koshigaya. Kondō was then taken to
Itabashi
is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. In English, it is called Itabashi City. Itabashi has sister-city relations with Burlington, Ontario, in Canada; Shijingshan District of Beijing in the People's Republic of China; and Bolog ...
on April 27, 1868, for questioning. On the same day Hijikata went to Edo to see Katsu Kaishū and asked for his help in getting a pardon for Kondō. The following day, April 28, a messenger arrived at Itabashi with a letter seemingly written by Katsu requesting that Kondō's life be spared. However, the messenger was arrested and the request was denied.
Kondō was put on trial on April 30, 1868 and declared guilty. As a result, Kondō was beheaded by the executioner Yokokura Kisoji at the
Itabashi execution grounds on May 17, 1868. Among the crowd witnessing his execution was his nephew
Miyagawa Yūgorō. Kondō's head was put on a pike for public display.
Three days later on May 20, 1868, Kondō's body was claimed by his nephew to be taken back to Osawa, Edo to be buried, while his head was salted and moved to
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
, where it was displayed on a pike on
Sanjō Ōhashi.
While on display on the bridge, Kondō's head was taken away by
Saitō Hajime, who would later ask the priest Sonku Giten to hold a memorial service for him. The head was taken by the priest when he moved to
Okazaki,
Aichi Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...
, and buried in a small mound behind the
Hozoji temple.
According to
Tani Tateki (1837–1911) of the
Tosa Domain
The was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its ...
, Kondō was arrested and executed by the new government (formed mostly by samurai from
Chōshū han and
Satsuma han) as a direct result of being accused of the assassination of
Sakamoto Ryōma. Tani continued to insist that Kondō was responsible for the killing even after former
Mimawarigumi member Imai Nobuo confessed in 1870.
Grave memorials

Kondō has at least four grave sites; it is believed that the first of them was the grave erected at Ten'nei-ji Temple (天寧寺) in
Aizu by
Hijikata Toshizō.
Hijikata, was convalescing nearby from an injury sustained at the
Battle of Utsunomiya, brought Kondō's hair there and was said to have personally supervised the preparation and construction of the site.
[ Kondō's funerary name, ''Kanten'inden'junchūseigi-daikōji'' (貫天院殿純忠誠義大居士) is believed to have been granted by Matsudaira Katamori.][
Another grave site is located at Ryugenji Temple in Osawa, Mitaka, ]Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
where his body was brought by his nephew and buried with his family.
A grave mound containing Kondō's head is located behind the Hozoji temple in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...
, Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
.
Another grave is located on the memorial known as ''Grave of Shinsengumi'', in front of Itabashi Station near the location of former Itabashi execution grounds. It was erected in 1875 by Nagakura Shinpachi, with the help of Matsumoto Ryōjun and several surviving former Shinsengumi members including Saitō Hajime. It memorializes Kondō and Hijikata Toshizō.
Legacy
In 1876, Kondō's 14-year-old daughter Kondō Tama married his nephew Miyagawa Yūgorō, who succeed him as a fifth generation master of Tennen Rishin-ryū and took the name of Kondō Yūgorō. Kondō Yūgorō established his own dojo, Hatsuunkan, in Kami-ishihara (present day Chōfu, Tokyo). Tama and Yūgorō's only child, a son named Kondō Hisatarō, was born in 1883. Kondō Tama died three years later in 1886 and Yūgorō later remarried at least twice.
In 1905, Kondō Hisatarō was killed in action
Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...
in the Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
at the age of 22. This marked the end of the Kondō Isami bloodline.
In fiction
Kondō Isami is often depicted in fiction, across different media, including television, film, books, anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
, and manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
.
The NHK
, also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee.
NHK ope ...
Taiga drama
is the name NHK gives to the annual year-long historical drama television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white ''Hana no Shōgai'', starring kabuki actor Onoe Shoroku II and Awashima Chikage, the network regul ...
'' Shinsengumi!'' depicted the life of Kondō.
Kondō Isa''o'' from '' Gintama'' is roughly based on him. He also appears in the video-game-turned-anime series '' Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan''. Kondō also makes appearances in the series '' Kaze Hikaru'' and '' Peacemaker Kurogane'', among others. Kondō is briefly mentioned in the anime series '' Soar High! Isami'' by the main characters' ancestors who are also members of the Shinsengumi. The female protagonist of the series, Isami Hanaoka, is named after and based on him. He is briefly shown in the anime ''Golden Kamuy
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Satoru Noda. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from August 2014 to April 2022, with its chapters collected in 31 volumes. The story follows Saich ...
''. Kondō is portrayed by and modelled after Eiichiro Funakoshi in the video game '' Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!'', serving as a major character in the plot of the game. In the remake, '' Like a Dragon: Ishin!'', he is instead voiced by Akio Otsuka and has the likeness of Koichi Adachi, a character from '' Yakuza: Like A Dragon''.
Kondō Isami appeared in '' Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning'' in 2021. He was portrayed by Takahiro Fujimoto.
Kondō Isami appeared in Record of Ragnarok: Season 2. Kondō is depicted as one of humanity's greatest warriors; sent to fight the mythological Gods for the fate of humanity.
Kondō Isami appeared in the 2024 drama "With You I Bloom: The Shinsengumi Youth Chronicle" based on the 1963 Shinsengumi manga by Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...
. He was portrayed by Akira Takano.[https://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kimiyuki/ ]
Notes
Further reading
*Kikuchi Akira 菊池明. ''Shinsengumi 101 no Nazo'' 新選組101の謎. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha, 2000.
*Kojima Masataka 小島政孝. ''Shinsengumi yowa'' 新選組余話. Tokyo: Kojima-Shiryōkan 小島資料館, 1991
*Ōishi Manabu 大石学. ''Shinsengumi: saigo no bushi no jitsuzō'' 新選組: 最後の武士の実像. Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha, 2004.
*Yasu Kizu. ''Swordsmith Nagasone Kotetsu Okisato''. Hollywood: W.M. Hawley Publications, 1990.
* "Kondō Hijikata to Okita no Shinsengumi" 近藤・土方・沖田の新選組. ''Rekishi Dokuhon'', December 2004.
*''Shinsengumi dai zenshi'' 新選組大全史. Tokyo; Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha, 2003.
*''Shinsengumi Jiten'' 新選組事典. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha, 1978.
* Stephane Lun 倫世豪. ''A Guide on Shinsengumi: the background and management''. 2021 Kindle Paperwhite version. Amazon.com
Links
SHINSENGUMI
新選組 Shinsengumi Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kondo, Isami
1834 births
1868 deaths
Hatamoto
Shinsengumi
People executed by Japan by decapitation
19th-century executions by Japan
People of the Boshin War
Japanese swordfighters
Wakadoshiyori
Executed Japanese people
People from Chōfu, Tokyo
People from Western Tokyo
Tennen Rishin-ryū