近藤 勇

Kondô Isami (1834-1868), one of the last true samurai, was the co-founder and leader of the Shinsengumi, a band of masterless samurai that patrolled the streets of Kyoto in the final days of the Tokugawa bakufu, dispensing justice and thwarting the terrorist plots of "sonnô jôi" extremists. Although several of his comrades turned corrupt, Kondô was a man of integrity who always did his best to defend the bakufu he was sworn to uphold. Even after the shogun surrendered to the imperial forces in an attempt to save lives, Kondô and the Shinsengumi the continued on in what they viewed as their samurai duty, fighting on the losing side of the Boshin War of 1868. While resisting Imperial forces during the battle for Edo in the spring of 1868, Kondô was captured and ignominiously beheaded on May 17, 1868.