Serizawa Kamo Serizawa Kamo ( 芹沢 鴨 ; 1826 ? – October 30 ? , 1863 ) was a samurai known for being the original lead commander of the Shinsengumi . He trained in and received a licence in the Shindō Munen - ryū . " Kamo " means goose or duck in Japanese which was an odd name to call oneself at the time . His full name was " Serizawa Kamo Taira no Mitsumoto " ( Serizawa = family name , Kamo = given name , Taira = family clan name , Mitsumoto = formal given name . ) Background . The Serizawa family were upper - seat Goshi rank samurai in Serizawa village in Mito which is now the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan . Kamo was born as the youngest son and his childhood name was Genta . He had two older brothers and an older sister . He was educated with the Sonnō jōi ideals ( meaning revere the Tenno ( emperor ) and expel the foreigners ) and swordsmanship since childhood at Kodoukan which was a state school in Mito . Mito is a sub - branch of the Tokugawa family and it was considered the motherland of the Sonnō Jōi ideology and was a center of support for the Tennō and the Imperial court , which helped fuel the Revolution . Although no portrait of Kamo remains , it is said he was a large man with very pale skin and small eyes . On one hand , Serizawa was quite bold and fearless and on the other hand , he was extremely selfish and had a terribly short temper so he started fights often . If he was in a bad mood he would get violent , especially when he was drinking , and he was a heavy drinker . He was an idealist who held very strong pro - Imperial court beliefs and took the Sonno - joi beliefs very seriously while at the same time siding with the Tokugawa regime . A small fact that is less well - known is that Serizawa was good at drawing and showed his drawings to children . Tenguto Period . Kamo was the priest for a Shinto temple under the Kimura family . He married the daughter of the Kimura family , so his name was changed to Kimura Keiji . In 1860 , he took part in an extremist anti - foreigner group " Tengu - to " ( alternative name is Tamazukurisei ) which assassinated Tairo Ii Naosuke . He made a name for himself as he joined the higher ranks of the group . What is little known that he was originally supposed to participate in the famous Tairo assassination , but he was not able to make it in time . In early 1861 , he found out that three of the younger members in the group had broken the rules , causing him to lose his temper ; he made them sit in a line and beheaded them all at once . He was jailed within the Tengu - to group for executing them without any permission . When political power shifted to the pro - Tokugawa government , those in the Tengu - to were jailed for their involvement on the assassination of Ii . There , he wrote this famous poem written on his ripped piece of clothing with his own blood from biting his pinky finger : ｢ 雪霜 に 色 よく 花 の 魁て 散り ても 後に 匂ほう 梅が 香 ｣ This roughly translates as : Many were surprised at Kamo ' s never - before - demonstrated poetic talent . Serizawa was released in late 1862 when the government started to weaken and political power shifted back to the anti - foreigners . Then , he changed his name from Kimura Keiji to " Serizawa Kamo " after his release . He later joined Kiyokawa Hachirou ' s " Roushigumi " . Mibu Roushigumi / Shinsengumi Period . After their arrival in Kyoto , Serizawa and Kondou ' s group separated from the Roushigumi , becoming an isolated group . A few weeks later , Serizawa and Kondou decided to submit a letter to the Aizu clan asking to join them in policing Kyoto . The Aizu clan were assigned by the Tokugawa regime to police the streets in Kyoto by samurai ( most of them lower - class samurai from Chōshū , Tosa , and other states ) who rampantly started fights and committed assassinations . The idea of working under the Aizu may have originated with Serizawa ' s older brother , who had connections with the Aizu clan . The Aizu clan accepted the letter ' s request , making the twenty - two samurai into a group under the Aizu clan . It was then that the group began calling themselves the Mibu Roushigumi and Serizawa becomes the lead captain . However , Serizawa started numerous incidents . On July 18 ( lunar calendar June 3 ) , Aizu commanded Mibu Roushigumi members to police Osaka . Serizawa and his group were out drinking and later Serizawa got in a fight with a sumo . This created a conflict with the 25 - 30 sumos in the same dojo . Serizawa ' s group had only ten or so members but managed to overcome their attackers . At the end ten sumos were dead and the rest had sustained serious injuries , yet Serizawa ' s group barely had any injuries at all . News of this incident spread quickly , enhancing the Mibu Roushigumi ' s reputation . Later in June , Serizawa had a drinking gathering with his members in a restaurant in Shimahara . He lost his temper while drinking and wrecked the whole restaurant ; the restaurant had to be closed for business because of it . On September 25 ( lunar calendar August 13 ) , Serizawa and his group destroyed Yamatoya , a silk cloth store , in daylight with a cannon given to the group by the Aizu clan when they would not give them money . Death . On October 19 ( lunar calendar September 10 ) , Niimi Nishiki , who was a sub - captain of the Shinsengumi , was ordered to commit seppuku by Hijikata and Yamanami . Most likely , this was the beginning of the plan by the Kondo sect to get rid of Serizawa and his group . When Serizawa , Hirayama , and Hirama found out about the involuntary seppuku , they were unable to retaliate because in August they had started recruiting many of their members to side with Kondo . Noguchi Kenji , who was a fukuchou jokin and a member of Serizawa ' s group , was not in Mibu village at this time of the assassination . But there is a possibility that Niimi was forced seppuku by a Mito samurai for the murder of a Mibu Roushigumi member and Kondo ' s group was not involved with his death . Therefore , Serizawa ' s group may have " not " known about Kondo ' s assassination plans . On October 30 ( lunar calendar September 18 ; however there is debate that it could have happened 2 days before that ) , all of the Mibu Roushigumi had a drinking party at which was a plan to assassinate Serizawa . Serizawa was then assassinated along with Oume , a woman who was sleeping with him , and also Hirayama . Hirama , the sole survivor in Serizawa ' s group , managed to flee back to Mito where he reported Serizawa Kamo ' s death to his family . The assassination was carried out under Matsudaira Katamori ' s order . A few months later , on February 4 , 1864 ( lunar calendar December 27 , 1863 ) , Noguchi was ordered to commit seppuku by the Shinsengumi . Details of Serizawa ' s Assassination . There is some debate about who exactly was involved with killing Serizawa . Obviously those chosen to take part in the plot would have been members that Kondou and Hijikata trusted and also able to keep it a secret . The lineup is mostly like Hijikata , Okita , Yamanami , Inoue , and Harada . There is an alternative theory that the assassination was done by Hijikata , Todou , Saitou and Harada . It is highly unlikely that Kondou himself was involved with the assassination because it would have been too risky to get the newly planned lead captain to be injured or killed . Theories . There have been a number of theories about the motive for the assassination : This is the most mainstream and widely believed theory . It ' s quite possible that both Aizu and Kondo felt Serizawa was too reckless to be the lead captain of a group was intended to regulate peace in Kyoto , and one who would react violently to dismissal . This is a lesser - known theory . The Aizu clan could have commanded Kondo to assassinate Serizawa because he was reckless in order to hide the true motive ; an underlying political conflict with Mito . Aizu was having trouble in Kyoto already from samurais from Chōshū and Tosa causing violence openly in the streets , so they could have wanted to prevent Mito samurais from entering the blood bath of Kyoto . Then , extreme samurais from 3 states ( Mito , Chōshū and Tosa ) were competing with each other carrying out terrorist actions against those who they believed were against anti - foreigner ideals . A Mito official in Kyoto could have been plotting to take Serizawa ' s group and make them side with Mito . It ' s likely that Kondo and Hijikata hated Serizawa in the first place . But , they probably wouldn ' t have been able to form Mibu Roushigumi , which later became the Shinsengumi , if it wasn ' t for Serizawa ' s brother ' s close relations with the Aizu clan ; they allowed him to be lead captain because they were just using him to get connections with Aizu . When they felt they securely had the trust to Aizu they assassinated Serizawa because they no longer needed him . It is possible that they also kept the assassination in the dark from the Aizu clan since they have reported Serizawa ' s cause of death from illness . Grave . Kondou ' s group held a funeral for his death and Serizawa ' s older brother came to it . His grave was built a year after his death in Mibu Temple and it still resides there today . There is a quote about him from Nagakura Shinpachi : ◎新選組顛末記 - 永倉 新八 猛烈な勤皇思想を抱き 、 つねに攘夷を叫んでいた 。 大勢からは先生と呼ばれていた 。 それほどの才幹で 、 国家有事の時にむざむざと横死したことは 、 彼自身のみならず 、 国家的損害であるとは 、 当時 、 心あるものの一致するところであった 。 roughly translates as : " He held extremely strong pro - Imperial court ideals and screamed for the expelling out of foreigners . Everyone called him " sensei " . He was that much of a man but he died when the country needed him . We felt this is not just a loss for him but a loss for the country " . Obviously Nagakura felt a lot of respect for Serizawa . Serizawa in Fiction . Serizawa is featured in Shiba Ryotaro ' s " Moeyo Ken " ( " Burn , O Sword " ) and " Shinsengumi Keppuroku " ( " Record of Shinsengumi Bloodshed " ) . He is also featured in the manga " Kaze Hikaru " as Commander Serizawa and is pictured as a jolly man , often red nosed from drunkedness but below his comic and often perverted nature is also a fierce opponent that should not be judged upon . He is often seen on drinking fests with the rest of the Mibu or always trying to get a kiss from Kamiya Seizaburo ( Tominaga Sei ) . He falls in love in with a woman named Oume . His fight with the Sumos and meeting Oume are historical facts based from the real life story of Serizawa . Serizawa ' s assassination was portrayed in the anime version of " Peacemaker Kurogane " Serizawa is featured in NHK Shinsengumi , as powerful swordsman , with a short temper , yet he had a strong spirit , and a great love for his country . Four Shinsengumi members were sent to assassinate him . Hijikata , Okita , Harada , and Yamanami . Okita foolishly swung his Katana and it got stuck on the top off a doorway . Serizawa broke Hijikata ' s sword in two . Serizawa then slipped on his own bottle of sake , then Okita stabbed him through the heart hit his Kodachi , and then Hijikata finished him off by stabbing him in the back . In " Rurouni Kenshin " the character Shishio Makoto is roughly based on Serizawa Kamo as said by the manga artist Nobuhiro Watsuki , creator of Rurouni Kenshin series , during an interview ( contained in Kenshin Kaden ) . Also included as a character in Hakuouki Reimeiroku , Serizawa plays a major role in the most recent series of the anime " Hakuōki " .