Today I watched a NHK documentary about
the Shinsengumi, the police force in Kyoto before
Meiji's reign. According to the NHK documentary,
the group played an important role in Japan's history
because they were effective in fighting rebel forces to the
Tokugawa regime at that time. In the beginning they had a bad reputation
in Kyoto, but after successfully helping the Tokugawa
government remove the Choshu clan out of Kyoto,
they became a prominent part of the Tokugawa regime.
When the Meiji government took over however,
the Shinsengumi was deemed as part of the old government
and they lost their power. They fought against the Meiji regime
and lost quickly because they did not have modern war technology
like the Meiji government. Ironically, they became the rebel
forces that they had fought so hard against.
Soon after Hijikata Toshizo, its deputy leader, was killed in action,
the Shinsengumi perished.
The tragedy of the Shisengumi lies in how its members remained
loyal to their masters and their beliefs until they met their ends.
They do not deserve such a terrible end,
but unfortunately, they lost the battle to changes. Japan
was facing changes as it opened its doors to the world
and the Shinsengumi rebeled against these changes.
The changes overpowered the Shinsengumi and wiped it out with no sympathy.
Before I learned about the Shinsengumi,
change had never seemed so frightening a power.
I wonder in history, how many noble individuals
and groups had met their end like the Shinsengumi did
because they did not comply to change. It is as if loyalty
and bravery, two things that humans value greatly, cannot change
the course of events.
I watched the ending of the documentary with a heavy heart.
the Shinsengumi, the police force in Kyoto before
Meiji's reign. According to the NHK documentary,
the group played an important role in Japan's history
because they were effective in fighting rebel forces to the
Tokugawa regime at that time. In the beginning they had a bad reputation
in Kyoto, but after successfully helping the Tokugawa
government remove the Choshu clan out of Kyoto,
they became a prominent part of the Tokugawa regime.
When the Meiji government took over however,
the Shinsengumi was deemed as part of the old government
and they lost their power. They fought against the Meiji regime
and lost quickly because they did not have modern war technology
like the Meiji government. Ironically, they became the rebel
forces that they had fought so hard against.
Soon after Hijikata Toshizo, its deputy leader, was killed in action,
the Shinsengumi perished.
The tragedy of the Shisengumi lies in how its members remained
loyal to their masters and their beliefs until they met their ends.
They do not deserve such a terrible end,
but unfortunately, they lost the battle to changes. Japan
was facing changes as it opened its doors to the world
and the Shinsengumi rebeled against these changes.
The changes overpowered the Shinsengumi and wiped it out with no sympathy.
Before I learned about the Shinsengumi,
change had never seemed so frightening a power.
I wonder in history, how many noble individuals
and groups had met their end like the Shinsengumi did
because they did not comply to change. It is as if loyalty
and bravery, two things that humans value greatly, cannot change
the course of events.
I watched the ending of the documentary with a heavy heart.
完畢。
ニックネーム：ドモ
