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The Sekihōtai

The Sekihō Army (Sekihōtai) was an anti-bakufu militia comprised of farmers and merchants that arose after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in 1868, during the closing days of the Bakumatsu.

History[]

Commanded by Sagara Sōzō, the Sekihōtai was split into units in order to better fulfill its missions and was sent as an advance team for the Ishin Shishi forces, collecting intelligence on each area and recruiting soldiers against the bakufu.

At the behest of the new revolutionary government, the Sekihōtai spread news of the impending tax reforms that would effectively cut all taxes in half. Though this news did manage to bring several domains over to the new government's side, rising expenditures during the war left the politicians in a vulnerable position, as they would be unable to follow through with their promise. Hoping to save face, the Meiji Government sent word around the country that labelled the Sekihō Army as frauds and slandered them as liars. An order went out from the Ishin Shishi commanding general to every unit of the regular forces that the members of the Sekihōtai were to be captured or eliminated as punishment for raising people's hopes with "falsified reports of a tax reform".

A unit of the Sekihōtai stationed at Usui cliff was attacked and decimated by revolutionary forces and, upon hearing word of this new turn of events, Sagara Sōzō and his men of the first unit traveled from their position in the eastern mountains to military headquarters in Shimosuwa in the hopes of reaching a compromise and sparing his men. instead, however, Sagara's unit was attacked and defeated at Shimosuwa and Sagara himself was executed by decapitation. Up until their executions, all captured members of the Sekihōtai were forced to wear prison clothes with the kanji character aku (惡) - meaning evil - emblazoned on their backs.

Plot[]

The Sekihōtai is mentioned several times in the series.

Tokyo Arc[]

In the first fight between Sagara Sanosuke and Himura Kenshin, Sanosuke Sano explained he held a grudge against the Ishin Shishi, who had framed the Sekihōtai and were responsable for the death of his mentor Sagara Sōzō. At the end Kenshin defeated Sanosuke and explained to him that it was wrong from him to carry that weight in his heart.

When Tsukioka Katsuhiro met Sanosuke later in the series, both of them tried to recreate the Sekihōtai. That led to the second fight between Sanosuke and Kenshin, which re-sparked old memories of Sanosuke about his tragic past with the Sekihōtai.

Kyōto Arc[]

When Sanosuke was traveling to Kyōto admidst the impending fight to Shishio Makoto, he encountered Yūkyūzan Anji in the middle of the forest, and asked him to teach Sanosuke the Futae no Kiwami technique. Sanosuke spent days in intensive training, and on his last night while on the verge of exhaustion Sanosuke had a vision of Captain Sagara as if the man's ghost were standing before him.

It was revealed the next day by Anji that they were in the forest at Shimosuma, the site where the Sekihōtai were executed.

Known Members[]

  • Sagara Sōzō - He was the captain of the Sekihōtai, and took on the responsibilities of leading the makeshift force and spreading news of the Meiji Government's promise to halve taxes.
  • Sagara Sanosuke - The Sekihōtai and Sōzō took Sanosuke as a small kid under their wing as ward of the Sekihōtai and taught him their ideals and principles.
  • Tsukioka Katsuhiro - The Sekihōtai and Sōzō also took Tsunan as a small kid under their wing as ward of the Sekihōtai (alongside Sanosuke) and taught him their ideals and principles.

Trivia[]

  • At the beginning of the manga, Watsuki debated whether to include the Sekihōtai storyline due to its obscurity in Japanese history. In addition, as Watsuki wrote the storyline, the popularity of the series fell to the lowest point since the debut of the series. Watsuki reasoned that he wished to explore the "true story of the Meiji Revolution" and therefore could not leave out the story of the Sekihōtai.

Gallery[]

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