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Shinsengumi: Losers Then and Winners Now?

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During the process of Meiji Restoration, many figures arose and engaged in the creation of a new country and the advance of a modern civilization. Destiny favored and history chosen certain side as “winners” and demolished the other side as “losers”. Among those losers, Shinseigumi, a special police force organized by the Bakufu, stood out as the most well known “losers” who fought for Shogunate all the way until Hakodate. However, since 1950s, their stories had been adapted into various novels, stage dramas, movies, TV dramas, video games, et cetera. Members of the Shinseigumi also earned extremely high popularity (if not to the level of personality cult) and are viewed as “heroes” in pop culture.

 In my final project, I’d like to investigate Shinsengumi’s main members' public images in post-Meiji period and current days to find out what cultural roots are backing up the transition from “losers” to “winners”, and what can we learn about the two societies through this shift. 

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