【Kyoto History Guide】Kido Takayoshi & Takasugi Shinsaku: The Choshu Samurai

Hello everyone! Welcome to your travel guide for exploring Japan’s incredible samurai history.

During the turbulent Bakumatsu period, the Choshu Domain was the driving force behind the anti-Shogunate movement. Its central figures—Kido Takayoshi (Katsura Kogoro) and the fiery revolutionary Takasugi Shinsaku—lived dramatic lives of concealment and political rebellion in Kyoto.

In this guide, we’ll explore key historic sites associated with the brave samurai of Choshu!

—

1. The Master of Escape: Former Kido Takayoshi Residence

Katsura Kogoro was famously nicknamed “Runaway Kogoro” for his miraculous ability to escape Shinsengumi ambushes.

The Former Kido Takayoshi Residence (Ikumatsu) along Kiyamachi-dori is where Katsura hid with his lover, the geisha Ikumatsu. Legend says Ikumatsu saved his life by hiding him inside a wooden clothing trunk when Shinsengumi officers raided the house.

—

2. Sword Cuts at Sanjo Ohashi Bridge

After escaping the bloody Ikedaya Incident in 1864, Katsura went into deep hiding, famously disguising himself as a beggar under the Sanjo Ohashi Bridge along the Kamo River.

Today, visitors can still see authentic sword cuts on the wooden pillars of Sanjo Ohashi Bridge, left behind during samurai clashes in the 1860s.

—

3. Base of the Choshu Samurai: Choshu Mansion Monument

Takasugi Shinsaku, the brilliant founder of the Kiheitai militia, used the Choshu Domain Mansion near Kawaramachi-Oike as his base to debate national politics with fellow revolutionaries.

A stone monument stands near the Kawaramachi-Oike intersection, marking where the Choshu samurai plotted the downfall of the Shogunate.

—

4. Summary

From narrow escapes along the Kamo River to secret hideouts in Kiyamachi, the legacy of the Choshu samurai lives on in Kyoto. Step back into 19th-century Japan and feel their revolutionary spirit!