Shishi (志士), sometimes known as Ishin Shishi (維新志士), were a group of Japanese political activists of the late Edo period. While it is usually applied to the anti-shogunate, pro-sonnō jōi (尊皇攘夷; lit. 'Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian[s]') samurai primarily from the southwestern clans of Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa, the term shishi is also used by some with reference to supporters of the shogunate, such as the Shinsengumi.
There were many different varieties of shishi. Some, such as the assassins Kawakami Gensai, Nakamura Hanjirō, Okada Izō, and Tanaka Shinbei, opted for a more violent approach in asserting their views. Kawakami Gensai, in particular, is recalled as the assassin of Sakuma Shōzan, a renowned pro-Western thinker of the time. Several assaults on westerners in Japan have been attributed to the shishi and associated rōnin warriors. In a 2013 article, these assassins have been called "early terrorists" (German: frühe Terroristen) since they opted to spread terror among the foreigners. Other more radical shishi, such as Miyabe Teizō, plotted large-scale attacks with little regard for public safety. Miyabe himself was one of the ringleaders of the plot, foiled by the Shinsengumi at the Ikedaya Incident, to burn Kyoto at the height of the Gion Festival.
___Bakumatsu_q.jpg)