Takeda Kanryūsai (武田 観柳斎, 1830 or 1834 – died June 22, 1867) was the captain of the fifth unit of the Shinsengumi, a special police force for the Tokugawa regime. Background He was a samurai born in Izumo, in the late Edo period. Born Fukuda Hiroshi in Izumo (modern day Shimane Prefecture, in the Chūgoku region), it's said that Takeda wanted to become a doctor in his youth. However, he left his clan to study the Koushuu Nagamuna style of military strategy in Edo. While there, he became close to the well-known Takeda family and was adopted by them, taking the name Takeda Kanryūsai. This branch of the Takeda clan were hereditary Aizu vassals, although Takeda Kanryūsai was a well-known antibakufu activist involved with the Tengu-tou. Little is known of Takeda Kanryūsai's life before joining the Shinsengumi, but he was likely involved in academics and medicine. His sword style was most likely Hokushin Ittō-ryū, although he does not appear to have been very skilled. He was close to the influential loyalist Hirano Kuniomi. However, he was too outspoken an advocate of sonnō jōi and was arrested. He escaped imprisonment in 1863 and fled to Kyoto to join the Shinsengumi. Shinsengumi period Somehow he had been acquainted with Kondō Isami in Edo and joined his group early in the winter of 1863 or 1864, at age 30. He was appointed to a management position as a fukuchō's assistant based on his credentials in military strategy. There, he ingratiated himself to Kondō with cheap flattery and was despised by most of the other members. Takeda was assigned to assist in the arrest of Furutaka Shuntaro (also known as Masuya Kiemon), which lead to the Ikedaya Affair. He was a member of Kondō's group and helped to secure the perimeter of Ikedaya. Takeda participated in the indoor battle after the arrival of Hijikata's group, bringing down the ceiling and killing a Tosa rōnin. He received a 20 ryō bonus for valor in combat. Soon after, he was sent as an officer to the Akebono restaurant to investigate reports that it harbored rōnin from Nagato. The investigation led to the seppuku suicide of a Tosa samurai and the Aizu retainer who had wounded him, an incident known as the Akebono Restaurant Affair. When Nagakura Shinpachi and others petitioned the Aizu clan on account of Kondō's allegedly despotic leadership, Takeda attempted to mediate between the