Serizawa Kamo (芹沢 鴨; September 2, 1826 – October 30, 1863) was a samurai known for being the original lead commander of the Shinsengumi.
He was educated with the Sonnō jōi ideals (meaning revere the Tenno (emperor) and expel the foreigners) and swordsmanship since childhood at Kodoukan which was a state school in Mito.
Mito is a sub-branch of the Tokugawa family and it was considered the motherland of the Sonnō Jōi ideology and was a center of support for the Tennō and the Imperial court, which helped fuel the Revolution.
In 1860, he took part in an extremist anti-foreigner group "Tengu-to" (alternative name is Tamazukurisei) which assassinated Tairo Ii Naosuke.
In early 1861, he found out that three of the younger members in the group had broken the rules, causing him to lose his temper; he made them sit in a line and beheaded them all at once.
There, he wrote this famous poem written on his ripped piece of clothing with his own blood from biting his pinky finger: ｢雪霜 に 色 よく 花 の 魁て 散り ても 後に 匂ほう 梅が 香｣This roughly translates as: Many were surprised at Kamo's never-before-demonstrated poetic talent.
A few weeks later, Serizawa and Kondō decided to submit a letter to the Aizu clan asking to join them in policing Kyoto.
On October 19 (lunar calendar September 10), Niimi Nishiki, who was a sub-captain of the Shinsengumi, was ordered to commit seppuku by Hijikata and Yamanami.
When Serizawa, Hirayama, and Hirama found out about the involuntary seppuku, they were unable to retaliate because in August they had started recruiting many of their members to side with Kondō.
But there is a possibility that Niimi was forced to commit seppuku by a Mito samurai for the murder of a Mibu Roushigumi member and Kondō's group was not involved with his death.
The selected few led by Hijikata went into the house of Yagi Gennojō that night, Serizawa was then assassinated along with Oume, a woman who was sleeping with him, and also Hirayama.
It's quite possible that both Aizu and Kondō felt Serizawa was too reckless to be the lead captain of a group that was intended to regulate peace in Kyoto, and one who would react violently to dismissal.
The Aizu clan could have commanded Kondō to assassinate Serizawa because he was reckless in order to hide the true motive; an underlying political conflict with Mito.
Then, extreme samurais from 3 states (Mito, Chōshū and Tosa) were competing with each other carrying out terrorist actions against those who they believed were against anti-foreigner ideals.
There is a quote about him from Nagakura Shinpachi: ◎新選組顛末記-永倉 新八 猛烈な勤皇思想を抱き、つねに攘夷を叫んでいた。 大勢からは先生と呼ばれていた。 それほどの才幹で、国家有事の時にむざむざと横死したことは、彼自身のみならず、国家的損害であるとは、当時、心あるものの一致するところであった。 which roughly translates as: "He held extremely strong pro-Imperial court ideals and screamed for the expelling out of foreigners.
He is also featured in the manga Kaze Hikaru as Commander Serizawa and is pictured as a jolly man, often red nosed from drunkenness but below his comic and often-perverted nature is also a fierce opponent who should not be underestimated.
In the 2014 game Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!, Serizawa Kamo kills Miburoshigumi captain Inōe Genzaburo, and takes on the dead man's identity at the behest of leader Kondō Isami.
He says that three of the existing captains must take on the role of the dead Mito faction members in order to keep the group alive, which he then renames the Shinsengumi.