Izo Okada

A swordsman and assassin of the Tosa clan in the late Edo period. He was the son of a local samurai from Enokuchi Village, Tosa County, near Kochi Castle. He trained in swordsmanship at the Takechi Hanpeita (Zuizan) dojo in the castle town, and then at the Momoi Shunzo dojo in Edo. In 1860 (Man'en 1), he accompanied Hanpeita on a tour of Kyushu feudal domains, where he gained fame as a swordsman. He joined the Tosa Kinno Party, and in 1862 (Bunkyu 2), he accompanied the clan lord Yamauchi Toyonori to Kyoto. Together with Tanaka Shinbei of Satsuma, he carried out a series of terrorist acts of execution and divine punishment on pro-shogunate figures, becoming feared by the public as "Izo the Assassin," and eventually becoming wary of even his own comrades. He later fled and hid in Kyoto and Setsu, but in 64 (Genji 1), he was captured by Tosa clan officials in Kyoto, escorted to Kochi and imprisoned, and on May 11 of the leap year of the following year, he was treated as a homeless person and sentenced to death by beheading and public display.

[Eri Sekita]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末土佐藩の剣士、刺客。高知城下に近い土佐郡江ノ口村の郷士の子。城下の武市半平太(たけちはんぺいた)（瑞山(ずいざん)）道場、ついで江戸の桃井春蔵(もものいしゅんぞう)道場で剣術を修業し、1860年（万延1）半平太について九州諸藩を歴遊、剣で名声をあげた。土佐勤王党に加盟、62年（文久2）藩主山内豊範(とよのり)に従って上洛(じょうらく)。薩摩(さつま)の田中新兵衛とともに、佐幕派人物に対し次々と斬奸(ざんかん)・天誅(てんちゅう)のテロを加え、「人斬(ひとき)り以蔵」として世人に恐怖され、ついには同志にも警戒された。のち出奔して京摂の間に潜伏したが、64年（元治1）京都で土佐藩吏に捕らわれ、高知へ護送投獄され、翌年閏(うるう)5月11日、無宿者の扱いで斬首晒首(さらしくび)の刑に処せられた。

［関田英里］

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