Hitokiri

Hitokiri (人斬り) literally means "one who cuts a person" and is used to describe a class of professional swordsmen who conducted assassinations in the late Edo period, particularly during the Bakumatsu. The term is not an official title but a descriptive epithet applied by contemporaries and later historians to those known for lethal, single-strike killings.

Historically, the Bakumatsu era was a time of political upheaval as rival factions vied to influence the direction of Japan’s future. Hitokiri operated as covert agents or militants who targeted opponents of their faction, often employing swift, decisive swordplay. Many were ronin or disgruntled samurai, and the violence surrounding their actions contributed to the period’s sense of instability and moral drama. The label carried both stigma and notoriety, reflecting public fear of organized, skillful killers.

Notable figures associated with the term are numerous and vary by source; historians sometimes apply the label to several assassins who carried out high-profile actions. Because the term was informal, precise attributions and motives are debated, and individual identities are sometimes conflated or mythologized in retrospective accounts.

In popular culture, the term has become widely recognized beyond historical discourse. The best-known fictional use is Hitokiri Battōsai, the alias of Kenshin Himura in the manga and anime Rurouni Kenshin, depicting a former assassin who seeks a peaceful life. The concept of hitokiri remains a recurring motif in depictions of the Bakumatsu and its violence.

The term continues to be discussed in studies of political violence, swordsmanship, and Japanese cultural memory.