Aridoshi Kango (蟻通勘吾)
Kango ARIDOSHI (1839 - June 20, 1869) was a member of the Shinsengumi (a special police force of the late Tokugawa shogunate period). He was born in Takamatsu, Sanuki Province (present Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture). His sword has an inscription that it was made by Akishige, a resident of Harima.
Around July 1863, he joined the Shinsengumi. In the Ikedaya Incident that broke out on July 8, 1864, he belonged to the Rokubangumi-tai (sixth platoon) lead by Genzaburo INOUE, and received a financial incentive of 17-ryo (old currency unit) for his service. When the Sanjo-ohashi Bridge Noticeboard Incident occurred on October 20, 1866, he received a financial incentive in gold equivalent to 2.5-ryo in old currency, belonging to Sanbangumi-tai (third platoon), and in the Tenmanya Incident on January 1, 1868, he took charge of guarding an official of Kishu Domain, Yasushi MIURA, with Hajime SAITO, Kuwajiro OISHI and others, as a member of the platoon lead by Sanosuke HARADA.
In 1867, when the ceremony of promotion to Shogun's retainer was held, he was conferred the status of Mimawarigumi Namioyatoi (junior member of the Shogunate patrol), although he was still a member with no title.
During a series of the Boshin Civil War, his fought for the first time in the Aizu War, and although he was injured seriously in the battle of Shirakawaguchi on June 10, 1869, he went over to Ezo (present Hokkaido), following Toshizo HIJIKATA. On June 9, 1870, the next year, he died in battle at the top of Hakodate-yama Mountain. It is said that his dead body was buried at Daien-ji Temple in Hakodate City (Hokkaido).
Among the members of Shinsengumi, those who lived the experience of the Ikedaya Incident and later went down to Hakodate surviving various fights during the Boshin Civil War were reduced to only three; Kai SHIMADA, Masajiro OZEKI and this Kango ARIDOSHI, except for Toshizo HIJIKATA, and in this sense, he was an rare person. It should be noted that he stayed at the lowest rank for his entire career, although he was one of the oldest members from the outset of Shinsengumi.