Arai Tadao (新井忠雄)
Tadao ARAI (March 5, 1835 - February 15, 1891) was Shoshi shirabeyaku ken kansatsu (Shinsengumi's organizational post for investigating movements of the opponents and keeping the Shinsengumi members under control) of the Shinsengumi. He was the grand master of Gekken martial art. He was from the Iwakitaira Domain in Mutsu Province.
He was born as a child of a feudal retainer of the Iwakitaira Domain, and succeeded to the mother's side, the Arai Family. He had lived in Edo since he was eighteen years old and joined the Shinsengumi at the age of 31 in 1864.
It is said that Arai, a heavy drinker, went to the site of the Sanjo-ohashi Bridge Noticeboard Incident dead drunk after having a lot of sake (rice wine) and took part in the battle in September, 1866.
In 1867, he broke away from the Shinsengumi with Kashitaro ITO and other people, and formed Goryo-eji (guards of Imperial mausoleums). When Goryo-eji broke down in Aburanokoji Incident, he ran into the residence of Satsuma Domain. In the Boshin War, he belonged to the New government army.
After Meiji Restoration, he presented himself at the Meiji Government as a government official of Ministry of Justice.
He died in 1891. He died at the age of 57.