Hijikata met Isami Kondo when he was 25 years old. He joined Shieikan which Isami Kondo ran. After that, he applied for the Roshigumi to protect Tokugawa Iemochi, the 14th Shogun of the Edo Shogunate. And he went to Kyoto with members of Shieikan. Shinsengumi started in 1863 because they succeeded there. They guarded the Shogun.