Serizawa Kamo(芹沢鴨; 1826?-October 30, 1863) was born in 1826 approximately as the 3rd son with the name "Genta" Serizawa from an elite samurai family in Mito, Japan. "Kamo" means goose in Japanese which is a odd name to call oneself. He was educated with the Sonno joi ideals (meaning revere the emperor and expel the foreigners) and swordsmanship since childhood. He generally has a bad image being associated with being reckless and evil which is a little exaggerated.

In 1860, Kamo took part in an extreme anti-foreigner group "Tengu-to" and they were the ones who carried out the assassination of Tairo Ii Naosuke. Kamo later becomes a main member. Early 1861, he found out 3 of the younger members in the group broke the rules so he made them sit in a line and he beheaded them all. When political power shifted to those of the pro-Tokugawa government, those in the Tengu-to were jailed for their involvement on the assassination of Ii. There, he wrote his famous poem with his blood meaning even if he died there in jail the Sonno-Joi ideals will live on. Many were surprised that he had poetic talent when he definitely does not seem like he does. Serizawa was released out of jail when political power shifted to the anti foreigners when the government started to weaken.

Serizawa Kamo was one of the original founding members of the Shinsengumi when he joined Isami Kondo's Shieikan group in 1863. The group was with the Aizu clan who were with the Tokugawa government and their job was to police the streets of Kyoto. He was originally the chief captain of the group. He was feared in the group for his brutally bad temper and excessive drinking. One time in Osaka when he was drinking with his members in the Shinsengumi group, he killed a sumo wrestler with his sword just for getting in his way on a bridge. This angered the comrades of the sumo and they challenged Serizawa and his Shisengumi group to a brawl in the streets. Serizawa's group slaughtered the sumos and the group just had Noguchi with a slight injury in the chest. Also, Serizawa and his Mito members forced some stores in Kyoto to give them money. A famous incident is when they took a cannon to the Yamatoya store and destroyed it. Such reckless actions let to his demise by making Kondo and Toshizo Hijikata assassinate him and the 4 other Mito samurais with him on September 16, 1863, so they can take over the group. Kondo raised a funeral for him and he blamed lawless samurais to have done the job. Serizawa was killed just in 6 months when the group was formed.