pro-shogunate faction; supporters of the shogun
Historical term referring to the political faction that supported the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period, in opposition to the imperial loyalists (勤王派).
During the Bakumatsu period, the pro-shogunate faction and the anti-shogunate faction were fiercely opposed.
Compound of 佐 (sa, 'to assist'), 幕 (baku, 'shogunate'), and 派 (ha, 'faction').