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THE SHINSEN GUMI |
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| Rules Schedule Distribution Ronin Anime EX |
Kondou
Isami (Captain) Originally
son of a rich peasant farmer, his original name was Miyakawa
Katsuta. He was adopted by the former master of Shieikan Dojo,
Kondou Shuusai, at the age of 16. His katana was the Nagasone
Kotetsu (yep, the one used by Soujirou which was cracked by Kenshin),
length 2'3"5. According
to most sources, he was a rigid man, loyal to the moral codes of a
swordsman. Had a wife, and his daughter Tamako was born just before
he went over to Kyoto. After the utter defeat of the Shinsengumi in
then Boshin War, he was captured by the Ishin Army, who had now
become the "legal" government army - after Shogun
Yoshinobu's resignation, the situation took a complete reverse, so
now it is the Shinsengumi who are outlaws. Kondou was decapitated on
25/4/1868 at the age of 35. Hijikata
Toshizo (Vice Captain) The
drug powder which Saitou tried to sell to Sanosuke in the guise of
Fujita Gorou is the Ishida Sanyaku, a formula which had been in
Hijikata's family for generations. It was used frequently in the
Shinsengumi for battle wounds and broken bones. In fact, when
Hijikata was a child, also son of a farmer (about 11 years old), he
was something like Sanosuke, fighting and brawling all day. Then his
elder sister married into a household of decent name, and his
brother-in-law arranged for him to become a door-to-door medicine
seller, selling the Ishida Sanyaku. It was then that he met young
Kondou. Hijikata
was feared by many for his mercilessness. Nicknamed "The Demon
of Shinsengumi". Can't find the JP name of his katana, though
it's of length 2'8". Master strategist and tactician who
stretched the prowess of the Shinsengumi to its maximum. One
of the Shinsengumi iron rules was that any traitors, including
deserters, had only one path to take: COMMIT SEPPUKU. Yamanami was
one such deserter. (See section on Yamanami for more.) After
Yamanami split his bowels, he was decapitated by another member of
the Shinsengumi, the whole process overseen by Hijikata. I must
stress that Hijikata knew Yamanami ever since their Shieikan days,
so feel the guy's cold-bloodedness. However, according to Watsuki,
in the historical novel 'Moeyoken' (Burning Sword) by Shiba Ryotarou,
Hijikata was acting the way he did because he realised that he *was*
a leader and could not afford to be soft, though he *did* bring it
to the extreme. In that novel, 'he chose to play the part of a demon
in front of everybody and killed those he loved, and cried alone in
the dark', to quote from Watsuki in his comments about Aoshi. As a
leader, he had to be firm and set a good example for his followers
irregardless of what he actually felt. I'm sure he's hurting beneath
his seemingly cold-blooded facade, after all, they were childhood
friends. Perhaps Aoshi keeps his own feelings to himself for the
same reason? After all, Hijikata *was* the character model for Aoshi!
:) After
the group's defeat in the Boshin War and the death of Kondou, he
joined Enomoto Takeaki (a former Bakufu Navy official), escaped to
Hokkaido and proceeded to build a so-called "Hokkaido
Republic" in order to continue fighting the Ishin government.
However, Hijikata was shot to death in a battle in 1869, 2nd Year of
Meiji, aged 35. Watsuki's favorite historical figure. And according
to many sources including Watsuki, a handsome total knock-out... Itou
Kashitarou (Military Advisor) This
guy just can't seem to merge in with Kondou and the others because
of the different way they see things. He had a lot of followers in
Shinsengumi, for he was a scholar-type fellow and was able to
explain his beliefs (tending to Sonno-joi) to the others and even
persuade them to support his views. Finally things got to a head,
Itou and his followers, including Saitou, packed up and resigned
from the Shinsengumi. He was quite popular among some of the
Shinsengumi members, which was why as many as 15 people packed up
and went with him. Yamanami's death sentence played a part as well -
see section on Yamanami on this. But
wait! Saitou's departure with him was actually Hijikata's trap,
where Saitou was sent as a spy! By and by Saitou gained Itou's trust
while relaying messages back to Hijikata, until finally Saitou
assassinated the former advisor, and rejoined the Shinsengumi...
Saitou was really a very important personnel in the Shinsengumi, ne?
Okita
Souji Probably
the best-known and popular Shinsengumi figure. Another handsome
total knockout, besides being a child prodigy at kenjutsu - he
joined Kondou's dojo at 9, and was an accomplished swordsman at 15
or so. Former name Soujirou, (yes, it's true!) the sword he used is
the one used by Soujirou in his last battle with Kenshin, the
Kikuichi Norimune, length 2'4"2. Strongest
swordsman in the Shinsengumi, he yields a katana, bokken and shinai
equally well. Famous for his "3-piece thrust" - 3 thrusts
delivered so quickly at the opponent, usually at the neck and the
right and left shoulders. Like Saito, this technique was improvised
from the one invented by Hijikata. Tragedy
struck, though, for Okita contracted Tuberculosis, an incurable
disease in those times, shortly after the formation of the
Shinsengumi. He coughed up blood several times, though he would not
let the others know. During the Ikeda-ya affair, however, his
situation suddenly spiralled
down (perhaps because of the cold night and the vicious battle), and
fainted after he coughed up a shocking amount of blood. It was then
that Kondou and Hijikata knew of his disease, and even by then the
doctor had already predicted that he would not live long. Both were
distressed over this, for they were like elder brothers to Okita
(did I mention that Kondou was 10 years Okita's senior, and Hijikata
9?). However, all 3 agreed that news of Okita's disease should not
be widely known, lest it dragged down the members' morale. After
the Boshin war, Okita went into a tuberculosis hospital in Edo. He
passed away on 30/5/1868, First year of Meiji, aged 25. Nagakura
Shinpachi Not
much that I can find about this guy - only that when Okita fell
sick, Nagakura sometimes commanded both the 1st and 2nd patrol. He
deserted his han to come to Kyoto. After the Ishin government was
set up, he was granted pardon to return to his han, and changed his
name to Sugimura Yoshie. In the 15th yearof Meiji (1882), he went
over to Hokkaido and became a kendo instructor in a prison there,
the same prison Anji went to... (wonder if they'll meet each other
there?) Nagakura resigned after several years, and built some graves
for his former friends in the Shinsengumi. He later wrote a book on
his Shinsengumi days, which seemed to be the main factor of his
fame. Nagakura passed away in January 1915, 4th year of Taishoat the
age of 76. Saitou
Hajime Saitou
Hajime seems to have struck second fame in Japan following his
appearance in RK! There are certainly a lot of info about him on the
web. Seems to be a mysterious guy even in real life... Also,
everything about him that came out in RK (except Shishio and Kenshin,
of course) is real history. I got a shock there! Right.
First of all, his origins seems a bit obscure. One theory is that
he's the son of a ronin. Another says he hailed from Edo, son of a
Bakufu official, and that he'd come to Kyoto after accidentally
killing a person in Edo. Yet another claims that he's a son of the
12th Shogun?! and yet another says that he was a spy of the Aizu han
placed in the early Roshitai. Talk about a mystery guy. His name,
Hajime (meaning "one" or "start" as in another
kanji") was because that he was born on the 1st day of the 1st
month, though there are other reports as to his birthday. He
entered the Shinsengumi "sponsored" by the Aizu han, under
the name of Yamaguchi Jirou, when he served as one of Hijikata's
assistants. His most powerful sword skill is the "Left-hand
single thrust" (but *not* Gatotsu, that's Watsuki-san's
creation), this skill is even more destructive than Okita's 3-piece
thrust! In fact, Saitou, together with Okita and Nagakura, were
hailed as the 3 strongest swordsman of the Shinsengumi. Saitou
assasinated a lot of corrupted Shinsengumi members. Eg, Itou
Kashitarou and co., Takeda Kanryuusai and others. And yeah,
Aku.Zoku.San was no invention of Watsuki - it was a motto of the
whole Shinsengumi! He
was also a great drinker! The creator of one Shinsengumi website
stated that "he's a different person when drunk", (I'm not
sure whether this refers to "I desire to kill once I'm
drunk"). In fact, he finally passed away because of a stomach
ulcer, caused by excessive drinking. Unfortunately, I still can't
verify that he smokes all the time, or that his favorite food is
soba... help, anyone? Saitou's wife, Takagi Tokio, was the daughter
of an important Aizu official - in fact,the middle-man was none
other than the Daimyo of Aizu himself! They (Saitou and Takagi Tokio)
were married in the 6th year of Meiji (1873), and their first son,
Tsutomu was born in the 9th year (1876).After the Ishin government
was formed, he changed his name and worked as a kendo instructor in
a university. In 1877, the 10th year of Meiji, he joined thepolice
troop with permission of carrying a sword to fight in the Seinan
War, the one where Saigo Takamori rebelled against the Meiji
government in Satsuma. Saitou did this under the name of Fujita
Gorou. After which he became a spy directly responsible to the
Police Commissioner, Kawaji Toshiyoshi. (I was really shocked at
this one... Watsuki can really interweave fact and fiction!) Saitou
worked as a guard of a museum in Tokyo when he was quite a senior
citizen.After his retirement, he seemed to spend a lot of time
thinking. Pity I can't understand his grandchild's remarks in the
Japanese homepage. Anyway, Saitou passed away on 27/9/1915, 4th year
of Taisho, at the ripe old age of 72. Takeda
Kanryuusai Watsuki's
pretty much covered everything there is about this guy in his
comments about Takeda Kanryuu. He was learned in military strategies
and practised medicine. A homosexual. Not an impressive piece at all
- he sucked up to those in power and bullied those beneath him, and
often outstepped his boundaries by throwing his weight around. What
made him so exceptionally despicable was that he betrayed the
Shinsengumi to team up with the Satsuma Ishin Shishis, just because
of the benefits and profits. Finally assassinated by Saito. Harada
Sanosuke According
to Watsuki and the historical novels I've been through, he's almost
the same as Sagara Sanosuke. Liked to brawl, short-tempered and
simply loved a fight. His favourite weapon was the spear. According
to Watsuki, before he joined Kondou, Harada was the servant of some
bushis, and this lowly status caused him to have a weak side at
times. However, he really took care of those under him. (Really
manly...) He was also a man who didn't like to fuss, and did things
the way he saw it. Kinda like those "tai-kos" (like Cheng
E-Kin) in those gangster movies. One
interesting point here: the members of the Shinsengumi frequented
the brothels (hey they *were* humans with biological needs too! Just
that Serizawa was carrying it way too far) but they seldom attached
themselves to the girls, to take them as their legal wives. Harada
married his girl, however - something surprising considering his
personality, for in those days, you had the choice of *not* marrying
a girl even if you'd slept with her. After
he broke upwith the others following the Shinsengumi defeat in the
Bushin War, he joined the Shogitai, the same troop in which Yahiko's
late father also took part. Harada died in the Ueno War. According
to other sources, however, he survived the war and stowed-away to
Manchuria, China, where he became a bandit. Yamanami
Seisuke (Gochou) The
guy deserves a special note. He tended towards Sonno-Joi as time
went on, and was thus isolated by Kondou and Hijikata. He suddenly
escaped fromthe Shinsengumi (perhaps because he couldn't take the
pressure of doing things he didn't feel right and being isolated
anymore?) in 1864 (or 65), which made him a traitor, only to be
caught by Okita before he could go far enough. He was sentenced to
commit seppuku,and died at 29. I understand from the novel that
Okita faced some anguish here - Yamanami was one of the earliest
members of Shinsengumi. Okita and the others had known him since
their Shieikan days. Okita was in despair because he had a choice of
letting Yamanami go, but he chose duty when it came to a choice
between "duty" and "passion". And from we get a
glimpse at how merciless Hijikata can be when it comes to
punishments, for the sentence was imposed by him. The harsh sentence
imposed on Yamanami invoked the other members' dissastisfaction,
because Yamanami was a gentle, honest man, and many thought that
Hijikata was being too harsh. This was also one of the factors which
caused 15 members to pack up and go with Itou.
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