Japan Hitokiri?

[Sakabatou]

Haa I remember when I was a little naive obsesee over Kenshin and was being such a little twit here.. .(KenshinHimura.. yeah, that was me.) I'm laughing at all my old posts.. I havent been here in a while, and. .I'm suprised this topic is still up.. probobly what I meant to ask is if theres any modern-day places that teach the art former hitokiri had used during the Tokugawa era.. But thats simple stuff I can just look up on my own.. haha anyways, I'm back.. and.. thanks for keeping the topic up. lol

[Battosai]

Actually I heard they're recruiting in Connecticut right now...
You have to be willing to give up your normal everyday life and they will fly you to Japan and train you in the secret art of the reverse blade katana.

Hell yeah, I'm going. Come and get me in Vasteras, Sweden and we're off to Japan!

[Kitsune]

Hope this helps (and hope nobody already put it, I did not read the whole thing)


Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu (幕末四大人斬り) was a term given to four samurai during the Bakumatsu era in Japanese history. They were against the Tokugawa shogunate (and later, in support of the Meiji Emperor.) Hitokiri, literally meaning "Human Slayer", is a superlative name for this particular caliber of samurai. These four samurai were warrior elite and widely considered undefeatable by normal people. Along with the title of Hitokiri, the four men were also referred to as "The Four Butchers" or "Heaven's Revenge against the enemies of Imperial restoration". Most of them came from the Chōshū-Satsuma provinces, which were largely anti-Bakufu at the time. These notable men were Kawakami Gensai, Nakamura Hanjiro (also known as Kirino Toshiaki), Tanaka Shimbe, and Izo Okada.

Hitokiri is a 1969 film directed by Hideo Gosha and starring Shintaro Katsu as Izo Okada. The anime series Rurouni Kenshin is about a former hitokiri based loosely on Kawakami Gensai.


Kawakami Gensai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kawakami Gensai (河上彦斎, 4 December 1834 - 13 January 1871), was an imperialist (in favor of the emperor) and one of the four great Hitokiri (lit. "man-slayer") of the Bakumatsu period of 19th century Japan, and fought against the Western-accommodating Tokugawa shogunate in order to restore the Emperor to power and force all foreigners from Japan. It is said that, at first glance, he could be mistaken for a girl or young boy, but that his nature was indeed the complete opposite. He was recorded as being a cold, disciplined, and calculating warrior. It was also said that he was the most lethal of the four Hitokiri.

Kawakami was a non-practicing Buddhist, but dedicated himself to its study heartily. His discipline was the "lightning-fast" Furanui kenjutsu style, also known as Shiranui-ryu. Kawakami was a loyalist and patriot of the Empire, who, at the time, were called the “Ishin Shishi” group. Because of these beliefs, and his personal strengths in the area of swordsmanship, he became a Hitokiri, or elite samurai assassin, who served the Emperor vehemently.

Kawakami was made more famous for cutting down Sakuma Shōzan, a prominent, pro-western Japanese politician in broad daylight. He was the presumed suspect for many other prominent assassinations, but nothing had ever been proven, and still remains a mystery even to date. After the Meiji restoration ended the era of the samurai, Kawakami taught samurai philosophy for a short time. However, his ideas about isolationism conflicted with those of the government. He was brought in on falsified charges, and executed in the fourth year of the Meiji era (1871).

The character Himura Kenshin from the anime and manga Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X was loosely based on Kawakami.



So, before mocking someone and sending him (or she) to an anime forum, read a little bit. This information is up on internet for everyone.

[kartoffelngeist]

I sense the wrath of Neil anytime soon...

Some threads just don't know when to die...

[Battosai]

I believe that organizations like the CIA, Mossad etc, runs that sort of "biznizz". The infamous swedish säpo probably would if they could only find their way out of eachothers bottoms first (maybe slighty unfair but... nah!)
Maybe they are not always as "stealthy" as you expect an assassin to be but that's just splitting hairs.

Heard in Ruoruni Kenshin-anime by Himura Kenshin: When I worked as a hitokiri during the Bakumatsu, I used two main strategies, hiding in the shadows and hiding in plain sight!
So there may very well be peoples working for the Swedish SÄPO that's hitokiris and is working by those strategies, you never know!

[Kitsune]

Here? In this forum a dying thread does not exist.... hahahahaha!

[Galo]

Why resurrect an almost-dead threat??!?!?!?!
Hope Neil comes quickly and gives this god-forsaken thread a peacefull and swift death. (at least swift)

[Hurohoshi]

Very interesting information, I wonder how long men like these trained. In order to be such ruthless killers....Maybe they were as swift as the wind...lol.

But seriously, to gain a title like that in japan...either they spread a lot of rumors about themselves, from perhaps defeating a few famous swordsmen, or they used stealth like tactics where it was really 10 or 12 men instead of one. Like ninja stories....peopel usually in japan thought it was just one ninja when it was probably many.

[kartoffelngeist]

Please Neil?

[Kitsune]

Why Neil? Leave poor Neil alone, he has better things to do in life.

[Kitsune]

Very interesting information, I wonder how long men like these trained. In order to be such ruthless killers....Maybe they were as swift as the wind...lol.

But seriously, to gain a title like that in japan...either they spread a lot of rumors about themselves, from perhaps defeating a few famous swordsmen, or they used stealth like tactics where it was really 10 or 12 men instead of one. Like ninja stories....peopel usually in japan thought it was just one ninja when it was probably many.

Yeah sure, probably that's the whole point of that title.