Shinsengumi History: Ikedaya Affair!

[Mibu-Ro[Okita]]

I hope that alot of you are shinsengumi fans like I am.
In this thread, I would like to know anything that you people have to say about the Ikedaya Incident! I am doing this research for my own gain, and I wish to know more, so you guys can tell me anything you know about the shinsengumi period!!! I'm sure you will probably repeat everything I know already, so try to limit your answers to just the Ikedaya Affair.

Thanks!!!

Okita
Tennen Rishin Ryu

[WolfofMibu]

I also love the Shinsengumi.


All i know about the Ikedaya affair is that it took place at night in 1864 and they just raided the hotels and slaughtered many members of choshu and satsuma clans.

I hope this helped you out(you most likely knew this already)

[Mibu-Ro[Okita]]

I did, but thanks anyway wolfofmibu, and just because you are a shinsengumi fan i am adding you to my buddy list, i keep all the other shinsengumi fans there.

[Taek]

I've first heard about Shinsengumi from my wife and got me interested in them. I've seen a document about the Ikedaya and this programme was trying to reveal how they excuted
the raid with such a minimum casuality of their own. I think there were only one injury and one death on Shisengumi side but the death was cused by an illiness rather than actualy fight. One of my dojo mate gave me a DVD - when the last sword is drawn - and it is about Shisengumi.

[WolfofMibu]

i will also add you to my buddy list. anyone who is a fan of the shinsengumi is my kind of person. I have learned the most about Saito Hajime If any of you have any more facts about any other member anything will be greatly appreciated. Also any other information about their involvement in the battle of toba fushimi.

[WolfofMibu]

Taek, that is interesting. when wast this movie made? I would like to see that.

[Tokio Saitou]

^0^ I'm a Shinsengumi fan too

About the Ikedaya Inn Affair... here's my contribution:

5th June, 1864

The plan of the Ishin Shishi was to engulf Kyoto in fire on a windy night around June 20th, kill Matsudaira Katamori (he was the military Comissioner of Japan before de Meiji Restoration) and Nagawanomiya Tatsuhiko and kidnap the Emperor. But the Miburo broke in and important Ishin Shishi members were killed by the Shinsengumi at the Ikedaya Inn, where they were holding a secret conference to raise an army.

[Taek]

Taek, that is interesting. when wast this movie made? I would like to see that.

I'm not sure when exactly the movie is made but it must've been made pretty recently.
It is not a kind of full on sword fighting stuff but I enjoyed watching it. I won't tell you the story as it will spoil the joy if you are planing to watch it. I don't think it is out in the video shops but you might be able to get a copy at DVD shops in China town......

[Mibu-Ro[Okita]]

Hey wolfofmibu, i have quite a bit of info on Sanosuke Harada, tenth unit captain

souji okita, first unit captain

shinpachi nagakura, second unit captain, only a little about him

and toshizo hijikata, vice captain

and last is Isami Kondou, commander

Okita Souji is/was arguably the best swordsman in the shinsengumi, according to records he is a very handsome person, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which in that time was an uncurrable disease. During the Ikedaya raid he began to cough up blood and fainted, however, he survived, He joined Isami Kondous Tennen Rishin Ryu dojo at age 9 and was an accomplished swordsman by the age of 15.

Sanosuke Harada was the shinsengumi's best spear-fighter, it was his favorite weapon, the only other interesting thing that i know about him is that he married a whore from one of the brothels.

Toshizou Hijikata and Isami Kondou took over the shinsengumi from their old commander Serizawa, they assasinated him, was another feared swordmaster, made medicines for the shinsengumi, was known as the "demon of the shinsengumi" because he was hard as stone and had a heart of ice. The son of a farmer.

Isami Kondou was a son of a rich farmer originally, was adopted by the owner of the shieikan dojo, his original name was Miyakawa Katsuta, helped write up the shinsengumi's laws. Was taken prisoner after the Ikedaya incident by the Ishin government.

Shinpachi Nagakura was sometimes in charge of both the first and second units because Okita would sometimes be sick. He wrote a book of his shinsengumi days. After the shinsengumi were defeated he went to Hokkaido and changed his name to Sugimura Yoshie. Taught kendo in a prison there.

PS. The only people that really knew that Souji Okita had T.B. were the commander and vice commanders

[kaneyoshi]

Okita Souji is/was arguably the best swordsman in the shinsengumi, according to records he is a very handsome person, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which in that time was an uncurrable disease. During the Ikedaya raid he began to cough up blood and fainted, however, he survived, He joined Isami Kondous Tennen Rishin Ryu dojo at age 9 and was an accomplished swordsman by the age of 15.

Anou... yes, I would agree that while Okita-san is arguably the best in the Shinsengumi, the only other one he was -very close- at par with was Saitoh-san. It was a documented fact that if they were to fight each other, neither of them would survive.

And about him being "handsome"... anou... from what I've been told, he was rather "fish-faced" just as much as Saitoh-san was compared to a "folding screen". This information came from interviews conducted with family members by other Shinsengumi enthusiasts who managed to get ahold of his descendants (nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews most probably). Then again we'll never really, really know, ne? There's not one picture of him anywhere, and the one other picture that's been floating around on the net turned out to be a hoax: a photomanip of some actor someone cooked up. ^^;;

Regardless, the image of PMK's Okita has taken a permanent residence in my mind so...

What really happened during the Ikeda-ya incident, however, is still under much debate. Some say he did cough up that much blood and fainted, and some say it's too early for that because the incident happened waaaay before he died. And during those times, TB killed considerably a lot faster because it was practically an unknown disease. Poor Souji had to die all alone because nobody knew except for Hijikata-san and Kondo-san. He's buried in Sensoji Temple at Asakusa.

...and started teaching at--18, methinks?

[Sepiraph]

Here are the biographies of two important figures from the same period as the Shinsengumi.

Katsu Kaishu
http://swordforum.com/articles/japan...atsukaishu.php

Sakamoto Ryoma
http://swordforum.com/articles/japan...moto-ryoma.php

Hopefully in the future, the author (Romulus Hillsborough) will write about members of the Shinsengumi.

p.s. My favourite member is Okita.

[WolfofMibu]

I just wanted to say that this is a good thread. Good job for starting it okita. Thanks everyone for replying to my questions and giving me some info i didnt know. thanks again


Wolfofmibu

[Mibu-Ro[Okita]]

here is/are a cool pic/s of shinsengumi, but they are only fanart, I really like the "Red Miburo" energy drink, I wonder where I can get some.

http://www.shinsengumihq.com/fanartRedMiburo.jpg

http://www.shinsengumihq.com/artbf.htm

Okita

[Andou]

Ah. The Shinsengumi...I've done a lot of research and such on them. They were skillfull swordsmen, but the truth is that sometimes, yes, they did fight in unfair matches or odds. More relevant was the Ikeda Ya Affair. This ordeal was pretty intense based on accounts of...well practically everything that ever depicted it. I believe (I may be wrong on this...so...if you have any information I'd apprecate it, including corrections) that they were raiding 2 inns at once. However, the one that took the larger force proved to be the wrong one. Kondo and Okita (I think...this is where I'm a little hazy) were the only 2 units that raided the Ikeda Ya and it took a good amount of time for Hijikata and the rest of the Shinsengumi to get the news and provide support. All in all I think it was 2 hours of intense fighting mostly indoors which was the turning point in the Shinsengumi's familiarity.

[Goyaman]

If you visit Kyoto now, there's a Pachinko parlor on the site of the Ikedaya; but at least the city of Kyoto *does* have a marker noting the site...