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.

[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

[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.

[Mibu-Ro[Okita]]

hey thanks saitou, you've been added to the buddy list too, I didn't know some of that.

[GoldenShinai]

please excuse my stupidity, but who exactly were the Shinsengumi? i have heard of them before, and all i know is that they were enemies of the Ishin Shishi.

[Mibu-Ro[Okita]]

well golden shinai,


they were the most feared police force in tokugawa history and consisted of hundreds of expert swordsmen, each endowed with the official sanction and an unflinchin propensity to kill. Their purpose was to restore law and order to the blood soaked streets of the imperial capital. "Fight fire with fire, and terror with terror," reasoned the powers that were, with a single-minded objective bolstered by the corps' draconian code.

The radicals from Choshu and Tosa unleashed a reign of terror and assassination in Kyoto during the early 1860s. In the spring of 1863, the Tokugawa Bakufu made its final preparations for the first visit to Kyoto by a shogun in over two centuries. To restore order to the imperial capital, the Tokugawa authorities recruited over two hundred ronin from provinces around Japan, under the slogan of “loyalty and patriotism.” Shortly after the “loyal and patriotic corps” reached Kyoto, the bakufu had second thoughts about the wisdom of their plan. Many of the ronin they had recruited were actually Imperial Loyalists who shared the xenophobic sentiments of the Choshu and Tosa men whom they had been enlisted to suppress. Most of the enlistees were soon sent back to Edo, where they could do little harm. Some twenty of them, however, remained in Kyoto, under the supervision of the Lord of Aizu, a staunch Tokugawa ally and the shogunate’s official Protector of Kyoto. The diminished corps assumed the name Shinsengumi, “Newly Selected Corps,” led by two particularly lethal swordsmen, Serizawa Kamo and Kondo Isami, who were bitter rivals. Serizawa, who hailed from a wealthy samurai family of the Mito domain, one of the elite Go-sanke, the three branch houses of the Tokugawa, was a highly skilled swordsman. Kondo, originally of peasant stock from the province of Musashi, near Edo, had been adopted by a local sword master for his ferocity on the practice floor. Serizawa had a reputation as a violent drunk. He felt that he was above the law. He took advantage of his newfound power to embezzle money from wealthy Kyoto merchants, to carouse at his favorite house of pleasure at the expense of the perplexed proprietress, and to have his way with women, including other men’s wives. The Protector of Kyoto, unhappy that this leader of his police corps behaved contrary to his raison d’etre, ordered Kondo to assassinate Serizawa. Kondo carried out this order with the same cold-blooded expedience by which his corps would subdue the enemies of the Tokugawa. He now became the sole commander of the Shinsengumi, which he, and his best friend and right-hand man, Hijikata Toshizo, would lead with an iron rule.

As suggested by the corps’ symbol, the Chinese character for sincerity, Kondo and Hijikata commanded the Shinsengumi based on the severest of codes. Any man who failed to abide by this code was forced to commit seppuku, and it was through this code which the Shinsengumi secured its place in Japanese history.

hope this helps and makes you become a believer too

Okita

[GoldenShinai]

wow, they sound like they were amazing people.......................I think ill do some reaserch!

[WolfofMibu]

thank you everyone for all of the info. Especially okita. I was wondering if you knew anything about Saito Hajime Besides that he was a master of Itto Ryu swordsmanship. I would like to know something about his life since he is my favorite member and i also know he commanded the 3red unit. Thanks for the info on everyon else.

[Mibu-Ro[Okita]]

no prob wolf. I'll try to find some more info for you.keep watchin my thread.

[Mibu-Ro[Okita]]

Saitō Hajime (斎藤 一 Saitō Hajime) (January 1, 1844 - September 28, 1915) was the captain of the third troop of the Shinsengumi.

He was one of the few who survived the numerous wars of the late shogunate period. He was considered not to be as strong as Okita Souji but, he was fierce and fearless in combat and his left-handed single thrust was the most dreaded and lethal techniques of the Shinsengumi members. This one-hit technique matched well the philosophy of "Aku Soku Zan" ("Kill Evil Instantly" in a loose translation, "Kill those who are evil immediately" in a figurative translation).

His life story and origins are very obscure and somewhat contradictory. Some say that he was a son of a ronin, while others say he left Edo after killing a person (some say accidentally) to join an army in Kyoto.

As a member of the Shinsengumi, it is said that Saitō was an introvert and a mysterious person; a common description of his personality says he "was not a man predisposed to small talk". He conducted internal spying on possible enemy operatives (i.e. the Itou case), as well as monitoring other intelligence and enemy activity. His controversial reputation as a "hero" comes from the fact that he has killed several corrupt members of the Shinsengumi and police even after the war, strictly adhering to the precepts of Aku Soku Zan.

He married Tokio Takagi, a daughter of a daimyō.

After the war, he changed his name to Fujita Goro and worked as a police officer. He obtained special permission to carry a katana.

He used to drink considerably; in fact, he passed away because of a stomach ulcer, possibly because of drinking, at the age of 71. He did not reveal anything about his activity in the Shinsengumi like Nagakura Shinpachi until his death.

[edit]


Saitō in Fiction

this is for you wofl.

Saitō has become a very popular recently as several anime and manga series have added him as a character. The popular Rurouni Kenshin anime series portrays Saitō as an anti-hero type of character often in conflict with Himura Kenshin (the main character), whom he must work with in order to achieve his goals. It's also interesting to note that in this series, Saitō is very tall compared to the other characters and is always very cold and quiet, following some of the very few description of his personality in real life. The "Gatotsu" sword technique that he uses in the series follows the description of his original sword technique, but is purely fictional. In Peacemaker Kurogane, a manga that tells the fictional story about a boy who joins the Shinsengumi to avenge the deaths of his parents, he appears as the captain of the third troop, as he was in real life.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saito_Hajime"