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shinsengumi-archives · 1 year

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This is amazing! I don’t know how I’ve never come across your blog before! How long did it take you to become fluent enough to read those documents in Japanese?

I'm glad you like my blog :)

I'm actually not fluent in Japanese at all and I've been mostly using translation tools to help me read books and articles. The machine translations are sometimes hard to understand, but it does get easier over time and it helps that I have a background in Chinese which makes it easier to read kanji.

I'm still learning and trying to become good enough to read Japanese without help. Until then, here are some useful tools that I've been using.

I hope that with these, everyone will be able to read documents in Japanese 😊

Google Translate

This is the most commonly used translator. It works well for languages that are more similar to English, but it's still hard to use for translating from Japanese. I found that the results are often awkwardly phrased and sometimes large parts of the sentences are missing in the translation.

For example:

幕末の京都は政治の中心地であり、諸藩から尊王攘夷・倒幕運動の志士が集まり、従来から京都の治安維持にあたっていた京都所司代と京都町奉行だけでは防ぎきれないと判断した幕府は、清河八郎による献策で浪士組の結成を企図した。 At the end of the Edo period, Kyoto was the center of politics, and patriots of the movement to revere the king, expel foreigners, and overthrow the shogunate gathered from various domains. He planned to form a Roshigumi with a proposal by Mr.

You can see the last part is poorly translated. It should be "The Shogunate realized that the Kyoto Shoshidai and Kyoto Magistrate, which had originally been in charge of maintaining security in Kyoto, were not enough to prevent the outbreak of violence, so Kiyokawa Hachiro proposed a plan to form the Roshigumi."

Also, there's a feature in Chrome that lets you translate entire webpages directly in the browser. This makes it possible to navigate through Japanese websites or understand search results after googling something in Japanese.

Deepl

This is another machine translator similar to Google Translate that has its own strengths and weaknesses. It could be used online or downloaded onto your computer to make it more convenient to get translations by copying the text and using a keyboard shortcut.

With the previously used example, we get this translation from Deepl:

Kyoto was the political center of the country at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Shogunate decided that the Kyoto Tokoroji and Kyoto Town Magistrate, who had been responsible for maintaining security in Kyoto, were not enough to prevent the gathering of political figures from various clans who were campaigning against the Emperor, the expulsion of the barbarians, and the overthrow of the shogunate.

It looks a lot better than Google Translate (although it got "campaigning against the Emperor" wrong and should be "campaigning for the Emperor", the "Sonno" part of "Sonno Joui", and it's still missing details like Kiyokawa Hachiro).

If I translate it phrase by phrase instead of the entire paragraph at once, it's usually able to pick up all of the details (but still got Sonno Joui wrong).

幕末の京都は政治の中心地であり Kyoto at the end of the Edo period was the political center of the country. 諸藩から尊王攘夷・倒幕運動の志士が集まり Volunteers from various clans gathered for the movement to exclude the Emperor and overthrow the shogunate. 従来から京都の治安維持にあたっていた京都所司代と京都町奉行だけでは防ぎきれないと判断した幕府は、清河八郎による献策で浪士組の結成を企図した。 The Shogunate, realizing that the Kyoto Tokoroji and Kyoto Magistrate, who had traditionally been in charge of maintaining the security of Kyoto, were not enough to prevent the outbreak of war, planned the formation of a roshigumi under the initiative of Hachiro Kiyokawa.

This method also works for Google Translate which is actually able to give a good translation if I only give it the last part:

The shogunate decided that the Kyoto Shoshidai and Kyoto Municipal Magistrates, who had been in charge of maintaining public order in Kyoto, could not prevent the rebellion, and planned the formation of the Roshigumi based on a proposal by Hachiro KIYOKAWA.

One thing to be aware of is that the translation from Deepl sometimes uses the wrong words or adds things that shouldn't be there, and sometimes it could be completely off.

For example, Hijikata's poem:

うぐいすやはたきの音もついやめる the sound of groaning and flapping ceases to be a sound

It's supposed to be "A bush warbler sings, I look up from my cleaning" 😂

Here's Google Translate for comparison:

Quit the noise of nightingale and grasshoppers

At least Google Translate got the nightingale/bush warbler part correct 😅

Overall, Deepl provides better-looking translations that might be completely wrong, while Google Translate provides clunky translations that are usually not that far off from the correct meaning. I often use both of them to crosscheck them against each other.

ChatGPT

I’ve only used it a few times, but so far it seems much better than Google Translate or Deepl.

For example, Hijikata's poems:

translate "うぐいすやはたきの音もついやめる" The phrase "うぐいすやはたきの音もついやめる" is in Japanese and could be translated to English as "Even the sounds of the nightingale and the sweeping broom suddenly stop."

translate "さしむかふ心は清き水かゞみ" The phrase "さしむかふ心は清き水かゞみ" is written in Japanese and can be translated to "A pure heart is like a clear water surface."

It’s actually possible to understand the meaning from ChatGPT’s translation, compared to Google Translate’s output:

My heart is pure water

And Deepl’s output:

writhing heart is like a bowl of clear water

What's with all the writhing and groaning and flapping? 😂

Google Lens

This is an app on Android or iPhone that makes it possible to read physical books in Japanese.

You can also copy the original text to your computer to use other translation tools for it.

Yahoo! Japan

This is not a translation tool, but it's a useful search engine for exploring the Japanese internet. Although Google is the most popular search engine in Japan, Yahoo is still widely used. Since it's more catered towards Japanese, you can sometimes find sites that are hard to find with Google.

I remember reading a useful tip: When you're searching for something with kanji, you'll usually see a lot of Chinese results. One quick fix is to add a hiragana character to your query such as "の" to only see Japanese results.

Japanese Wiki Corpus

This site contains Japanese Wikipedia articles related to Kyoto that have been translated into English. It's useful for searching names and terms that are hard for machine translators to translate correctly, such as 京都所司代 and 京都町奉行.

You can search Japanese words directly and if the article exists, it should give you the English page for it.

It covers historical figures and groups, historical events, titles, locations around Kyoto, Buddhist and Shinto terms, literature, cultural items, and traditional practices.

#resources #tools #japanese #translation #original

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meadowmines · 6 months

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OC-Tober Day 21: Different Era

[WOE. ISHIN BE UPON YE.]

It's not often that Aoyagi gets to enjoy a bath in a nice bathhouse at a reasonable hour. He usually just comes in the middle of the night because the place is deserted. But sometimes, just sometimes, the combination of Shinsengumi money burning a hole in his pocket and the stress of having to feed his fellow troops to earn that paycheck line up just right and the second he can get away with shutting the kitchen for the night he puts out the fire and runs like hell to catch a nice hot bath.

Look, do you have any idea how much these animals can eat? You try feeding a pack of ravenous Mibu Wolves and see how much sanity you've got left by the time dinner's over. Sure, it helps that this Saito guy that's just joined up can cook a little and grows some veggies and brings some eggs and fish and stuff in once in a while but goddamn.

Anyway, he said fuck this shit I'm out, grabbed his money, ran to this nice bathhouse, slammed a whole ryo on the counter for an hour of private bathtime, and now he's just letting his cares soak away without having to worry about who might see what's under his clothes.

He thinks he hears some conversation out front, the attendant talking, then a woman's voice (he thinks) saying something he can't quite make out. He ignores it. It's not his problem.

It's not his problem, he thinks, until he hears someone walk in on his private bathtime. His first instinct is to cover up, and he goes as far as sinking neck-deep into the water before he opens his eyes to glare daggers at whoever just walked in. "I dunno if the guy out front told ya," he starts, "but I paid a whole-ass ryo for an hour in private. Wait yer turn."

"Oh, that's fine!" Same voice, but now Aoyagi recognizes it.

Oh. Okay. It's that Sonno Joui asshole. Great. Awesome. Just what he needed tonight.

"I do that too, you know. For the same reason, even!" And without the least little bit of self-consciousness Yamaoka steps right into the water and sits just far enough away that Aoyagi can't bitch about it. "Hey. No need to be shy. We're all men here, right?"

"Sit on a sea urchin," Aoyagi grumbles, averting his eyes. Yamaoka is tall and slim and he's got long legs and big hands and feet and he probably doesn't even have to bind his chest. Aoyagi is chubby and stubby and lives in constant fear that his shit's going to come undone at the worst possible time. Very few people know what's under his clothes--his brother, Captain Okita, the chief, this asshole, and that's about it and he'd like to keep it that way. "C'mon, man. Ya can't wait one hour?"

"Aw, don't be like that!" Yamaoka shrugs innocently. Innocent, Aoyagi's entire ass. "I never see you around anymore. Heard Okita's working you and your brother half to death."

It's not exactly untrue but like hell is Aoyagi going to admit to that right now. "The Captain saved my life," he says as mildly as he can. Now that part is true, even if Aoyagi suspects the man was more excited about adding a few new bloodstains to his collection than he was invested in saving anyone. "I owe him for that."

"Hey, good loyal men like you don't grow on trees. He doesn't know how lucky he is." Yamaoka says with a shit-eating grin. "You know I could get you into the Sonno Joui. Just say the word."

"Really," Aoyagi deadpans. "The way I hear it, my blood's got too much of the West in it for your outfit."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Yamaoka says, casually waving a hand in a way that just happens to flick water right into Aoyagi's face. "We know you're one of the good ones."

"I'm gonna pop ya a good one if ya don't shut the fuck up while I'm tryin' to relax."

All that gets out of Yamaoka is a laugh. Maybe not the heartiest one--sure, Aoyagi makes most of his coin in the kitchen but he picks up a fair bit of scratch kicking asses that need kicked, and he's no slouch with a sword. Yamaoka is a flashy bastard (he struts around Kyo with not one but two revolvers, what kind of asshole even does that!?) and he's got a pretty scary reputation that isn't unearned. He's a crack shot and deadly at range, but he's shit in a close fight and he's got to be considering his chances if Aoyagi just snaps and starts pounding the crap out of him right here in the middle of the bathhouse.

"All right, all right," Yamaoka finally says, hands held up in the most nonthreatening possible gesture. "Yamaoka-no-nii-san's just trying to help, no need to get a big tail about it. So hey, you see the chicken races last night? My girl picked a few winners, let's just say I got lucky more than once..."

Aoyagi holds his nose and quietly slips under the surface of the water and wonders if he can hold his breath until this asshole stops talking.

#oc-tober #yakuza #rgg ishin #yakuza oc #aoyagi saga #passionate manly bathhouse battle... 2!!!

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chickenswithsocks · 3 years

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hey! how are you? now that i have free time i was thinking in start studying about the shinsengumi, and there is an autor who's very popular in that matter. i'm talking about romulus hillsborough, do you had the chance to read his book about the shinsengumi? cause' i've read some reviews and i'm not sure.

“Very popular” Haha, that’s right, cause he is the ONLY one who published a book about them in English! He would not be otherwise.

So H*llsborough does have... some useful info in his book, but as a historian he is SUPER BIASED. In general, he is heavily pro Satsuma-Choshu and pro Imperial court and whitewashes the Sonno Joui shishi’s actions a lot, while condemning the Shinsengumi. Instead of trying to look at the conflict from both sides and examine how they both did bad things he wants to point out a right side and a wrong side without supporting those claims with substantial evidence.

What does not help AT ALL, is that he doesn’t use footnotes properly, and is very inaccurate with sourcing. The man loves to write historical fiction, but he DOES NOT CLARIFY what parts of his book are historically accurate and which are just speculation or quotes from NOVELS about the shinsengumi. I’ll quote my friend @/hakuouki-history here:

“No proper footnoting, rarely acknowledging when he was referencing facts, rumours, or fiction. The book reads largely: “Someone said something like this about the Shinsengumi once, but I won’t tell you who.”

The Shinsengumi book bordered on dishonesty. For example, his book quotes throughout the writings of Shimosawa Kan, usually presented in-text as fact. Then buried at the very back of his book is this:

footnote.26 Kan Shimosawa’s Shinsengumi Shimatsuki (literally, Narrative of the Shinsengumi) has long been considered the definitive history of the Shinsengumi. Published in 1928 just before Hirao’s book, Shimosawa’s narrative is partially based on interviews with former corpsrnen and other people who had direct contact with the Shinsengumi. Shimosawa, however, was primarily a novelist. He began the preface of his book by stating, “It is not my intention to write history.” Some of his information has been repudiated by more recent studies, whose authors have enjoyed the benefit of over three-quarters of a century of subsequent scholarship unavailable to Shimosawa. Accordingly, like other early historical narratives of the Shinsengumi, Shimosawa’s work is best taken for what it’s worth, and relished for its portrayal of the spirit of the men of Shinsengumi rather than as a faithful history. Nevertheless, as certain of his descriptions capture the essence of this spirit, I feel that they demand an English rendering in this narrative. ””

Which is super SUPER misleading because a reader will go through the whole book assuming these statements are facts.

The man also has some less than pleasant views on Japan’s war crimes, such as “they weren’t as bad as everyone makes them out to be”. This post titled “In Defense of Japan’s Wartime History” on his blog is from 2015, so I don’t know if he’s changed his stance since. But I’m p sure his weird views also clouded his judgement when he wrote his “history” books. Or it’s the other way around, and him being so pro Satsuma-Choshu and pro Imperial court made him a fan of Shinzo Abe just because his forefathers were from Choshu (I wish I were kidding).

Prime Minister Abe’s forebears, including his grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, a prime minister in the 1950s, were from Choshu. After the Restoration, continuing with their drive to build a “strong military and rich nation,” former samurai of Satsuma and Choshu, as leaders of the Imperial government, developed a military strong enough to defeat China and Russia in wars and colonize Taiwan and Korea. Future Japanese leaders created a “Greater East Asia” sphere to counter Western power. Their policy was inextricably entwined with the events leading up to World War II. Abe and other conservatives “have bridled at historical depictions of Japan as the sole aggressor in the war, saying that it fought to liberate Asia from Western domination,” The Times reports. The leaders of Asian nations such as China and South Korea, which call “Abe a revisionist out to whitewash Japanese wartime atrocities,” might, along with their counterparts in the United States and other Western countries, benefit by considering the origins of Japan’s aggression through an unbiased review of Meiji Restoration history—including the ideas of Shimazu Nariakira, Katsu Kaishu, and other leading personalities in that history.

DOES HE REALIZE HOW INSANE THIS SOUNDS? Anyway, I really, really do not like Romulus Hillsborough, but it’s the only English-language Shinsengumi book out there. If you DO read it, look closely at the sources to see which parts are actually sourced, and take everything with a grain of salt.

#Anonymous

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hakuouki-history · 7 years

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Okada Izo - 2010 Japanese Wiki Entry

From the Japanese-English Bilingual Corpus of Wikipedia’s Kyoto Articles . This is a translation from Okada Izo’s Japanese wiki entry, exactly as it was in 2010. It is taken from PNM02538 in that collection.

For information on the database and how to use it, please check this post.

Just like English wikipedia, none of this information is guaranteed to be accurate. It’s not a current version of the Japanese article either.

This entry is really long, and it refers to a lot of people, groups, and places that you might not be familiar with. Still, I’d suggest any Bakumatsu/Shinsengumi fan to take a look at this entry.

Why? The second part is a list with descriptions of nine different incidents, eight of which happened in Kyoto, in which Sonnou Joui shishi, including Okada Izo, murdered or publicly humiliated their enemies. These include details of gruesome murders, so please be aware of that before reading. This list shows in detail how bad the situation was in the Kyoto of 1862-1863. It’s in this context that the Shinsengumi came to exist. The founding members arrived in Kyoto in early 1863.

The translated sentences used in this service contain English contents which are translated by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) from Japanese sentences on Wikipedia. My use of these translated sentences is licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Please refer to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or http://alaginrc.nict.go.jp/WikiCorpus/ for details.

Izo OKADA

Izo OKADA (1838 - June 3, 1865) was one of the Bakumatsu Shidai Hitokiri (Four famous assassins of Bakumatsu, end of the Edo Period) who joined the Tosa kinnoto (loyalist clique of Tosa) in his hometown, Tosa Province. He was referred to as 'Hitokiri Izo' (Izo the killer).

His imina (real name) was Yoshifuru.

Biography

He was born in Iwamura, Kami County as the eldest son of Yoshihira OKADA, who was a country samurai that earned 20 koku 6 to 4 sho 5 go in rice. He had a younger brother named Keikichi OKADA who also joined the Kinnoto.

In 1848, his father Yoshihira was enlisted as the domain's ashigaru (common foot soldier) to guard the seaside against ships from overseas that appeared off the coast of Tosa; he continued to live in Shichiken machi inside the castle town, and Izo himself succeeded the status as ashigaru.

He became a pupil of Zuizan (Hanpeita) TAKECHI and studied under Onohaittoryu school. Before becoming a pupil of TAKECHI, he was self-taught in swordplay, but was quite skilled. Following TAKECHI, he went to Edo and studied Kyoshin Meichi ryu at Shigakukan, which was the training hall of Shunzo MOMONOI.

In 1860, he followed TAKECHI and practiced martial arts in the Chugoku district and the Kyushu region. On their way, he stopped at the Oka Domain in Bungo Province, and studied the swordplay of 直指 ryu. Afterwards, he joined Tosa kinnoto which was organized by TAKECHI. For some reason however, he was later crossed off from the name list.

It is not known whether if it was TAKECHI's idea or not, but Izo voluntarily went forward to the scene of the assassination following the instruction of TAKECHI. It is also said that TAKECHI used uneducated Izo merely as an instrument in the assassinations.

Starting with Saichiro INOUE, who was the shita metsuke (low class inspector of foot soldiers) of the Tosa Domain, Izo assassinated, in the name of heaven's punishment, Seiichiro HONMA who was his comrade, Daigaku IKEUCHI, Magoroku MORI, Juzo OGAWARA, Kinzan WATANABE, and Jonosuke UEDA, who were government officials and yoriki (police sergeants) that belonged to the Kyoto City Magistrate, Tatewaki TADA who was the son of Kazue MURAYAMA (she was tied to a bridge and made a public display alive), a mistress of Shuzen NAGANO (who commanded Ansei no Taigoku [suppression of extremists by the Shogunate]). With Shinbei TANAKA of Satsuma Province, he was referred to as 'Hitokiri Izo' and was feared.

After the Coup of August 18, the Kinnoto lost its momentum. When TAKECHI returned to Tosa, Izo changed his name to Tetsuzo DOI, and concealed himself alone in Kyoto. However, around June of 1864, he was captured by a shogunate official, and on being tattooed, he was banished from the capital Kyoto; at the same time, an official of the Tosa Domain captured him, and deported him to his hometown.

In the Tosa Domain, all his comrades of the Tosa kinnoto were arrested for the assassination of Toyo YOSHIDA and the series of assassinations that took place in the capital Kyoto, and with the exception of Zuizan TAKECHI, who was a Joshi (superior warrior) rank, they underwent severe torture. Izo endured severe torture, but he finally made a full confession and was beheaded on May 11 1865, and his head was put on public display.

His death haiku read 'My mind that served for you came to nothing, and will only clear up after you've gone.'

His grave is the family grave in the mountains near Azo Station at Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture. He was buried in his secular name, Yoshifuru OKADA.

Documents from the same period or letters written by Izo himself that tell the achievements of OKADA are scarce, but several documents tell about his personality and disposition. According to "Tosa Ijinden" (Lives of Great People of Tosa) (Masamichi TERAISHI), he was 'courageous, fond of martial arts, and a giant with an extremely robust body.'

It must be added that there was a bit of a sense of glorification, for this book was written in 1921, a time when loyal supporters of the Emperor at the end of the Edo Period were extolled owing to the historical view that Japan was peerless as a country under the eternal reign of a ceaseless line of "living-god" emperors.

According to recent studies, he was in fact rough, and loved sake and women; especially in his later years, he was treated coldly even by his comrades of the Tosa kinnoto. Hanpeita TAKECHI, who learned of Izo's arrest, wrote in a letter to his home, 'it is better for such a fool to die soon, and how his parents would lament over him for returning unashamedly to his hometown,' which indicates his ill feeling towards Izo. Letters which were considered to be written by Keikichi TAUCHI (TAKECHI's real younger brother) and so on tell that since his house stood in Shichiken machi, Izo was also disdainfully referred to as '七以.'

According to one theory, on learning of Izo's arrest, TAKECHI became afraid that Izo's confession may put his comrades on line, and he even tried to poison Izo through a jail keeping government official who was devoted to TAKECHI. There is an episode widely known through novels and so on that is interpreted in many ways; according to versions of this episode, TAKECHI was anxious that a weak natured Izo may easily give into torture; or that Izo may go under a far more severe torture than his other comrades due to his frivolousness; or that Izo received the poison and drank it (not knowing that it was poison), but did not die and confessed for not being able to withstand the torture; or he confessed in anger in finding out that it was poison. These show why, through the eyes of TAKECHI, Izo was considered 'merely as an instrument for assassination.'

According to some books, the reason why TAKECHI treated Izo coldly in his later years was, for example, from the discriminative feeling for Izo who had low social standing and no education compared with the other comrades, a sense of danger that exposure of many of the assassinations that Izo took part in may have unfavorable effects to his fellow comrades, and resentment and anxiety toward Izo for not taking his own life although those exposures could be prevented if he had committed suicide; furthermore, even if he had been a member of the Tosa kinnoto that aimed for "Sonno Joi (19th century slogan advocating reverence for the Emperor and the expulsion of foreigners) and overthrowing the Shogunate", he became a bodyguard to Kaishu KATSU (to be explained later) who was "a member of the open country wing and a vassal of the shogun"; Izo was disdained, for "although skillful in swordplay, he was a man with no resolute ideas and beliefs."

Later, a pistol which was thought to have belonged to Izo OKADA was found, and from July 1, 2006 to August 31, it was put on display during the event 'The end of the Edo period for Ryoma, Hanpeita, and Izo' at the Kochi Prefectural Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum. According to the explanation by this museum, the pistol was made in France, and was a gift from Kaishu KATSU. A 'pistol' by the way, was a name applied for the public display, and in the strict sense, it was actually a handgun. Further, this pistol was put on public display by borrowing a personal belonging.

Apart from this, it was also transmitted that when Manjiro NAKANOHAMA tried to give his pistol to Izo, Izo had refused. However, there is no record that Izo had used these pistols and the details are not known.

Assassination of Saichiro INOUE (August 26, 1862)

Saichiro INOUE was a shita yokome who was investigating the case of the assassination of Toyo YOSHIDA that took place on May 6th of the same year. The Kinnoto, which regarded him dangerous, summoned INOUE at first to a fancy Japanese-style restaurant called 'Daiyo (otherwise written as 大與) and intoxicated him; then on the Shinsai-bashi Bridge, the four men Izo, Kiyoma HISAMATSU, Hachinosuke OKAMOTO, and Kinzaburo MORITA, restrained and strangulated INOUE, and threw his corpse over the bridge into the Dotonbori-gawa River. Yataro IWASAKI, a colleague accompanying Saichiro INOUE on this occasion who had escaped this ordeal, later became the founder of the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu.

It was said that there was an interrogation when Izo and the others were finally arrested, and only Kinzaburo MORITA, who remained silent, survived, and took part in the Boshin War. Later, MORITA told this story to Takayuki IGARASHI, who left behind a record called "An incident of the assassination of Saichiro INOUE."

Assassination of Seiichiro HOMMA (October 13, 1862)

Seiichiro HONMA was one of the supporters of the pro-Imperial from Echigo Province, but since he was a disputant who did not belong to a particular domain, patriots from each of the domains, who thought his attitude frivolous, began to hate him.

Meanwhile, there was a dispute between Imperial Prince Kuninomiya Asahiko and Yodo YAMAUCHI over the imperial envoy to demand expulsion of foreigners, and when there was a confrontation between HONMA, who went forward with Imperial Prince Kuninomiya Asahiko, and the Kinnoto, who supported YAMAUCHI, HONMA cast doubt that he was communicating secretly with the bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun).

According to "Documents of the Ito family, "HONMA was surrounded by a couple of men when he came out drunk from a fancy Japanese-style restaurant, and although both of his arms were pinned down and his long and short swords were taken away, he furiously fought against them and made some of them shrink back; however, in an unguarded moment, he was stabbed in the ribs, and was beheaded when he was on the verge of dying. There was however, a different opinion, for there was a testimony by a person inside the house who heard a sound 'like throwing coals' when HONMA and the assassins were fighting with swords. HONMA was also thrown into the Takase-gawa River (Kyoto Prefecture) after being killed.

The criminals included Izo, as well as Shujiro HIRAI, Ekichi SHIMAMURA, Shinzo MATSUYAMA, Magozaburo OBATA, Kenta HIROSE, Gojiro TANABE and Shinbei TANAKA, who was known as the Hitokiri of Satsuma.

Ugo Genba no Kami (Director of the Bureau of Buddhism and Aliens) (October 15, 1862)

Shigekuni UGO (Ugo Genba no kami) was a shodaibu (fourth and fifth rank official) to the former chancellor Hisatada KUJO, and he suppressed the patriots with Sakon SHIMADA during Ansei no Taigoku, and because he was also involved in the set up of Kazunomiya koka (the marriage of Imperial princess Kazunomiya to an ordinary person), he was hated by the patriots of Joi (principle of excluding foreigners) group.

Since the assassination of Sakon SHIMADA (August 16 of the same year), UGO, who sensed danger, was moving from place to place, but he was found hiding in the Kawaramachi Palace of the Kujo family, and while sleeping, he was suddenly attacked by Izo OKADA, Hachinosuke OKAMOTO, Chuzaburo MURATA, and Matsuzaemon TSUTSUMI from Higo Province. He was slain by Izo when he tried to escape by jumping out of bed, and his son was also killed by TSUTSUMI. UGO's head was thrust into a spear, and with a document explaining why he was killed, it was put on public display on the riverbank of the Kamo-gawa River.

What is described above were recorded in "Kanbu Tsuki" (Records on civilian and military men), but there were different opinions regarding the criminals, and Izo's involvement was being questioned.

Murder of Mashira no Bunkichi (October 23, 1862)

Mashira no Bunkichi [Also known as 'Bunkichi, the Meakashi (hired thief-taker)] was an okappiki (a hired thief-taker) who, as an agent of Sakon SHIMADA, disclosed many patriots during Ansei no Taigoku. Naturally, many royalists hated him deeply.

Three men, Izo OKADA, Harunosuke KIYOOKA, and Tashima ABE, took Bunkichi to Sanjo-gawara Riverside, and strangulated him with a cord, since 'cutting him would leave a stain on the sword.'

Bunkichi also helped with SHIMADA's money lending, and since the people also hated him, he was stripped of his clothes and tied to a stake at the riverside; a bamboo stick had been pierced through his body from the anus to the head, and there were those that threw rocks at his corpse which was made a public display. Furthermore, because 'inu' (dog) was written on the notice board on this occasion, it is theorized that the expression 'one's dog' was created as a derogatory term for 'one's tesaki' (one's agent).

Assassination of the four yoriki (November 14, 1862)

All of the four men, Kinzaburo WATANABE, Magoroku MORI, Juzo OGAWARA, and Sukenojo UEDA, were yoriki of the Kyoto City Magistrate, and they had also exposed patriots with Shuzen NAGANO and Sakon SHIMADA during Ansei no Taigoku; after the heaven's punishment against Ugo and Bunkichi, they were transferred from Kyoto to Edo in order to avoid being targeted. On the evening of their arrival to Ishibe-juku (the 51st post station of the Tokaido Road), more than thirty members of roshi made an attack on the posting station, and in the uproar, these four men were murdered.

It had said in a note that described their crimes, that this was heaven's punishment for arresting many patriots and making them a felon. It was considered that many of the patriots from Tosa, Choshu, the Satsuma Domain, and the Kurume Domain took part in this raid.

In "A diary while staying in Kyoto" written by Hanpeita TAKECHI, the names of the twelve of those from Tosa who took part were listed, but Izo was not included. However, it was generally viewed that Izo took part in this raid.

Living public displays of Saburo HIRANOYA and Hanbei SENBEIYA (November 30, 1862)

Although merchants, Jusaburo HIRANOYA (?) and Hanbei SENBEIYA ?) were raised to a samurai class when Shigetomi OHARA left Kyoto for Edo as an Imperial Envoy in May of the same year (old calendar), and they had attended to him, they had a bad reputation for accepting bribery and embezzlement. Since such men were appointed to accompany the Imperial envoy that month, patriots from Choshu and Tosa Domains that became anxious for the loss of prestige in the Imperial Court stood together and decided to provoke heaven's punishment.

Izo OKADA, Toranosuke SENYA, and Kinosuke IGARASHI from Tosa, and Chuzaburo TERAJIMA joined from Choshu, and they split up to take both of the men in and kill them, but they did not kill because of the pleas of their family to spare their lives, and because of their class as townsmen; the two men were put on public display alive, by being tied naked on to a stake which was used for exposing cotton on the riverside of Kamo-gawa River.

Assassination of Tatewaki TADA (January 4, 1863)

Tatewaki TADA was a son of Kazue MURAYAMA (otherwise written as '可寿江'. Some documents describe her as Taka MURAYAMA), who was a mistress of Shuzen NAGANO, and he was a terazamurai (samurai who performed administrative functions at temples) at Rokuon-ji Temple (Kinkaku-ji Temple), but was made a target since he also took part in the suppression of patriots during Ansei no Taigoku.

On the night of the 14th, roshi (masterless samurai) conducted a raid on Kazue's house near Shimahara yukaku, and pulled her out of bed and made her a public display alive at the foot of Sanjo-ohashi Bridge; on the next evening, they brought TADA, who was taken in by a threatened owner to the Keage scaffold, and murdered him. His head was on public display at Kuritaguchi. It was said that Kazue was on public display alive for three days and three nights.

A total of twenty men took part in this raid, and it is believed that Izo participated with Yasozuchi NARASAKI of Choshu, Magozaburo OBATA, Masuya KONO, Uzumaro YORIOKA, and Toranosuke CHIYA from Satsuma. Among them, YORIOKA lived until the Taisho era, and told of this incident.

Daigaku IKEUCHI (March 11, 1863)

Daigaku IKEUCHI was formerly a Confucian scholar who belonged to the townsmen class, and was one of the Sonno Joi ha (supporters of the doctrine of restoring the emperor and expelling the barbarians). Since he devised stratagems for the problems on imperial sanction on treaties and the Shogun's successor, he was severely interrogated from the bakufu during Ansei no Taigoku, but because he surrendered voluntarily, the charges against him were relatively light. Because this had appeared as a 'betrayal against the Bakufu' to the eyes of the patriots that belonged to the Sonno Joi ha, he was made a target.

Daigaku changed his name and hid himself in Osaka, but just at that moment, he was invited to a banquet of Yodo YAMAUCHI, and was attacked on his way home. His head was put on public display at Naniwa-bashi Bridge, and on the 24th of the same month, his ears were thrown inside the house of Sanearu Ogimachi-SANJO and Tadayasu NAKAYAMA with a ransom note, resulting in resignation of both of the court nobles.

Only the name of Izo was mentioned for this incident, and the exact number and the organization of the others who were considered present at the scene were not transmitted.

Assassination of Hajime KAGAWA (March 18, 1863)

Hajime KAGAWA was a vassal of a Court noble Arifumi CHIGUSA, and was made a target because he had cooperated with Sakon SHIMADA and others, and joined the suppression of the patriots during Ansei no Taigoku. When the roshi made a raid and stepped into his house, KAGAWA went upstairs and hid himself; but on seeing his young children who unfortunately came home and were cruelly questioned by the roshi that had captivated them, he went downstairs on his own will, and was beheaded.

This incident was generally thought as the crime of Shinbei TANAKA from Satsuma, but it was conjectured that Izo also joined him. On the other hand, there was a different opinion that it was the crime of Toraroku HAGIWARA from the Himeji Domain.

Izo OKADA is thought to have been involved in the nine incidents described above. However, there is a theory among the researchers that consider him as 'not necessarily involved in all of the incidents.'

On the other hand, there is also a viewpoint that states 'between 1862 to 1864 when assassinations were rampant, there were many assassinations for which even today criminals are not identified (only that they were Sonno joi ha is known from notes describing their crime).'

Kaishu KATSU (1863)

According to 'Hikawa seiwa' (Quiet talks at the Hikwa mansion), which is an autobiography of Kaishu KATSU, Izo OKADA became Kaishu KATSU's bodyguard owing to the mediation of Ryoma SAKAMOTO. Three assassins attacked Kaishu, but when Izo cut one of them down and gave a roar, the remaining two assassins ran away.

On that occasion, KATSU said "You should not be fond of killing people. Such actions taken a few days ago are better to be mended" and tried to persuade him, but Izo said in return "But Mr. Katsu, if it weren't for me, your head must already have been slain."

As might be expected, KATSU seemed to have had no words to say in return, for he said 'I had no a single word to this."

John Manjiro

According to the family tradition of the Nakahama family [("Manjiro NAKANOHAMA - A Japanese that told about 'America' for the first time" (Hiroshi NAKAHAMA, 2005)], Izo OKADA was also a bodyguard of John Manjiro. Kaishu KATSU, who was confident in OKADA's skill as his own bodyguard, made him become a bodyguard of Manjiro.

When they went to a western style grave that Manjiro had built, four assassins tried to attack Manjiro, but Izo had sensed the two ambushes that were hiding, and told Manjiro not to escape impulsively but to stay put with his back against the gravestone, and slew the two attackers down. The remaining two attackers made an escape.

#okada izo #Japanese History #Bakumatsu #katsu kaishu #takechi hanpeita #tosa #john manjiro #tanaka shinbei #japanese 2010 wiki translations #sakamoto ryoma #tw: violence

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cosanondico · 7 years

Photo

Ti guardo dormire. Sono accanto a te, mia Puppelé, Bambolina E penso che sei bella, e che forse non lo sei mai stata così tanto. Per la prima volta nella mia vita – e nella tua – ti vedo serena, in pace. Come sei calma, come sei bella. Sembra che una mano abbia dolcemente cancellato dal tuo viso tutte le angosce. Ti guardo dormire. Penso a te, a me, a noi. Di che cosa sono colpevole? Ci si pone una domanda simile davanti una donna che si è amata e che si ama ancora. Arrivavi da Vienna e ti aspettavo all’aeroporto di Parigi con un mazzo di fiori che non sapevo come tenere. Mi sono perdutamente innamorato di te. E tu ti sei innamorata di me. Mio Dio, come eravamo giovani, e come siamo stati felici. Poi la nostra vita, che non riguarda nessuno se non noi, ci ha separati. Mia Puppelé, ti guardo ancora e ancora. Voglio divorarti di sguardi. Riposati. Sono qui, vicino. Ho imparato un po’ di tedesco, grazie a te. Ich liebe dich . Ti amo. Ti amo, mia Puppelé”.

Scritta al capezzale della bella addormentata, questa appassionata dichiarazione di un innamorato che adombra segreti tormenti d’un cuore nero, è la più bella lettera d’amore del Novecento. E sappiamo che è anche l’unica che lui le abbia mai scritto (“non scrivo lettere, solo biglietti”, era la sua regola): era il 29 maggio 1982, e lei dormiva nel letto della sua casa, al numero 11 di rue Barbet de Jouy, a Parigi. Ed è bello pensare che lui, nei tempi a venire, sarà ricordato per nient’altro che per queste parole. E per quelle, struggenti, che chiudono la lettera: “Ti dico addio, il più lungo degli addii. Non verrò in chiesa né al cimitero Verrò a trovarti il giorno dopo, e noi saremo soli”. E sono rimasti sempre vicini, in un ininterrotto silenzioso dialogo che ha attraversato i decenni. Lui è Alain Delon, lei Romy Schneider, e quel mattino di maggio dormiva il suo ultimo sonno, uccisa a 44 anni dal crepacuore per l’atroce morte del figlio David, trafitto a 14 anni dalle punte di lancia di una cancellata.

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shinsengumi-archives · 2 years

Text

Kondo Isami’s poetry

Kondo, along with Sannan Keisuke, were known to have enjoyed composing Chinese poetry.

Here are some of them written by Kondo. I’ve previously posted Sannan’s poem.

They’re written in a classical form popular in the Tang dynasty called qijue (shichigon-zekku in Japan). Each poem consists of 4 lines with 7 characters per line. The first pair and last pair of lines form matching couplets.

When translating, I focused the intended meaning rather than the literal translation, and couldn’t preserve most of the poetry and elegance of the original writing. Since my literacy skills are limited, there could be mistranslations.

(View full size image)

What is there to envy about the rich and the glorious? The long path of an official is full of ups and downs. Even if this leads me to hardship, A full stomach and warm clothes hold no place in my heart.

This is how I feel

Original

富貴利名豈可羨悠悠官路仕浮沈此身更有苦辛在飽食暖衣非我心

作感懐

Japanese Translation

人の富や名声をねたむことはない。悠々として官の路（新選組の任務）は、その成り行きにゆだねる。私の身に苦しく辛いことがあったとしても、飽食暖衣（身にあまる贅沢をすること）は、私の心ではない。

心に感じた思いを作る

Commentary: This is a poem he sent to Kojima Shikanosuke, expressing his feelings at the time of the formation of the Shinsengumi.

By “path of an official”, he’s referring to the mission of the Shinsengumi.

(source)

“A full stomach and warm clothes hold no place in my heart.” Only someone who never experienced famine and poverty could say that 😅

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The following two poems were likely written when he set out for Kyoto.

Here’s the original document containing both of them:

(Image from the book 俳遊の人・土方歳三: 句と詩歌が語る新選組)

The will to depart from the east gate, Not to return until my life’s wish is fulfilled. A sword to serve the country with loyalty, Polished for ten years and worn at the waist.

Original

丈夫立志出東関宿願無成不復還報国尽忠三尺剣十年磨而在腰間

Japanese Translation

丈夫志を立て東関を出づ宿願成らずんばまた還らず国に報い忠を尽さん三尺剣十年磨きて腰間にあり

Commentary: This was probably why Kondo didn’t go back to Edo when Kiyokawa Hachiro and others turned back. He promised himself to not return until he fulfilled what he set out to accomplish.

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A warrior of Kyoto bound by honor and gratitude With single-minded ambition, he enters the city Day and night, he strategizes to take action A commoner who fights to expel the barbarians

Original

負恩守義皇州士一志伝手入洛陽昼夜兵談作何事攘夷誰斗布衣郎

Japanese Translation

恩を負ひ義を守らん皇州士一志を手に伝へ洛陽に入る昼夜の兵談何事かなさん攘夷誰と斗(はか)らん布衣郎

Commentary: In the second line, he names “洛陽” as the city that he entered. This could mean Luoyang, an ancient Chinese capital, but it could also mean “Rakuyo” which is another name for Kyoto (source). It makes more sense that he’s talking about Kyoto in this context.

Something worth mentioning is that he writes “皇州士” (”warrior of Kyoto”) in the first line, and “布衣郎” (”commoner”) in the last line. From what I can tell, the entire poem is talking about the same person. If that’s the case, the last line is actually a twist where he’s like “Surprise! That honorable warrior of Kyoto started out as a commoner,” which matches his own situation as a peasant who became a samurai, and what he hoped for others by allowing non-samurai to join the Shinsengumi.

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I once heard the barbarians named five ministers Today I saw those tigers and wolves waiting for the ferry To answer those who seek the easy solution Always be careful of resorting to marriage alliance

Original

曾聞蛮貊称五臣今見虎狼候我津回復誰尋神后趾向来慎莫用和親

Japanese Translation

曾て聞く蛮貊五臣を称すと今見る虎狼我が津(みなと)を候(うかが)ふと回(かへ)りて復た誰か神后の趾を尋ねん来りて慎むを向かへ和親を用うなかれ

Commentary: I had a lot of difficulty with this one and might have mistranslated some parts, but I think the gist of it is that he’s trying to warn against marrying foreigners for the sake of forming alliances, known as heqin (和親).

“five ministers” might refer to the representatives from the five nations that arrived in Japan after they opened up trade with the West (America, England, France, Netherlands, Russia).

In the third line, “神后” could mean Houtu the Chinese goddess of the Earth, or it could mean “wise former king” (source). “趾” usually means “toe”, but could mean “location” or “foundation” in literary texts (source). It’s still hard to figure out what he means when he says “神后趾”. The wise former king’s location? I’m not sure how that fits with the context. It could be an idiom. I would assume from context that he’s talking about people who either seek to avoid conflict, or seek the easy solution.

His poem reflects the xenophobia prevalent at that time.

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(View full size image)

Rubbing the wooden statue of General Minamoto So his conviction and success can become my own Though he still has areas of strength and weakness With his halberd he can take Meishu in a day

Original

摩挲源将木人形自説盛功爾我儔猶有一般優劣処鉞矛他日凌明州

Japanese Translation

源将の木人形を摩挲(ましゃ)し自ら盛功を説く爾(なんじ)は我が儔(とも)なりなほ一般の優劣の処あり鉞矛をもって他日明州を凌(しの)がん

Commentary: I’m not sure who “源将” is referring to. General Minamoto? It could be Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, or maybe he’s talking about Tokugawa Ieyasu who was a descendent of the Minamoto clan? I’m not sure where “明州” (”Meishu”) is either. That’s probably the archaic name of a province, but I don’t know any places with that name that’s related to the Minamoto clan. Although the details are unclear, we can see that he wants to become like his heroes.

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Hundreds of texts emphasize filial piety and loyalty And speak of unfailing heroes as examples A hero does not worry about his own matters And should sincerely wish to expel the barbarians

Original

百行所依孝與忠取之無失果英雄英雄縦不吾曹事欲以赤心攘羌戎

Japanese Translation

百行の依る所は孝と忠なり之を取りて失無ければ果して英雄英雄はたとへ吾曹の事にあらずとも赤心をもって羌戎を攘んと欲す

Commentary: It seems that most of Kondo’s poems are about Sonno Joui, either explicitly mentioning “expel the barbarians”, or implying it when he writes about serving the country. It was a popular movement at that time. I don’t think he had anything personal against foreigners, since he was friends with Hijikata and Matsumoto Ryojun who enjoyed Western things. He probably just liked to go with the flow.

#Kondo #poem #sonno joui #translated #chinese #original #analysis #recommended #kondo poem

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shinsengumi-archives · 2 years

Text

Okita’s hair tie

Well, now lets talk about his motoyui (paper cord for tying hair).

A motoyui is a thin string for tying a chonmage (topknot), but according to the testimony of 御隠居 [T/N: daughter of a Kyoto kimono shop owner?] mentioned previously, Okita was wearing a "purple motoyui".

I think that white is the most common when it comes to motoyui, but it seems that purple motoyui was used by court nobles.

In the Tale of Genji, Hikaru Genji wore it during his genpuku (coming-of-age ceremony).

"The heart that connects you is deep, and the deep purple color of the motoyui does not fade."

It seems that even purple was a dark color close to black.

However, in the Muromachi period, the samurai tied their hair with red motoyui, and white was used by commoners.

And what was it like after time passed and the end of the Edo period was reached?

I checked some old photos.

The following is a photograph of Fukuzawa Yukichi and Fukuchi Genichiro, who traveled to Europe as the Shogunate’s European delegation in 1862.

Yukichi Fukuzawa

Fukuchi Genichiro

Looking at the motoyui, it looks like white.

Since it’s an envoy of the Shogunate, it seems that white was the mainstream at that time because it would be a formal appearance.

The second year of Bunkyu was the year before Okita and his colleagues went to Kyoto, and it seems that the Kobusho-style samurai customs were popular in Edo at that time.

This Kobusho style valued toughness. Perhaps because of the unrest from the arrival of Black Ships, it is said that warrior was well dressed, and his training clothes are short sleeves made of cotton, and older, sweaty and tattered clothing are even better. It was that kind of style.

It seems that there were some people who tied the chonmage with hemp rope instead of motoyui, as if in times of the war.

If the story of Mimotoki Mitsuo is true, Okita Souji would like these kinds of hard-line customs.

Probably, his motoyui before coming to Tokyo was white, not graceful purple.

It’s possible that purple motoyui was not sold in Edo, where there were no court nobles in the first place.

On the other hand, was purple motoyui popular in Kyoto?

“At the time of the Kinmon Incident, the seventeen men, including Izumi Maki, ran to Mt. Tenno and killed themselves. It is said that they wore purple motoyui.”

This is in the work of Mori Makiko, but unfortunately I could not find a picture or photo.

Izumi Maki was an ardent supporter of the Emperor, so if he had the same purple motoyui as the court nobles, it might have been a manifestation of his reverence for the Emperor.

At that time, if it was popular as the meaning of Sonno (”Revere the Emperor”) = purple motoyui, it would be no wonder that Okita Souji wore it because the Shinsengumi also believed in Sonno Joui.

If so, it seems that it might be popular in the Shinsengumi, including Kondo Isami, but I could not find such a description in the "Shinsengumi Shimatsuki".

Below is a photo from the Keio era.

Satsuma Domain samurai

Nakahara Naosuke

Both are Satsuma Domain samurai, but their motoyui are white.

There were few old photographs showing motoyui, but as far as I can see, all of them were white.

From this, it seems that even if it was fashionable, it was not nationwide and was temporary.

It’s thought that Izumi Maki and his colleagues gave it an unlucky image due to their suicide, so then the fad died down.

It was only around the Ikedaya Incident that Okita Souji was seen by the above-mentioned kimono shop woman.

After the Ikedaya Incident, she saw Okita Souji walking with both sides supported, and thought that he wouldn't live long because of tuberculosis, so she couldn’t go to the headquarters after that.

If so, his testimonies will be from Bunkyu 3 to the summer of the following Genji 1.

It's been about a year since Okita and his colleagues came to Kyoto. Perhaps it was around the time when people began to get used to Kyoto, and their appearance gradually became more refined, and they could afford to buy fashionable items.

If Okita Souji had tied his hair with purple motoyui, it would have been in that period of time.

By the time the headquarters moved to Nishihonganji, the fad had ended and it would have returned to white.

References

秘蔵古写真幕末　日本カメラ博物館監修　山川出版社 2019-04-21

沖田総司・おもかげ抄　森満喜子　新人物往来社 1999-04

新選組始末記―新選組三部作 (中公文庫) 　子母澤寛全集1子母澤寛講談社 1996-12-18

幕末の江戸風俗 (岩波文庫)　塚原渋柿園　岩波書店 2018-08-18

髪結ねっと　日本髪・髷にまつわる話　丘圭

源氏物語イラスト訳で古文の偏差値20up(↑)する勉強法あいの部屋国語力UP講座

#okita #hairstyle #translated #translated from Japanese #recommended

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shinsengumi-archives · 2 years

Quote

The frog in the well knows nothing of the ocean. But it knows the color of the sky!

Kondo Isami

Original: 井の中の蛙大海を知らず。されど空の青さを知る！

This might have been spoken by Kondo, but it wasn't created by him. He was repeating a proverb.

He said this in response to the Sonno Joui faction who riduculed the Shinsengumi for being outdated by calling them "frogs in a well that know nothing of the ocean" (source)

The first line "The frog in the well knows nothing of the ocean" is a Chinese proverb by Zhuang Zhou.

The continuation "But it knows the color of the sky" or "But it knows the height of the sky" was added by the Japanese. It's unclear when or who came up with it.

(source: https://newsmomonga.com/6263.html)

#quote #kondo quote #Kondo

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shinsengumi-archives · 2 years

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Asahigata Kametaro who was captured by the Shinsengumi

tl;dr: This sumo wrestler fought for Choshu, was rewarded by the Emperor, got captured by the Shinsengumi, then helped the Shinsengumi, then fought for Satsuma against the Shinsengumi, carried the imperial banner, helped set up the Red Cross Society, founded a shrine, and may have been the namesake of a beer brand... What a life 😅

----

I first learned of the existence of Tamahoko Shrine when I read the book "史談土俵のうちそと" (author: 武者成一).

It’s dedicated to Emperor Komei, and the location is Rokuganzan, Taketoyo-cho, Chita-gun, Aichi Prefecture.

It’s close to our lodgings in Nagoya (Higashiura-cho, Chita-gun).

The shrine was founded by Asahigata Kametaro, a Kyoto sumo wrestler.

Tamahoko-jinja Shrine. The style is similar to that of Ise Jingu Shrine.

Asahigata was born in 1842 in Osaka.

It is said that he was originally a follower of Minato or Asahiyama of Osaka sumo, and that he briefly served in the Choshu Sumo Corps (headed by Ito Hirobumi), and later became a follower of Shikorogata of Kyoto sumo, but this is not entirely clear.

In Kyoto, where the political situation was unstable at the time, Kyoto wrestlers, who were favored by the Imperial Court, formed a corps of wrestlers to protect the inner court in case of emergency, and Asahikata (as he was then) was nominated as its representative.

Incidentally, the Kyoto ranking list for the final days of the Tokugawa shogunate is missing, so Asahigata's position and other details are unknown.

And then—

In July of the first year of the Genji Era (1864), the Choshu clan, which had once been in power, turned to counterattack and the Kinmon Incident (the Hamaguri Gate Incident) took place.

Asahigata, who led the force, was awarded a great prize by Emperor Komei.

“Asahigata, who took the shining shadow in his hand, brilliant for a thousand generations” (照る影をひら手に受けし旭形千代にかがやくいさをなりけり)

He was given the Emperor's poem, a flag, a cup, and other articles, and changed his name from "Asahigata" (朝日形) to "Asahigata" (旭形) (meaning "rising sun" in Japanese).

It was not long after this, in November, that he was captured by the Shinsengumi.

It seems that he was captured by the Shinsengumi a little later, in November, for his role as a liaison between the lords and the samurai trying to overthrow the Shogunate.

After that, however, he helped raise funds for the Shinsengumi in Osaka.

Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, both members of the Shinsengumi, were deeply devoted to the ideals of the Sonno Joui and did not conflict with Asahikata’s ideology.

However, both subsequently diverged when it came to overthrowing vs. assisting the Shogunate.

When Satsuma and Choshu seized the leadership in the Imperial Court, the Kyoto sumo wrestlers who were close to the Imperial Court followed them, while the Aizu Clan and the Shinsengumi, who became the anti-mainstream faction, were labeled as "Imperial Enemies”.

In the battle of Toba-Fushimi (Keio 4, 1868), Asahigata was a member of the Satsuma clan's artillery, and fought hard despite being shot at.

When the Emperor Meiji went to Osaka, he carried the imperial banner, and the new government offered him the 6th rank, but he declined it.

He served until August of 1875, and the highest rank he could be confirmed in the ranking chart was the first rank under the makushita (juryo rank).

After his retirement, he contributed to the development of the Red Cross Society and was involved in various public service projects.

In 1900, he built his long desired Tamahoko Shrine dedicated to Emperor Komei, and passed away on March 11, 1934 (at the age of 61).

He is rumored to be the namesake of "Asahi Beer", but the origin of "Asahi" is unknown.

The Asahi Inari, located in the precincts of Tamahoko-jinja Shrine.

#asahigata kametaro #Bio

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shinsengumi-archives · 4 years

Text

A song from the Vice-Commander

Letter from Hijikata Toshizo to Chubei and Sakubei (relatives on the grandmother's line), November 1863.

English Translation

We have not seen each other for a long time, and for a long time I did not write letters to you. Now the time has come for winter cold, and at this time I wish you to remain in good health and joy. I’m alive and well, so don't worry about me. First of all, since it is hard to know when I can leave the capital, please convey greetings to my family. In addition, I would like to tell you how things are going in Kyoto, but it is very difficult to do this through my miserable letter, so kindly find out all the details in Hino. In the country today it is time for drastic changes. Finally, convey my kind respect to all. I will write the rest somehow at the next opportunity. With deepest respect, having the honor to serve under the leadership of Matsudaira Higo-no-Kami

Hijikata Toshizo

Eleventh Month

Honorable Chubei and Sakubei

And we will sail through the waves. And we will destroy the American fleet!

Original

(http://bakusin.com/kenka/shomen/shokan1.htm)

其後は久々不伺、貴下御無書ニ罷過、奉恐入候。時分柄寒中之候相成候得共、愈御壮健可為在、御坐奉恐悦候。随而野生無事罷在候間、御休意思召被下候。一拙義下向之程難計、依之拙宅之儀宜敷奉願上候。一京師形勢も申上度候得共、中々以小子筆ニハ難尽候間、いさひハ日野より御聞取被下候。天下一変此時御坐候。乍末御一同様江宜敷被願上可下候。余は期後便之時候。恐々不備。

十一月日松平肥後守御預り

土方歳三

平忠兵衛様〃作兵衛様

いささらは我も波間にこき出でゝあめりか舩をうちやはらわん

Commentary

fushigi-dono: At the time of writing this letter, Hijikata has been a full-fledged Shinesengumi Vice-Commander for two months now, since Serizawa was killed. The essence of the letter, besides the usual greetings, is "this is happening here in the capital, only I won’t tell you anything!" You can’t write, in fact, how they cut people right and left, and where the political situation is going. Hino knows the details, because some people from there recently visited Kyoto, and everything was handed over to them verbally.

At the end of the letter, the lines from the song are attributed, from which the ideas of "sonno joui" are still blowing. :) But Hijikata did not compose it himself, but took it, as Japanese-internet sources say, from the murdered Serizawa. According to the testimony of Yaga Tamesaburo, Serizawa after a few servings of sake was very fond of humming this song, tapping the beat with his hand.

As you know, Serizawa was from Mito. And the author of this extremely optimistic composition is none other than the head of the Mito clan, Tokugawa Noriaki. He is the father of the future shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, and one of the leaders of the Sonno Joui movement. (source)

bakusin: Heike is located near Takahata Fudo in Ueda Village, and the great grandmother of Toshizo's parents. It seems that he wrote it at the same time as the letter No. 4, and there was not much change in the content that he apologized for silence, that he was safe, that the situation in Kyoto was great, that everyone was good. The sentence saying, "I'm not going home, so I'm glad I can't go home." "Please ask Hino (your brother-in-law Sato Hikogoro) for details." At the end of the sentence, the quotation of a Japanese poem by the Tokugawa Yoshiaki Tokugawa, which should be called the headquarters of the Emperor Jizo, gives a sense of the times. I wish I could make it myself ... (laughs) (source)

#Letters #letter from hijikata #translated #Translated from Russian #translated from Japanese #document #fushigidono #wip

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hakuouki-history · 7 years

Text

The Tengu Rebellion : the Missing Piece of the Bakumatsu Puzzle

Graves of Takeda Kounsai and Followers - Picture courtesy of Tsuruga Guide.

For a very long time, I’ve meant to get around to this event, which is only “missing” in English fandom. It doesn’t involve the Shinsengumi . . . directly. It’s not part of the colourful narratives of Choshu, Tosa, and Satsuma domains and their most famous leaders. (Or, again . . . not directly.) But it’s a terrible event that happened during the Bakumatsu and had a huge influence on everything else that fans are more likely to know.

Mito domain was located in the north of the Kanto Plain, about 100 kms as the crow flies from Edo. The ruling house of Mito was a branch of the Tokugawa family. Mito also was the centre of historical scholarship and governmental theory. The last shogun, Yoshinobu, was a son of Mito daimyo Nariaki.

All of this seems like Mito should have been a strength for the Shogunate, but instead Mito turned out to be one of its worst problems. You see, the exciting intellectual climate of Mito was where the ideas of Sonno Joui and historical nationalism were cooked up. (See my post on Sonnou Joui for more details.) The Mito school’s ideas spread through Japan rapidly, inspiring activists across Japan to throw in their lot with the Cause.

Fast forward (over a bunch of politics, some assassinations and other stuff that shouldn’t really be skipped) to The Tengu Rebellion, also known as the Mito Rebellion, or the Mito Civil War. The war took place from August 1864- January 1865. Like a lot of rebellions, it began as an armed standoff to try to force the government’s hand, and soon escalated into an all-out war.

Thousands of men rose up in rebellion against the Shogunate in support of the Sonno Joui cause. They hoped that they would start an avalanche, inspire other domains to follow their example, and thus would cause the Bakufu to back down and begin the War of Expulsion against the Westerners that the Emperor had ordered.

There was some early success. As Wiki says:

“As the conflict escalated, on 10 October 1864 at Nakaminato, the shogunate force of 6,700 was defeated by 2000 insurgents, and several shogunal defeats followed.”

But the leader of the Shogunate’s forces, Hitotsubashi Keiki, (the future shogun Yoshinobu) hurriedly formed an army of 10,000 men, strengthened the alliance of neighbouring lords who were worried about being invaded by the rebels, and crushed the rebels bloodily.

Towards the end, the rebels took to the hills, trying desperately to reach Kyoto where they hoped to get support from the Imperial court. They lived off the land as best as possible, with dwindling supplies and weapons. At last the cause was lost.

Then the reprisals began. The historian Conrad Totman sums up the ending of the rebellion in his book “The collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu”

As it was, 1302 of them were dead. Hundreds died in battle; scores of others committed suicide; and tragically large numbers were executed for their crimes or died in captivity.Of those who surrendered in the Kinai, the terrible number of 353 died at the executioner’s hand during early 1865. Of those who surrendered in the Kanto, over a hundred reportedly died in captivity. Hundreds more were exiled.

And the families of some of those involved in the upheaval also were punished, Takeda’s family most brutally perhaps. And Mito itself, quite apart from the insurgents, was lost to Edo as an effective source of support, its finances wrecked, its leadership torn to pieces, its territory ravaged, its manpower decimated, its very soul destroyed by the tragedy it had known. (p. 121)

Takeda Kounsai’s entire family was executed: his children, grandchildren, wife, and daughter-in-law. His youngest son was just three years old. Many other family of rebels died in prison on account of cold, hunger, and the unsanitary conditions.

And that wasn’t the end of Mito’s tragedy. In the Boshin War, when the surviving Mito rebels returned triumphantly to take over the domain, they set about taking a bloody revenge on their enemies. Again, innocents were killed for being related to the wrong people, or holding the wrong ideas.

If you want to know more about Mito and its horror story, the top recommendation is Yamakawa Kikue’s Women of the Mito Domain. See also my post about the book and excerpt from it about a tragic love story.

#mito #japanese history #bakumatsu #tengu rebellion #mito rebellion #books #women of the mito domain #yamakawa kikue #takeda kounsai #conrad totman

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