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shinsengumi-archives · 2 years

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List of swordsmanship schools at the end of the Edo period! Dojos where swordsmen such as the Shinsengumi and Takasugi Shinsaku studied

What kind of swordsmanship were the Shishi and Shinsengumi practicing at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate?

A brief summary of the main schools and who studied in them.

Shindo Munen-ryu

Shindo Munen-ryu was founded by Fukui Hyoemon in the Genroku era.

"Peace" was their principle. It was forbidden to solve problems unreasonably with swords, and academics were also emphasized .

Saito Yakuro's dojo, Renpeikan, was famous as one of the three major dojos in Edo at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Who studied the Shindo Munen-ryu?

Egawa Tarozaemon: Shogunate official

Katsura Kogoro: Choshu Domain

Takasugi Shinsaku: Choshu Domain

Inoue Mita: Choshu Domain

Ito Hirobumi: Choshu Domain

Shinagawa Yajiro: Choshu Domain

Nagakura Shinpachi: Shinsengumi 2nd Squad Captain

Fujita Toko: Mito Domain, scholar

Katsura Kogoro was convinced to study this style when he heard that Shindo Munen-ryu swordsmen valued peace and used their swords as little as possible.

He served as the head instructor of the dojo for five years from Kaei 5 to Ansei 4, and his ability was also well documented.

As you can see, the Renpeikan was a dojo with many Choshu clan students.

On the other hand, Nagakura Shinpachi, who is said to have been the strongest in the Shinsengumi, also practiced the same style. However, he went to the Gekikenkan instead of the Renpeikan.

[T/N: Isn’t Serizawa also Shindo Munen-ryu? I guess he didn’t take its teachings to heart 😅]

Hokushin Itto-ryu

The Hokushin Itto-ryu was new style at that time, and was founded by Chiba Shusaku in Edo in the 5th year of Bunsei. Genbukan, one of the three major dojos in the Edo at the end of the Edo period, had more than 6000 students.

Since the Hokushin Itto-ryu was newly established, it adopted a rational tactic that was not bound by the old ways. There were no moves like exaggerated deadly sword attacks. It emphasized actual battle.

Who studied the Hokushin Itto-ryu?

Sakamoto Ryoma: Tosa dappan

Kiyokawa Hachiro: Shonai Domain

Ito Kashitaro: Shinsengumi

Todo Heisuke: Shinsengumi

Sannan Keisuke: Shinsengumi

Yoshimura Kuniichiro: Shinsengumi

Tennen Rishin-ryu

Tennen Rishin-ryu was founded by Kondo Tsukisuke during the Kansei era.

It was the Shinsengumi that made this style suddenly famous. Before, it was despised as a countryside swordsmanship style from Tama.

Most of the main members of the Shinsengumi were from this dojo, the Shieikan.

(On the other hand, I don't hear anything else about this dojo other than the Shinsengumi)

It was a sword that made enemies tremble in Kyoto at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The idea was to focus on actual battles and win no matter what kind of tactics you use.

The Tennen Rishin-ryu took their fights seriously even in practice, and some moves involved suddenly slashing at the opponent’s legs.

Hijikata Toshizo kicking up sand to blind the enemy? He was really strong because he was not above using any method (this is not a real move from this sword style, but lol).

At the bloody end of the Edo period, it's no wonder that the Shinsengumi was strong when they used a style that focused on winning.

Who studied the Tennen Rishin-ryu?

Kondo Isami: Commander of the Shinsengumi

Okita Souji: Shinsengumi 1st Squad Captain

Inoue Genzaburo: Shinsengumi 6th Squad Captain

Yagyu Shinkage-ryu

Yagyu Shinkage-ryu was the Tokugawa clan’s style.

It was founded by Yagyu Ishifune Munetoshi.

It’s famous for the mutō (無刀取り) technique, where you can win without having a sword.

Who studied the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu?

Takasugi Shinsaku: Choshu Domain, Licensed

Katsura Kogoro: Choshu Domain

Kyoshin Meichi-ryu

The Kyoshin Meichi-ryu was founded by Momoi Hachirozaemon. By the time his son Momoi Shunzo inherited the dojo, the Shigakukan became popular as one of the three major dojos in Edo .

In the Kyoshin Meichi-ryu, honor was especially important, and both Momoi Hachirozaemon and Shunzo were very strong swordsmen. Rather, they had strong personalities.

Who studied the Kyoshin Meichi-ryu?

Takechi Hanpeita: Tosa Domain

Okada Izo: Tosa Domain

It’s ironic that the Four Manslayers of the Edo period came out of the Kyoshin Meichi-ryu that emphasized honor.

At least, the famous ones in modern times are Takechi and Okada.

Nodachi Jigen-ryu

Nodachi Jigen-ryu was founded in 1822 by Kanetake Yakumaru as a branch of Jigen-ryu, and was also called Yakumaru-ryu.

It often appeared in the taiga drama Segodon. It’s the one with the strange battlecry, "Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” lol.

It was said to be Satsuma's one-shot deadly sword style, and it was a style that pushed hard with power and spirit.

When training using tree branches, they scream “Kyaaa!!!!!” as they hit.

Their tactic was to jump before their opponent and slash no matter what happens. Don't hold back.

In this aspect, there’s something similar to Tennen Rishin-ryu.

This school was able to play an active role at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, and had an obsession with slashing, instead of other moves.

As a side note, isn't that a little crazy to shout like that? People have also said that for a long time, and it seemed that even Shimazu Narioki, the lord of the Satsuma Domain, jolted up saying "They're like mad swordsmen".

Certainly, if you didn't know anything about them, you'd be surprised at their sudden scream lol

Who studied the Nodachi Jigen-ryu?

Nakamura Hanjiro: Satsuma Domain

Arimura Tsugusaemon: Satsuma Domain, Seichugumi

Oyama Tsunayoshi: Satsuma Domain, Seichugumi

Arimura Shunsai: Satsuma Domain, Seichugumi

Shinohara Kunimoto: Satsuma Domain

Togo Heihachiro: Satsuma Domain, Admiral

#swordstyle #tennen rishin ryu #hokushin itto ryu #shindo munen ryu #translated #translated from Japanese

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ryusuikan · 7 years

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Shinkendo seminar with our friends from Shigakukan Dojo 😎 (at Kyiv, Ukraine)

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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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talesofedo · 1 year

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Today I Learned (TIL), Okada Izo version:

+ Okada Izo 岡田以蔵 was born on 14 February 1838 (by the western calendar) as the oldest son of Okada Yoshihisa and his wife, Rie.

Izo's father has been described as a kind person who enjoyed the good fortune of others and was known in his neighborhood as a bit of a matchmaker.

+ Izo had one younger brother, Keikichi, who was born in March 1844.

+ Izo's personal name (imina) was Yoshifuru.

+ He was born in Iwamura village and when he was 10, the family moved to Enokuchi village, outside of Kochi castle town.

The particular neighborhood where his family lived was called Shichiken-machi 七軒町 ("seven eaves row") because his street had seven houses in a row.

The characters "七以", using the first character of 七軒町 (Shichiken-machi) and the first character of 以蔵 (Izo), were sometimes used as code for him in writings related to the Kinnoto (Tosa Loyalist Party).

+ Izo's father was originally an ashigaru who later bought his way into the rank of goshi with money.

Buying your way to a higher rank, or even buying your way into the samurai class from being a farmer or merchant, was not uncommon. Even Sakamoto Ryoma's family were originally merchants before buying their way to becoming goshi.

However, like ashigaru, goshi belonged to the class of low-ranking samurai (kashi) and in Tosa, which was a particularly conservative domain, a great division existed between kashi and joshi (upper-class samurai), making kashi the subject of discrimination and restrictions.

Those restrictions often dictated even small details of everyday life: kashi were not allowed to carry umbrellas, and they were not allowed to wear tabi socks or geta, even in winter.

+ Izo is often described as having been illiterate, but this idea originates from Shiba Ryotaro's fiction.

In reality, Izo had a normal education but was not a talented student, had little interest in books, and often found it difficult to articulate his thoughts. There were many instances people referred to him as "stupid" and "that idiot" throughout his life.

+ Izo was self-taught in swordsmanship to some extent. It's likely he initially learned from his father and then practiced on his own before formally joining a dojo.

I've been trying to unravel some of the sources and it appears he joined the fencing hall of Asada Kanshichi Naomoto in Kochi when he was 12 or 13 years old.

Asada was a master of the Ono-ha Itto-ryu (Nakanishi-ha Itto-ryu) who had previously studied at Shigakukan, one of the big sword schools in Edo. He was also the sword instructor for Tosa's han school.

It was here Izo first met Takechi Hanpeita, a fellow student 9 years his senior, who would become his mentor, someone he looked up to and followed without question for most of his life.

Izo joined Takechi's school in 1855, at 17 or 18, which was the year Takechi opened his own dojo. A lot of sources put Asada's and Takechi's schools together when talking about Izo's training, so it's confusing.

Izo was quickly recognized as being very talented and none of the other students provided him much of a challenge except Takechi himself. He finally found something he was good at!

+ In 1856, when Izo was 18 or 19, Takechi (and perhaps a recommendation letter from Asada) helped make it possible for him to travel to Edo and train at Shigakukan, Momoi Shunzo's school, where he earned his Menkyo Chuden (middle license) in the Kyoshin Meichi-ryu style before returning to Tosa in 1858.

However, perhaps because Izo didn't have the same foundations in swordsmanship as the others, Momoi called his sword "vulgar and without dignity."

+ In 1860, Izo was able to leave Tosa for training a second time, again helped by Takechi, who was using these trips for his own purposes: to gather others to his cause of Sonno Joi and build connections with shishi from other domains.

After spending time in Chugoku and Kyushu, Takechi left Izo behind in Oka domain to study the Jikishi-ryu style, while he (Takechi) went to Edo and worked on establishing his Kinnoto (Tosa Loyalist Party).

+ Izo returned to Edo in May 1861 and joined the Kinnoto out of loyalty to his teacher.

However, because he had no real interest in politics and his comrades excluded him from their political discussions, considering him too stupid to participate, Izo slowly became more distanced from Takechi, and when his teacher returned to Tosa later that year, Izo was once again left behind.

+ In January 1862, Izo set out to return to Tosa himself, but he became ill along the way and had to stay somewhere to recover before he was well enough to continue traveling home to Tosa.

Perhaps Izo should have taken the hint because things did not improve for him from there:

When Izo set out for Kyoto in June 1862 alongside Takechi and other comrades from the Kinnoto, they were hounded by the metsuke Inoue Saichiro, who was investigating the murder of Yoshida Toyo.

That murder had been ordered by Takechi and carried out by three members of the Kinnoto. Concerned that Inoue would arrest them, Takechi ordered Izo and three others to kill him.

This was the first in a number of assassinations Takechi ordered Izo to carry out that year, mostly in Kyoto. More about these here, in a separate post.

+ In January 1863, Izo suddenly left for Edo.

I'm not entirely clear why, nor do sources seem to agree. The most common theories are:

(1) Izo's services as an assassin were no longer needed because things were going poorly for the Kinnoto and Takechi returned to Tosa, leaving Izo behind once again;

(2) Izo had become more estranged from Takechi and his comrades and chose to leave, perhaps at least partly because he didn't want to be an assassin for a cause he didn't care about;

(3) Takechi reprimanded Izo for his behavior and told him to leave.

Whatever the reason, Takechi removed Izo's name from the membership roster of the Kinnoto.

+ After he arrived in Edo, Izo lived for a short while with Takasugi Shinsaku. However, when Takasugi was recalled to Choshu, Izo was once again left in limbo.

+ It was around the time Takasugi left that Izo was introduced to Katsu Kaishu, either by Takasugi Shinsaku or more likely by Sakamoto Ryoma, who had known him since they were young boys in Tosa. Izo became Katsu's bodyguard.

Katsu Kaishu mentioned Izo in his writing:

As I was walking through the city that night, three samurai suddenly appeared in front of me on Teramachi Street and drew their swords. I was so startled, I started to run, but Okada Izo, who was by my side, quickly drew his long sword and cut one of the men in half. The other two were so scared, they ran away. I barely escaped but I was impressed by Okada's quick action. Later I said to Okada, "You should not enjoy killing people." He said, "Sensei, if it weren't for me, your head would have been cut off." There was nothing I could say in response.

+ Izo left Katsu Kaishu and returned to Kyoto later in 1863, for reasons that are again unclear.

This was a terrible decision: not only were Shogunate troops cracking down on ronin in Kyoto, and the city was overall in turmoil with pro-Shogunate and pro-Sonno Joi groups both causing each other trouble, Izo was also considered homeless (無宿, mushuku): someone whose name had been removed from the family register because he was considered a deserter from his domain. (He did not return when other Tosa retainers had been ordered to return.)

With nowhere to go and without any money, Izo, who was using the name Tetsuzo as an alias, started to borrow and extort money, drowned his sorrows in alcohol, and eventually even sold his long sword to make ends meet while trying not to get captured.

+ In May 1864 he was arrested by the Kyoto magistrate for breaking into a merchant's house.

He was subjected to a public beating, tattooed as a criminal, and handed over to the Tosa metsuke who returned him to Koshi in June.

+ In Tosa, Izo faced being brutally tortured and interrogated for information about his former comrades and about Takechi's involvement Yoshida Toyo's murder.

Takechi, resentful Izo had been caught and worried he would easily succumb to torture and give away his comrades, complained "I wish that fool had killed himself!" He reached out to both Izo's father and his younger brother Keikichi, a member of the Kinnoto, with a plan to poison him.

Whether that plan was carried out is unknown: Izo may have become aware of the plan, he may have taken the poison and survived, or he may have given in to more than 10 months of torture. Whatever the reason, in the end he gave up the names of many Kinnoto members, and confessed his own crimes.

Takechi complained: "Izo is truly the greatest crybaby in all of Japan."

+ On 3 July 1865 (western date), Izo was beheaded and his head was put on display by the riverbed for three days.

He was the only member of the Kinnoto whose head was put on public display after death.

#TIL #today I learned #okada izo #history notes #historical notes #history reference #historical reference #history research #historical research

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