Monthly Archives: January 2020

Katsu Kaishu’s Journal and Shinsengumi History

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In writing Bakumatsu-Meiji Restoration history, Katsu Kaishu’s journal of the era is one of my most important sources. This applies to the Shinsengumi as well. For while Kaishu did not have much direct encounter with the Shinsengumi leaders, including Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, he documented the political landscape of the era to such an extent, and he captured its cultural and social essence so succinctly, that I find his journal indispensable in writing my in-depth history of the Shinsengumi.

[The above is a photo of my personal copy of Bakumatsu Nikki (“Bakumatsu Journal”), Vol. 1 of the 22-volume Kodansha edition of Katsu Kaishu Zenshu, the collected works of Katsu Kaishu, published in 1976.]

Shinsengumi: A Time-consuming Occupation

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I’ve completed Part 2 of what I think will be four parts of the next Shinsengumi book, which I began writing about two and a half years ago. In August 2017, about a month into this project, I thought that, ““without stumbles, confusion, unexpected (i.e., new) discoveries, misunderstandings . . . ,“ I might finish within a couple years. But the deeper I got into it, the deeper I’ve delved. It’s a time-consuming occupation. I hope to finish within the next two or three years.

Thanks to all of my readers for their support.

Think big, create, persevere!

[The photo of the original miniature Shinsengumi banner appears in my Shinsengumi: The Shogun’s Last Samurai Corps, courtesy of Hijikata Toshizo Museum.]

 Shinsengumi

A Note On Shinsengumi Vice-commander Hijikata Toshizo

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Hijikata was a peasant by birth, a warrior by nature. It is reported that in his youth he planted arrow bamboo in the garden of his home and vowed to himself to become a samurai. Arrow bamboo consisted of short, straight shafts ideal for making arrows. Arrows, like swords, spears, and all other weapons, were traditionally restricted to the samurai class. The son of a peasant family, even a wealthy one such as Hijikata’s, had no business planting arrow bamboo. The very act, then, provides substance to the credibility of his reported vow.

[The photograph of Hijikata Toshizo is used in Shinsengumi: The Shogun’s Last Samurai Corps, courtesy of the descendants of Sato Hikogoro and Hino-shi Furusato Hakubutsukan Museum.]

 Shinsengumi