Yagi-tei, Mibu, Kyoto, October 11, 2016. First Kyoto lodging of Shinsengumi leaders including Serizawa Kamo, Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo.
I entered the house again and took the tour to refresh my memory of awe-inspiring scene of Serizawa’s assassination. (No photos allowed inside the house.)
Kondō Isami and Hijikata Toshizō were glorified as heroes upon their return to Tama in early 1868. In death they were apotheosized. On the expansive grounds of Takahata Fudō temple in Hino, the stone Monument of the Two Heroes was completed in 1888. Over a century later a bronze statue of Hijikata was erected near the monument. The left hand grips a sword. The right fist is clenched. The eyes… the eyes battle-ready, are ever prepared for death, “to meet Kondō underground.”
[closing paragraph of Shinsengumi: The Shogun’s Last Samurai Corps]