Kondou Isami (Captain)

Originally son of a rich peasant farmer, his original name was Miyakawa Katsuta. He was adopted by the former master of Shieikan Dojo, Kondou Shuusai, at the age of 16. His katana was the Nagasone Kotetsu (yep, the one used by Soujirou which was cracked by Kenshin), length 2'3"5.

According to most sources, he was a rigid man, loyal to the moral codes of a swordsman. Had a wife, and his daughter Tamako was born just before he went over to Kyoto. After the utter defeat of the Shinsengumi in then Boshin War, he was captured by the Ishin Army, who had now become the "legal" government army - after Shogun Yoshinobu's resignation, the situation took a complete reverse, so now it is the Shinsengumi who are outlaws. Kondou was decapitated on 25/4/1868 at the age of 35.

Hijikata Toshizo (Vice Captain)

 The drug powder which Saitou tried to sell to Sanosuke in the guise of Fujita Gorou is the Ishida Sanyaku, a formula which had been in Hijikata's family for generations. It was used frequently in the Shinsengumi for battle wounds and broken bones. In fact, when Hijikata was a child, also son of a farmer (about 11 years old), he was something like Sanosuke, fighting and brawling all day. Then his elder sister married into a household of decent name, and his brother-in-law arranged for him to become a door-to-door medicine seller, selling the Ishida Sanyaku. It was then that he met young Kondou.

Hijikata was feared by many for his mercilessness. Nicknamed "The Demon of Shinsengumi". Can't find the JP name of his katana, though it's of length 2'8". Master strategist and tactician who stretched the prowess of the Shinsengumi to its maximum.

One of the Shinsengumi iron rules was that any traitors, including deserters, had only one path to take: COMMIT SEPPUKU. Yamanami was one such deserter. (See section on Yamanami for more.) After Yamanami split his bowels, he was decapitated by another member of the Shinsengumi, the whole process overseen by Hijikata. I must stress that Hijikata knew Yamanami ever since their Shieikan days, so feel the guy's cold-bloodedness. However, according to Watsuki, in the historical novel 'Moeyoken' (Burning Sword) by Shiba Ryotarou, Hijikata was acting the way he did because he realised that he *was* a leader and could not afford to be soft, though he *did* bring it to the extreme. In that novel, 'he chose to play the part of a demon in front of everybody and killed those he loved, and cried alone in the dark', to quote from Watsuki in his comments about Aoshi. As a leader, he had to be firm and set a good example for his followers irregardless of what he actually felt. I'm sure he's hurting beneath his seemingly cold-blooded facade, after all, they were childhood friends. Perhaps Aoshi keeps his own feelings to himself for the same reason? After all, Hijikata *was* the character model for Aoshi! :)

After the group's defeat in the Boshin War and the death of Kondou, he joined Enomoto Takeaki (a former Bakufu Navy official), escaped to Hokkaido and proceeded to build a so-called "Hokkaido Republic" in order to continue fighting the Ishin government. However, Hijikata was shot to death in a battle in 1869, 2nd Year of Meiji, aged 35. Watsuki's favorite historical figure. And according to many sources including Watsuki, a handsome total knock-out...

Itou Kashitarou (Military Advisor)

This guy just can't seem to merge in with Kondou and the others because of the different way they see things. He had a lot of followers in Shinsengumi, for he was a scholar-type fellow and was able to explain his beliefs (tending to Sonno-joi) to the others and even persuade them to support his views. Finally things got to a head, Itou and his followers, including Saitou, packed up and resigned from the Shinsengumi. He was quite popular among some of the Shinsengumi members, which was why as many as 15 people packed up and went with him. Yamanami's death sentence played a part as well - see section on Yamanami on this.

But wait! Saitou's departure with him was actually Hijikata's trap, where Saitou was sent as a spy! By and by Saitou gained Itou's trust while relaying messages back to Hijikata, until finally Saitou assassinated the former advisor, and rejoined the Shinsengumi... Saitou was really a very important personnel in the Shinsengumi, ne?

Okita Souji
(Captain of the 1st Troop)

 Probably the best-known and popular Shinsengumi figure. Another handsome total knockout, besides being a child prodigy at kenjutsu - he joined Kondou's dojo at 9, and was an accomplished swordsman at 15 or so. Former name Soujirou, (yes, it's true!) the sword he used is the one used by Soujirou in his last battle with Kenshin, the Kikuichi Norimune, length 2'4"2.

Strongest swordsman in the Shinsengumi, he yields a katana, bokken and shinai equally well. Famous for his "3-piece thrust" - 3 thrusts delivered so quickly at the opponent, usually at the neck and the right and left shoulders. Like Saito, this technique was improvised from the one invented by Hijikata.

Tragedy struck, though, for Okita contracted Tuberculosis, an incurable disease in those times, shortly after the formation of the Shinsengumi. He coughed up blood several times, though he would not let the others know. During the Ikeda-ya affair, however, his situation suddenly

spiralled down (perhaps because of the cold night and the vicious battle), and fainted after he coughed up a shocking amount of blood. It was then that Kondou and Hijikata knew of his disease, and even by then the doctor had already predicted that he would not live long. Both were distressed over this, for they were like elder brothers to Okita (did I mention that Kondou was 10 years Okita's senior, and Hijikata 9?). However, all 3 agreed that news of Okita's disease should not be widely known, lest it dragged down the members' morale.

After the Boshin war, Okita went into a tuberculosis hospital in Edo. He passed away on 30/5/1868, First year of Meiji, aged 25.

Nagakura Shinpachi
(Captain of the 2nd Troop)

Not much that I can find about this guy - only that when Okita fell sick, Nagakura sometimes commanded both the 1st and 2nd patrol. He deserted his han to come to Kyoto. After the Ishin government was set up, he was granted pardon to return to his han, and changed his name to Sugimura Yoshie. In the 15th yearof Meiji (1882), he went over to Hokkaido and became a kendo instructor in a prison there, the same prison Anji went to... (wonder if they'll meet each other there?) Nagakura resigned after several years, and built some graves for his former friends in the Shinsengumi. He later wrote a book on his Shinsengumi days, which seemed to be the main factor of his fame. Nagakura passed away in January 1915, 4th year of Taishoat the age of 76.

Saitou Hajime
(Captain of the 3rd Troop)

Saitou Hajime seems to have struck second fame in Japan following his appearance in RK! There are certainly a lot of info about him on the web. Seems to be a mysterious guy even in real life... Also, everything about him that came out in RK (except Shishio and Kenshin, of course) is real history. I got a shock there!

Right. First of all, his origins seems a bit obscure. One theory is that he's the son of a ronin. Another says he hailed from Edo, son of a Bakufu official, and that he'd come to Kyoto after accidentally killing a person in Edo. Yet another claims that he's a son of the 12th Shogun?! and yet another says that he was a spy of the Aizu han placed in the early Roshitai. Talk about a mystery guy. His name, Hajime (meaning "one" or "start" as in another kanji") was because that he was born on the 1st day of the 1st month, though there are other reports as to his birthday.

He entered the Shinsengumi "sponsored" by the Aizu han, under the name of Yamaguchi Jirou, when he served as one of Hijikata's assistants. His most powerful sword skill is the "Left-hand single thrust" (but *not* Gatotsu, that's Watsuki-san's creation), this skill is even more destructive than Okita's 3-piece thrust! In fact, Saitou, together with Okita and Nagakura, were hailed as the 3 strongest swordsman of the Shinsengumi. Saitou assasinated a lot of corrupted Shinsengumi members. Eg, Itou Kashitarou and co., Takeda Kanryuusai and others. And yeah, Aku.Zoku.San was no invention of Watsuki - it was a motto of the whole Shinsengumi!

He was also a great drinker! The creator of one Shinsengumi website stated that "he's a different person when drunk", (I'm not sure whether this refers to "I desire to kill once I'm drunk"). In fact, he finally passed away because of a stomach ulcer, caused by excessive drinking. Unfortunately, I still can't verify that he smokes all the time, or that his favorite food is soba... help, anyone? Saitou's wife, Takagi Tokio, was the daughter of an important Aizu official - in fact,the middle-man was none other than the Daimyo of Aizu himself! They (Saitou and Takagi Tokio) were married in the 6th year of Meiji (1873), and their first son, Tsutomu was born in the 9th year (1876).After the Ishin government was formed, he changed his name and worked as a kendo instructor in a university. In 1877, the 10th year of Meiji, he joined thepolice troop with permission of carrying a sword to fight in the Seinan War, the one where Saigo Takamori rebelled against the Meiji government in Satsuma. Saitou did this under the name of Fujita Gorou. After which he became a spy directly responsible to the Police Commissioner, Kawaji Toshiyoshi. (I was really shocked at this one... Watsuki can really interweave fact and fiction!)

Saitou worked as a guard of a museum in Tokyo when he was quite a senior citizen.After his retirement, he seemed to spend a lot of time thinking. Pity I can't understand his grandchild's remarks in the Japanese homepage. Anyway, Saitou passed away on 27/9/1915, 4th year of Taisho, at the ripe old age of 72.

Takeda Kanryuusai
(Captain of the 5th Troop)

Watsuki's pretty much covered everything there is about this guy in his comments about Takeda Kanryuu. He was learned in military strategies and practised medicine. A homosexual. Not an impressive piece at all - he sucked up to those in power and bullied those beneath him, and often outstepped his boundaries by throwing his weight around. What made him so exceptionally despicable was that he betrayed the Shinsengumi to team up with the Satsuma Ishin Shishis, just because of the benefits and profits. Finally assassinated by Saito.

Harada Sanosuke
(Captain of the 10th Troop)

According to Watsuki and the historical novels I've been through, he's almost the same as Sagara Sanosuke. Liked to brawl, short-tempered and simply loved a fight. His favourite weapon was the spear. According to Watsuki, before he joined Kondou, Harada was the servant of some bushis, and this lowly status caused him to have a weak side at times. However, he really took care of those under him. (Really manly...) He was also a man who didn't like to fuss, and did things the way he saw it. Kinda like those "tai-kos" (like Cheng E-Kin) in those gangster movies.

One interesting point here: the members of the Shinsengumi frequented the brothels (hey they *were* humans with biological needs too! Just that Serizawa was carrying it way too far) but they seldom attached themselves to the girls, to take them as their legal wives. Harada married his girl, however - something surprising considering his personality, for in those days, you had the choice of *not* marrying a girl even if you'd slept with her.

After he broke upwith the others following the Shinsengumi defeat in the Bushin War, he joined the Shogitai, the same troop in which Yahiko's late father also took part. Harada died in the Ueno War. According to other sources, however, he survived the war and stowed-away to Manchuria, China, where he became a bandit.

Yamanami Seisuke (Gochou)

The guy deserves a special note. He tended towards Sonno-Joi as time went on, and was thus isolated by Kondou and Hijikata. He suddenly escaped fromthe Shinsengumi (perhaps because he couldn't take the pressure of doing things he didn't feel right and being isolated anymore?) in 1864 (or 65), which made him a traitor, only to be caught by Okita before he could go far enough. He was sentenced to commit seppuku,and died at 29. I understand from the novel that Okita faced some anguish here - Yamanami was one of the earliest members of Shinsengumi. Okita and the others had known him since their Shieikan days. Okita was in despair because he had a choice of letting Yamanami go, but he chose duty when it came to a choice between "duty" and "passion". And from we get a glimpse at how merciless Hijikata can be when it comes to punishments, for the sentence was imposed by him. The harsh sentence imposed on Yamanami invoked the other members' dissastisfaction, because Yamanami was a gentle, honest man, and many thought that Hijikata was being too harsh. This was also one of the factors which caused 15 members to pack up and go with Itou.

  For a more detailed history of the Shinsen Gumi, check out Serizawa Kamo Biography