y@ΎO Hijikata Toshizou started his career at the Shieikan dojo near Edo (Tokyo), learning the Tennen Rishin Ryuu (along with Okita Souji) from Kondo Shusuke ( Kono Isami's adoptive father? ). When they heard in 1863 that masterless samurai ( roshi ) were being enlisted under Bakufu samurai to fight against the shishi, thirteen of them went to Kyoto, passed their entrance exams ^^ (basically a kenjutsu skills test ) and were appointed "Defenders of Kyoto" by Matsudaira Katamori, the Daimyo of Aizu. " In the beginning, the Shinsengumi was called the Roushigumi, and its leader was Kiyokawa Hachirou. And it was THIS guy who wanted his Roushigumi to become Ishin Shishi. However, a group of 13 people, led by Serizawa Kamo and Kondo Isami disagreed with Kiyokawa and parted ways with him, forming thus the Shinsengumi. " ( Thanks, Serizawa-san, for correcting me! ^^ ) The Shinsengumi that we all think of when we hear the name was was formed by those 13 roshi. They gathered initially at the village of Mibu, so the Mibu-roshi became the "Miburo." ^.- Hijikata was initially one of the vice-captains under three joint captains: Kondo, Serizawa Kamo ( the model for Shishio ^^ ) and Niimi Nishiki. But Serizawa and Niimi basically were abusing their status as protectors of Kyoto and basically tarnishing the reputation of the entire Shinsengumi. ( fighting, drinking, whoring, extortion, the works. ;;^^ ) Hijikata investigated and found enough evidence to convict Niimi, and ordered him to commit seppuku. Then Serizawa and his rowdy followers were assassinated by a group of people including Okita, and Kondo became the sole Captain, with Hijikata as his vice-captain. They held to that strict moral code Saitou keeps harping about in RK from then on. ^^ Hijikata was especially feared as "the demon of the Shinsengumi" because he was so merciless when it came to enforcing the law.( If you were just walking the streets of Kyoto, and you were stopped and couldn't produce sufficient ID...you were DEAD. Instantly. ) Hijikata was also completely merciless when it came to desertion or traitors. Seppuku was the only option given to them. When one of the founding members of the Shinsengumi ( and his old friend!! ) Yamanami Keisuke tried to escape from the Shinsengumi in 1865, Hijikata ordered Okita to bring him back and then forced Yamanami to commit seppuku. ( and it was his old friend, too...yikes! ) Because of this cruel justice of the Shinsengumi, about a dozen people, followers of the military advisor Itou Kashitarou, packed up and left. One of these people was...our good friend Hajime Saitou! ...Saitou, the evil bastard, was actually Hijikata's spy, though. ;;^^ ( He's so cool. ^^ ) He sent back secret messages to Hijikata, relaying their actions, and gained Itou's trust until one day Saitou finally assassinated him and rejoined the Shinsengumi. ^_^ Watsuki, in his 'making of the character' freetalk , mentioned a book called "Moeyoken" ("Burn, my Sword!") by an author called Shiba Ryotaro, and how this influenced his perception of Hijikata and the Shinsengumi in general. The book portrayed a kinder, gentler Hijikata than what seems to have been the truth:
That night Furutaka was jailed at the Mibu police station, and the following day he was carried away in a cage by several men from the Kyoto deputy's office and locked up in a dungeon. Beginning that night, he was submitted to indescribable tortures, but he gave away nothing. On July 20, he was dragged out and put to death. This differs markedly from the account of Nagakura Shinpachi, who led one of the force's units. Nagakura lived to narrate these and other events in his Jitsureki dan (Discussion of True History; later published as Shinsengumi tenmatsu ki, or A Full Account of the Shinsengumi). He writes as follows regarding Furutaka's torture: Commander Kondô [Isami] interrogated Furutaka himself, but the latter had come to Kyoto resolved to die if necessary, and he said nothing. Even when he was beaten until his back was in ribbons, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, losing consciousness before he would open his mouth. Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshizô, feeling utterly at a loss, contrived this and that and finally tied Furutaka's hands behind him and hung him upside down from a beam. Then he drove five-inch nails into the soles of his feet, planted a 100-monme [13-ounce] candle on each, and lit the candles. The wax quickly melted and dribbled slowly down from the soles of his feet to his calves. Even Furutaka, who had resolved to die, seemed unable to bear this cruel and unrelenting pain, and after suffering in agony for about a half hour, he finally opened his mouth and divulged his comrades' secret plan. Nagakura later failed in his plan to take over Kôfu Castle and parted company with Kondô and Hijikata. This parting of ways was based on strategic differences, however; Nagakura seems to have harbored no resentment toward Kondô and Hijikata that would have compelled him to fabricate the foregoing account. Indeed, before he died, Nagakura erected the memorial gravestones to Kondô and Hijikata that still stand near Itabashi Station in Tokyo. His own grave is next to theirs. Although Nagakura may have exaggerated the torture scene somewhat, there can be little doubt that some very gruesome deeds were perpetrated, and the main perpetrator was Hijikata Toshizô. Moreover, Hijikata's use of torture was justified, in his own mind, by the samurai ethic. Yet Shiba Ryôtarô did not portray the Hijikata who did such things because it did not accord with his image of the man. Such was Shiba's aesthetic." - Shiba Ryotaro: A Human View of History And this was Watsuki-sensei's favorite Shinsengumi member! Oh well. ^^ Interestingly enough, when Saitou first fights Kenshin in chapter 53 of the manga ( I forget if this is true in the anime, but-- ) he claims that his Gatotsu is based on the Shinsengumi specialty, the "Hiratsuki" ( horizontal attack) style, developed by...none other than our good friend Hijikata. ^^
Also, when Saitou first appears at the Kamiya dojo, he's carrying a medicine box and offering to sell some medicine ( Ishida Sanyaku? ) that will help you heal faster. Well, this medicine is also a real thing; it was the secret medicine of the Hijikata family. ( You can see the medicine box down below in the image gallery. ) Watsuki appearently got letters about this from history-savvy fans. " Why's he SELLING the Hijikata family's Ishida Sanyaku?!" [Watsuki] It was a joke! ;;^^ During the Boshin war, the Shinsengumi were defeated and Kondou was captured and executed. Hijikata escaped to Hokkaido and continued to resist the new Ishin government, but he was killed in battle in 1869.   |
