Hijikata Toshizou was the youngest of ten kids. His father was a farmer. He died months before Toshizou’s birth. A tall and handsome man according to historians. But a spoiled man according to others. Hijikata started practicing swordsmanship in his youth as a self taught. His older sister Nobu married Satou Hikogorou, the manager of a Tennen Rishin Ryu Dojo in Hino. He enrolled in the Dojo and met Kondou Isami, the fourth generation master of the school and future commander of the Shinsengumi.
Hijikata Toshizou and The Shinsengumi
In 1863 Hijikata Toshizou became part of the Mibu Roshigumi. Before the Mibu Roshigumi was renamed Shinsengumi. He was part of the Shieikan group. The Kondou Isami’s faction. The most relevant of all that included the legendary Saitou Hajime and even Okita Souji. They patrolled the streets of the Imperial capital of Kyoto hunting reformists like Sakamoto Ryouma opposing the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Together with Kondou Isami’s Shieikan group two other factions formed the Mibu Roshigumi. The Tonouchi group and the Mito group under Kamo Serizawa leadership. But Serizawa Kamo became the original Shinsengumi leader. He was part of a Goshi rank Samurai family in Mito, today’s Ibaraki Prefecture. But historians described him as a bold man. Fearless. Extremely selfish and vicious. Violent and short tempered.
The Shinsengumi internal strifes and a new leadership
Stationed in the streets of Imperial Kyoto, the Serizawa faction of the Shinsengumi was infamous among locals. Together with sub captain Niimi Nishiki they extorted money from merchants. Drinking and starting fights almost every night. Meanwhile, the reputation of the Shinsengumi went down and gained the derogatory nickname of Wolves of Mibu.
Hijikata Toshizou gained enough proof against Niimi Nishiki. He was ordered to commit Seppuku on the 19 of October of 1863. Later that same month Hijikata and members of the Kondou group assassinated Serizawa Kamo and his lover. Kondou Isami became the leader of the Shiinsengumi. Favoring Hijikata almost as a right hand. He led the second wave of 23 members after Kondou Isami in the Ikedaya incident.
Hijikata Toshizou: The Shinsengumi Sword art
Hijikata never mastered the Tennen Rishin Ryu. Together with his self taught swordsmanship he developed the Shinsengumi Kenjutsu style. He became a Hatamoto (high rank Samurai) in 1867. Following the Boshin War he led the Shinsengumi together with Kondou Isami.
At the end of the Boshin War he led the remains of the Shinsengumi at Hakodate. But he entrusted one of the youngest members Ichimura Tetsunosuke with his Katana and a death poem. He was only 16 years old and something like a page to Hijikata. The renowned sword “Izumi no Kami Kanesada” was made by the last generation Aizu Kanesada. Ichimura took it back to Satou Hikogorou in his birthplace Hino. The one to introduce Hijikta to the Tennen Rishin Ryu and Kondou Isami. The poem reads “Though my body may fall on Ezo Island, my soul is with my lord far in the East”.
Hijikata Toshizou died by a bullet. Shattered his lower back while riding on horse. Leading the troops in the final battle against the Imperial Army on the 20 of June, 1869. And the Meiji Restoration started a week later. Hijikata’s burial place is unknown.