Nagakura Shimpachi

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Nagakura Shimpachi ( Japanese 永 倉 新 八 ; * May 11, 1839 in Edo , † January 5, 1915 in Otaru ) was the captain of the second corps of the Japanese police unit Shinsengumi and fought in Kyoto to maintain the power of the Shogunate .

youth

Nagakura Shimpachi was born in Edo (Tōkyō) into the better off family branch of the Matsumae clan as the son of Nagakura Kanji . In his childhood he was called Eikichi or Eiji .

He received training in Kenjutsu at the age of 8 and began to train the Shintō Munen Ryū style, also known as Gekikenkan , in Kanda Sarugaku-chō in the Dōjō of Okada Jūsuke Toshisada . At the age of 18 he reached mokuroku , the 6th dan and at 22 he received the menkyo kaiden degree. He then left the dojo and service in the Matsumae clan to travel and improve his technique.

He then spent some time in Yurimoto Shuuzō's Shintō Munen Ryu Dōjō and in the Shingyoto Ryu Dōjō led by Tsubōchi Shume , where he met Shimada Kai , who later became vice-commander of the 2nd unit of the Shinsengumi. During this time he met occasionally with Kondō Isami in his Dōjō Shieikan .

Shinsengumi

In 1863 he joined Kondō with other students and joined the samurai group Rōshitai , which later became Shinsengumi . He was later appointed corps leader of the 2nd unit of Shinsengumi and deputy vice-commander ( fukuchō jōkin ). As such, he was present in the Ikedaya incident . After the tuberculosis disease broke out in Corps Leader Okita Sōji , he temporarily took over the management of the first department and stayed with Shinsengumi until January 1868. In the Boshin War , which marked the end of the Shinsengumi, Nagakura left the Shinsengumi together with Harada Sanosuke in a dispute with Kondo to found the Seikeitai and also to continue fighting .

Later life and death

He survived the war and took his wife's name in the Meiji period after he was adopted by her family. From then on he called himself Sugimura Yoshiei ( 杉 村 義 衛 ). Among other things, he taught kendo in a prison .

Nagakura died of natural causes in 1915 and was 76 years old. He set up the memorial stones for Kondō and Hijikata Toshizō near the JR Itabashi Tōkyō train station and spent his retirement in Otaru . Nagakura's tombs are a temple ( 寿 徳 寺 ) in the Kita-ku of Tōkyō and a cemetery ( 里 塚 霊 園 ) in the Kiyota-ku of Sapporo and others.

As the only one of the Shinsengumi, he recorded the history of the group. However, he reported his experiences to a reporter long after the actual events, and it is believed that the account is not entirely truthful. It was later published in book form under the title Jitsureki-dan and Shinsengumi Temmatsu Ki .