#shitada

[shinsengumi-archives]

The Hijikata family in the Ishida village census

I continue to read the book The demon lieutenant of Shinsengumi. This is in fact a collection of articles by different authors, each with their own way of retelling some moments from Hijikata's life. And one of the authors - my favorite Kikuchi Akira - really dug up something new!

Kikuchi Akira is a Bakumatsu researcher who is always getting into the thick of things: comparing the Okita's kaimyo (posthumous Buddhist name) and the kaimyo of his supposed girlfriend, or parsing Hijikata's letters. And now he has found the census books of Ishida village from 1817 to 1869, which refute the official opinion that Toshizo was fired from one job at 11 and another at 17. According to the new records, he was listed "in the people section" at a completely different age and for quite a long time! In addition, these records reveal some peculiarities of the Japanese population of the century before the last century.

These are the family registration books:

There are 20 volumes of them, and they were kept until recently by a certain Hijikata Satoshi, who only deigned to share them with the public about five years ago (how many more of these things are still stashed away in private archives!).

So, in Japan, throughout the Edo period, monks conducted a census of the population. They sent the data to the shogunate and kept a copy for themselves. The original purpose of this census was to prevent the spread of Christianity, so special books listed all members of each family, along with their servants, their ages, and their religion.

It is difficult to say how often this information was collected, because in Ishida village the census was conducted either once every five years, or every year. But it was always in March.

Hijikata Toshizo was born in May 1835, and the first record of him in the registration book did not appear until March 1840:

parishioner of the Kongoji Shrine of Takahata Village - Toshizo, age 6 [4.5 years old according to our age system]

His name was then written as 歳蔵 throughout the census.

The author provides only one entry entirely about the Hijikata family, in 1848. This is roughly what it looked like:

Income 20 koku, 1 to 1 sho 4 go 7 yu 一 Shingon Sect, Takahata Village, Kongoji Temple Parishioner - Hayato, 28 years old Parishioner of the same temple - Wife Naka, 23 years old. Parishioner of the same temple - Elder brother Tamejiro, 33 years old. Parishioner of the same temple - Daughter Nui, 7 years old. Parishioner of the same temple - Son Sakusuke, 4 years old. Parishioner of the same temple - Servant Hachigoro, 19 years old 一 Zen sect, Yaho village, Nanyoji temple Parishioner - Maid Hatsu, 21 years old 一 Shingon sect, Shitada village, Anyoji temple Parishioner - Maid Fude, 12 years old A total of 8 people, of which 4 are male, 4 are female. Two more males are in service in other houses: 一 Shingon sect, Takahata village, Kongoji temple Parishioner - Younger brother Daisaku, 20 years old Parishioner of the same temple - Younger brother Toshizo, 14 years old

By our age system, everyone here is a year younger. Daisaku was probably about to be adopted by the Kasuya doctor family at that time. As for where Toshi was, it's unknown. Though maybe at his sister's...

The official biography says that in 1845 he was employed in the fabric store Matsuzakaya in Ueno, where the owner was a certain Ito. There Toshi quarreled with the clerk and fled home. And this article even says where this information comes from: it turns out that in 1935, the grandson of Sato Hikogoro and Hijikata Nobu talked about it on the radio.

This same Matsuzakaya still exists today. Here's its website. It's even in English.

The census book for 1845 also exists, but in it, the page about the Hijikata family was "deliberately defaced by someone," as Kikuchi Akira writes. But it's easy to reconstruct the rest from the surviving pieces:

一 Zen sect, Yaho village, Nanyoji temple Parishioner - Servant Tsunakichi (or Tsunayoshi), 21 years old 一 Shingon Sect, Ochikawa Village, Shinshoji Temple Parishioner - Maid Kuni, 17 years old A total of 8 people, of which 5 are male, 3 are female. Another 1 female is in the service of another house: 一 Shingon Sect, Takahata Village, Kongoji Temple Parishioner - Younger sister Ran, 15 years old

Ran was Nobu's childhood name. In theory, she married Sato Hikogoro a year ago, and should have been listed in his household by now. But since she's recorded still in it, Kikuchi-san explains, that means her marriage was nominal at first. It was called asiirekon (足入れ婚 ), when one sort of got married, but the wife continued to live in her parent's house. Or maybe "in the service" meant she was living with Sato anyway.

On the defaced page there should be four more "males" and two females: Hayato, Tamejiro, Daisaku, Toshizo; wife Naka, daughter Nui. Sakusuke was born in 1845, the same year (i.e. not yet born in March), and there is no one "in the service" besides Ran.

So Kikuchi-san, based on the study of some other "private documents", concluded that Hijikata worked for this very Ito from about 12-13 and up to 16 years old (according to our age system), and the story of "quarrel with the clerk" and "dismissal because of a girl" took place at the same location.

But in Hijikata's family another version was passed down from generation to generation: that Toshizo first worked in Ueno, and then in Tenmacho, also in a fabric store, and that's where the story with the girl happened. Hijikata has a haiku about Tenmacho, so he was definitely there :) It's just unknown exactly when.

That Toshizo returned home at the age of 16 (in 1851) is a confirmed fact. This is written about in Kojima Shikanosuke's book "両雄士伝" - "The Lives of Two Great Warriors" written in 1873. About Kondo and Hijikata, yep. The very fact that this book exists is a big surprise to me - it's strange that no mention of it has ever been found anywhere! You can understand why though: it's written in kanbun, a hellish mixture of Chinese and Japanese. So, this book says that Toshizo returned to his hometown at the age of 17 (i.e. 16) and began practicing martial arts, in which he soon became very successful. Anyway, he started selling Ishida Sanyaku and going to different dojos.

However, the monastic registration books for 1854 and 1856 still show "two more males are in the service of other houses". It was not until 1858 that the record that Toshi was finally home appeared for the first time.

Income 39 koku, 7 to 8 go 一 Shingon Sect, Takahata Village, Kongoji Temple Parishioner - Hayato, 38 years old. … wife Naka, 33 …older brother Tamejiro, 43 years old. …younger brother Toshizo, 24. (then there are 6 children, 1 servant and 1 maid) Total 12 people, 9 male, 3 female.

On March 9, 1859, Hijikata was officially enrolled as a student at the Kondo dojo. There is an entry about it in the "Registration book of the Tennen Rishin-ryu" (天然理心流神文帳 ), and then in the diaries of relatives, friends and neighbors there are many entries such as "Toshizo came with Okita Soji, both stayed at our place for the night" (Hashimoto's diary, 09-03-1860), or "Toshizo and Kondo Isami went to Itsukaichi" (Sato's diary, 09-05-1860).

In August 1860, another official registration book was published called "Bujutsu eimei roku" (武術英名録 ) - something like "Names of Glorious Swordsmen". It included the names of 600 swordsmen from all over the Kanto region, including Hijikata. Only those who had a rank no lower than mokuroku were enrolled there, and Hijikata would not have been able to get mokuroku in such a short time if he had not studied the sword before, writes Kikuchi Akira. So he did study, but where - that's the question. That is, what kind of "service" he was in from 1853-4 to 1857-8 is unknown. Maybe he just lived at Sato's house and walked around, selling medicine, but Sato has no mention of it. So this is "another mystery" for Japanese historians.

[pchan700]

We bring you the details of the "Shitada Iiyu Ratei Summer Festival 2024" held at "Ii Yu Rati" in the Shitada district of Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan side.In anticipation of the full opening of National Route 289, scheduled for around 2026 to 2027, this event aims to add some flair to the atmosphere with nostalgic cars in order to help revitalize the region and revitalize Niigata.It was an event that the whole family could enjoy, as we were able to soak in the hot springs, see famous cars that are hard to see up close, and there were plenty of kitchen cars.

[taishiishida]

I’ve got new @goodr_jp sunglasses! And also this is new model that Cosmic Crystals is awesome! ･ #sunglasses #goodr #cosmic #cosmiccrystals #eyewear #eyewearfashion #sanjo #shitada #niigata https://www.instagram.com/p/CMwgi4KlJjh/?igshid=exi8x1hsqhbm

[mia-japanese-korean]

Shitada Harumasa and Hayami Masanao, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, April 1873, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Japanese and Korean Art

two separate sheets; two men fighting with swords; man at left wears purple, blue, white and grey striped pants and purple, white and yellow hand and arm guards; man at right wears green, yellow, purple and grey striped pants and purple and white hand and arm guards; purple at top, green at bottom, white at center Size: 9 7/8 × 7 1/4 in. (25.08 × 18.42 cm) (sheet, each, approx., Vertical chūban diptych) Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper

https://collections.artsmia.org/art/127848/

[mrbaldy]

下田郷 / 新潟県三条市 下田地区 / Shitada Sanjo Niigata Japan

下田郷の旅の始まりがここにある。

[siamurai]

Vintage Fireman's Hanten of Shitada Village 下田村 ............................................ #襤褸 #野良着 #古布 #藍染 #japaneseantiques #japanesetextiles #japaneseclothes #japanesedenim #indigoblue #noragi #kimono #hanten #happi #borojacket #vintageclothing #vintagedenim #vintagejacket #antiquetextiles #patchwork #sashiko #ootd #harajukufashion #japanesevintage #patchworkjacket #streetfashion #japaneseboro #firemanjacket #japanesefiremanjacket #firemankimono (at Squamish, British Columbia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CM7XnpLjm1_/?igshid=158q59roen35v

[gotojobin]

#火ノ丸相撲 #TonomaruSumo #KingDevinJoseph #キングデビンジョセフ #GotoJobin #ごとじょびん #おたく#Otaku #オタク #デヴィンジョセフ王 #Weeb #WeebDar Shita Shitada (Yodano · jin) Noriaki Sugiyama Captain of the Great Britain. A skillful person who always keeps a name on the top in individual warfare. On the other hand, it has a hinted atmosphere, but observes the surroundings well and lengthens the analysis power. https://www.instagram.com/p/BtLjCt0FrIG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ezd7yz82ulq8

[hebbarjv]

Spongy Gums - Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Remedies

Spongy Gums – Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Remedies

By Dr Raghuram Y.S. MD (Ay) & Dr Manasa, B.A.M.S Spongy gums is called Sheetada in Ayurveda. it is a disease caused by vitiated kapha and blood tissue. Here, bleeding is there from gums.

Category – Spongy, bleeding gums – Shitada can be grossly classified under Mukhagata Rogas (diseases of the oral cavity). To be precise, Shitada occurs in the gums. Therefore it is included under Dantamula…

[taishiishida]

I’ve got @nodd_jp T-shirt. This is great design. ･ #footbag #taishiishida #freestyle #soccer #follow #worldchampion #performance #performer #instagramer #hackysack #nodd #design #tshirt #sanjo #shitada https://www.instagram.com/p/CLS7hcaFbN1/?igshid=13etjeuiq43cv

[taishiishida]

I’ve got @nodd_jp T-shirt. This is great design. ･ #footbag #taishiishida #freestyle #soccer #follow #worldchampion #performance #performer #instagramer #hackysack #nodd #design #tshirt #sanjo #shitada https://www.instagram.com/p/CK2g-cCFoKz/?igshid=7u8o6z5hdb0c

[taishiishida]

I’ve got @nodd_jp T-shirt. This is great design. ･ #footbag #taishiishida #freestyle #soccer #follow #worldchampion #performance #performer #instagramer #hackysack #nodd #design #tshirt #sanjo #shitada https://www.instagram.com/p/CKncfmxlk70/?igshid=1v73egnmo5fcy

[taishiishida]

I’ve got @nodd_jp T-shirt. This is great design. And of course great footbag made by @tomoro.m ! ･ #footbag #taishiishida #freestyle #soccer #follow #worldchampion #performance #performer #instagramer #hackysack #nodd #design #tshirt #sanjo #shitada https://www.instagram.com/p/CI8Ukimlqgu/?igshid=o29fffeqnuav

[taishiishida]

Snowing. ･ #footbag #taishiishida #freestyle #soccer #follow #worldchampion #performance #performer #instagramer #hackysack #snow #sanjo #shitada https://www.instagram.com/p/CIxX_ndl7Kl/?igshid=sobiq7oc4xvd