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shinsengumi-archives · 3 years ago

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The site of Okita Souji's death: the ruins of Uekiya Heigoro's house

The detatched house on Uekiya Heigoro’s property, where Okita Souji recuperated and died, is located near the Daikyocho police box in Shinjuku Ward.

A little further from the actual place, there’s a signboard for "The Site of Okita Souji's Death" .

Here, I would like to introduce the place where Okita Souji passed away.

Addresses of the place where Okita Souji passed away

Address of the information board: 1 Naitomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo How to get there: 7 minutes walk from JR Sendagaya Station

Address near Uekiya's main building: 29-2 Daikyocho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo How to get there: 6 minutes walk from JR Sendagaya Station Parking Lot: None, coin parking nearby

Map of the place where Okita Souji passed away

The modern-day ruins of Uekiya Heigoro's house where Okita Souji died

The information board is located at a distance from "the place where Okita Souji passed away"

Information board marking the location of Okita Souji's death

Near the Daikyocho police box, a little further from the place where Uekiya Heigoro's house used to be, there is an information board for "The Site of Okita Souji's Death".

There was no display before, but it seems that it was made in 2014 by a volunteer group.

This is also the banks of the Tamagawa aqueduct.

The actual house of Uekiya Heigoro is located on the opposite side of the road toward Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

Near the Fujimi Building, built on top of where the main building of Uekiya Heigoro's house used to be

It is said that the main building of Uekiya Heigoro's house was around the brown Fujimi Building.

Okita Souji died in the area.

There is a theory based on old maps that it may be located on the road that is now a highway, but that's just a theory.

The handrails of Ikejiri Bridge that was close to the Uekiya Heigoro house still remains

The handrails of Ikejiri Bridge that remains next to the Fujimi Building

Uekiya Heigoro's house was next to the Ikejiri Bridge over the Tamagawa aqueduct. The stone handrails remain next to the Fujimi Building.

What kind of place was Uekiya Heigoro's home?

In Shimozawa Kan's "Shinsengumi Shimatsuki", based on the words of Kondo Yugoro (nephew and son-in-law of Isami Kondo):

There were many plum trees in the garden

There were wide fields and rice paddies

The building had a straw thatched roof

A tatami mat of about 8 or 10 tatami mats, and crude porches facing the south and east

The sun shined on the shoji doors all day long, and sometimes a bird flew by

And so on.

Currently, there's a main road passing next to it and the sound from the cars is noisy, but it seems that it was a quiet place at that time.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, the residence of the Naito clan of the Takato Domain in Shinshu (Shinano)

The current Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, which is close to Heigoro's house, was the residence of the Naito clan of the Takato Domain, and the rest of the place was covered with fields and thickets. There was a water wheel over Tamagawa Aqueduct near the place where Okita Souji recuperated.

The neighboring Tamagawa Aqueduct has no water at the present, but until the Taisho era, it was a clear river, and spawning ayu fish, haya fish, and carp can be caught.

Also, it is a famous place for fireflies, and it seems that many fireflies flew in the summer until the time of WW2.

Okita Souji died on the 30th day of the 5th month, 1868, which is July 19, 1868, when converted to the Western calendar. Genji fireflies living by the riverside in the Kanto region glow from June to July in the Western calendar.

While recuperating away, Okita probably saw fireflies fly at night before he died.

The last days of Okita Souji

Okita Souji moved to Uekiya Heigoro's house

The Imado Shrine where Okita Souji recuperated

After returning to Edo after the defeat at Toba-Fushimi, Okita Souji moved to Matsumoto Ryojun's western medicine school and the Imado Shrine for medical treatment.

After that, it's said that he moved to the house of Uekiya Heigoro in Sendagaya at the end of February.

There is also a record that the Shinsengumi paid for Okita Souji's medical treatment.

In the Shinsengumi's financial account book, Okita withdrawed money to pay a carpenter on February 26, and it's considered to be the repair cost for a detached house on Uekiya's property.

On 2/28 and 2/29, there is a record that more money was handed over to Okita Souji, marked as "pass to Okita" before the departure of the Koyo Chinbutai. You can see that the corps covered expenses for Okita, who is undergoing medical treatment.

Theories that Okita went with the Koyo Chinbutai and theories that he did not go

The entrance steps of Hinojuku Inn, which is said to be where Okita Souji performed shiko o fumu.

In the book “聞き書き新選組” written by Sato Hikogoro's grandson Sato Akira (Hijikata Toshizo's older sister's grandson), Okita Souji followed the Koyo Chinbutai on March 1st, and at the Hinojuku Inn, he said, "I'm still fine, as you can see." and supposedly imitated a sumo wrestler’s move called shiko o fumu.

After that, he became physically unwell, so he was entrusted to the Sekida family in Fuchu and moved to the Sendagaya district for medical treatment.

However, according to Kondo Yugoro (nephew and son-in-law of Kondo Isami), he arrived at the place of Uekiya Heigoro in Sendagaya at the end of February.

Since the departure of the Koyo Chinbutai is March 1, according to this theory, Okita Souji did not follow the Koyo Chinbutai.

Okita Souji's farewell to his sister Mitsu

Okita Souji's older sister, Mitsu's husband, Okita Rintaro, went to Tokyo as a Roshigumi member, but left Kyoto to return to Edo. After that, he became the head of the Shinchogumi, which was made up of former members of the Roshigumi, which came under the custody of the Shonai domain, and was patrolling the city of Edo.

However, in the 3rd month of Keio 4, the Shinchogumi was dismissed from the role of city guard and had to relocate to the Shonai domain. As the new government forces approached, it seems that it was also a meant to strengthen the defense of the home province (Shonai domain). Since Edo was expected to be engulfed in war, the Shinchogumi members were sent away with their wife and children.

There is no record of how Okita Souji and his sister Mitsu parted ways. Mitsu's departure to Shonai in 3rd month of Keio 4 was the final farewell between sister and brother.

After that, it is said that it was Uekiya's rice cooker who took care of Okita Souji.

Okita Souji going to play with Kondo Isami's wife and children

Kondo Isami's wife, Tsune, and his daughter, Tama, moved to Joganji Temple in Nakano after Kondo Isami joined the Koyo Rebellion Corps. Okita Souji, whose sister and friends have left Edo, often traveled to Joganji Temple in Nakano by kago (palanquin) and stayed there for many days.

Tsune left behind the words, "Okita-san came and coughed up blood."

Okita Souji did not know about Kondo Isami's death

Kondo Isami's tomb in front of Itabashi Station

Kondo Isami was beheaded at Itabashi on the 25th day of the 4th month, Keio 4. According to one theory, Okita Souji was not informed of Kondo Isami's death by Uekiya Heigoro and others who were worried about the worsening of his condition.

"Why haven't I gotten a letter from Kondo-san?" (Okita Souji)

It is said that he was worried about Kondo Isami until the end.

With tuberculosis, excitement may cause seizures and coughing up blood, which can be fatal after the body is weakened, so it is said that they did not inform him about the death of Kondo Isami, who had been close like family from an early age.

The gunshots of the Ueno War that Okita Souji also heard

The graves of Ueno Park and cherry blossoms at night

On the 15th day of the 5th month, Keio 4, half a month before Okita Souji's death, a clash between the Shogunate Army and the new government army occurred at the what is now Ueno Park.

The gunshots at this time echoed throughout the city of Edo, and it is said that the fire that burned the temples and other places could be seen up to 20 ri (80 km or 50 mi) ahead even in the middle of the night.

Harada Sanosuke, who went to Aizu but returned to Edo, finally joined Shogitai and died two days after being seriously injured in the Battle of Ueno.

Okita Souji would not have known the death of Harada Sanosuke, and I don't know if he knew that Kondo Isami and Nagakura Shinpachi / Harada Sanosuke had broken up and acted separately in the first place.

However, he must have heard the gunshots in Sendagaya, and maybe he could see the sky bright at night in the direction of Ueno.

Okita Souji's death poem

The following are said to be the words of Okita Souji's death poem:

Until they fall, The darkness keeps them apart— Flowers and water

According to one theory, Hijikata Toshizo came to visit him and wrote the poem:

My heart is pure As I face my reflection In the water

This might have likened Okita Souji to the mirror-like water. Therefore, Okita’s death poem is said to be a a reply poem for this, that describes the sadness of being separated from his friends without being able to fight, meaning "If I don’t fight, Hijikata-san (or my friends) and I will be far apart."

However, there is little evidence that these are actually the words of Okita Souji's death poem, and there is a theory that it is a creation of posterity.

Okita Souji, the black cat, and his last words

There's an anecdote that the old rice-cooking woman who was taking care of Okita Souji told Okita Rintaro and Mitsu the story of a black cat after they returned from Shonai.

A few days before his death, Okita Souji tried to kill the black cat that came to the garden, but he couldn't because he was already weakened by tuberculosis. The next day he tried to cut him down again, but he couldn't.

After that, he collapsed and became unconscious, and spoke sleepily, "I bet that cat is here again...", which became his last words.

There is no other historical source to support this story, so I don't know how historically accurate it is.

However, in the Edo period, there was a superstition that "keeping a black cat cures tuberculosis", so it seems possible that there was a black cat near Okita Souji, a tuberculosis patient.

The date of Okita Souji's death and his posthumous Buddhist name

The date of Okita Souji's death is the 30th day of the 5th month, Keio 4 in the lunar calendar. Converted to the Western calendar, it would be July 19, 1868.

Since there are two theories about the year he was born, there are two theories about the age at which he died, but he died at the age of 25 or 27.

His posthumous Buddhist name is "賢光院仁誉明道居士".

Tomb of Okita Souji

The temple dedicated with the tomb of Okita Souji

The tomb of Okita Souji is located at Senshoji Temple in the Minato Ward. It is not open to the public because there were incidents such as a radical fans scraping the tombstone. You can visit the grave once a year unless you're a priest.

Okita Souji's tomb is under a small roof that was set up to prevent weathering in later years. The front is engraved with his posthumous Buddhist name.

Two theories about the place where Soji Okita died

The theory of the Imado Shrine as the place of Okita Souji's death

The monument of Okita Souji's death at Imado Shrine

At Imado Shrine in the Taito Ward, there is a monument called "Okita Souji's Demise" . This is from the diary written by Nagakura Shinpachi:

"At Imado Hachiman in Edo, he died of illness while staying with Matsumoto Ryojun-sensei"

The monument is based on this description.

"Imado Hachiman" is the old name of Imado Shrine.

Matsumoto Ryojun, the doctor in charge of Okita Souji, rented space in the precincts of Imado Shrine.

It is known that Okita Souji was moved to Matsumoto Ryojun's house at Imado Shrine after staying at the Western Medicine School after the defeat at Toba-Fushimi.

Previously this theory was widespread. However, Nagakura Shinpachi was not in Edo at the time of Okita Souji's death, so he probably wrote it by guessing or listening to what others say.

The theory of Uekiya Heigoro's house as the place of Okita Souji's death

Flowers blooming at the banks of the Tamagawa aqueduct

The theory that the detatched house on Uekiya Heigoro's property is his place of death was first introduced by Shimozawa Kan based on what he heard from Kondo Yugoro (nephew of Kondo Isami).

"He rented Uekiya's detached room in the suburbs of Sendagaya, and moved there by palanquin." ("Shinsengumi Imon" (新選組異聞) by Shimozawa Kan)

However, Shimozawa Kan was a novelist, and although he quoted primary sources in his book, he was initially dismissed because of the dramatization and parts that differed from historical facts.

However, in 1994, the "Yoshinoya Document" (吉野家文書) left by Yoshino Taizo of Mitaka was found.

Yoshino Taizo was a Tennen Rishin-ryu master who had a close relationship with Kondo Yugoro. After interviewing Kondo Yugoro on Meiji 22, he wrote:

"Okita Souji was a disciple of Kondo Isami, and a vassal of the Oshu Shirakawa Domain Abe Clan. He died of illness in Sendagaya, Tokyo right before the Meiji era." ("Yoshino Family Document" Yoshino Taizo)

As a result, the theory that Okita Souji's deathplace was Sendagaya came to be regarded as the truth.

Kondo Yugoro lived with Kondo Isami's wife and child, and it's believed that Okita Souji went to Joganji Temple in Nakano to meet Kondo Isami's wife and child. It's judged to be more credible than the words of Nagakura Shinpachi written by guesswork or rumors because the words were left by a person who was actually in Edo at that time and met Okita Souji who was undergoing medical treatment.

For this reason, it is now believed that "the deathplace of Okita Souji is the detatched house on Uekiya Heigoro's property in Sendagaya."

Imado was a place where he was recuperating before moving to Sendagaya, and it seems that Nagakura Shinpachi only knew that much and wasn't aware of his move to Uekiya's home.

Who is Uekiya Heigoro?

Uekiya Heigoro, also called Shibata Heigoro, was a daimyo family purveyor's tree planter, who also went in and out of the daimyo family's garden. It’s not clear why Okita Souji decided to move in to the detached house on his property.

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