#tani mantaro

[ladyyomiart]

Here's a Step by Step compilation of the sketch (except for old Yumiko's because I forgot to save it, lol! 😂), lineart, and BG-free coloring stages of the Toyhouse portraits for my Hakuouki OCs that I've been posting recently!

[shinsengumi-archives]

Okita Souji and his subordinates

Workplace relationships are important.

Bosses and subordinates, in particular, can have stressful relationships if things don't work out. I think this was no different in the past than it is in today.

What kind of subordinates did Okita Souji, the Captain of the First Squad, work with?

Here's a summary.

Around the Twelfth Month of Bunkyu 3

Okita Souji: Born Tenpo 13

Sasaki Aijiro (佐々木愛次郎): Born Kouka 2. One of the "Five beautiful men of the Shinsengumi". He was killed by Saeki when he eloped with a woman in August of that year, but his name remained on the roster until December.

Shinozuka Minezo (篠塚峯蔵): Birth year unknown. After participating in the Ikedaya Incident, he was requested by the lord of Miyazu, his former domain, to return home, and left the Shinsengumi amicably.

Mishina Ichiro (三品一郎): Born Tenpo 12. Also known as Mishina Chuji (三品仲司). He participated in Ikedaya. After the Meiji Restoration, he belonged to the Shizuoka domain (Numazu Kinban, 沼津勤番) and worked with his younger brother Jiro to establish the prestige of Kondo and Hijikata.

The number of subordinates is small because the Shinsengumi had only been formed for a short time, but they are quite good members who didn't cause problems later on. Shinozuka Minezo is unknown, but the others are close in age so they probably communicated easily.

Among them, Sasaki Aijiro was so skilled that he demonstrated jiujitsu moves in front of Matsudaira Katamori, and he was also one of the "Five Beautiful Men of the Shinsengumi".

However, it's said that he was killed four months before this list was compiled.

In the "Shinsengumi Shimatsuki," there is an episode in which Sasaki, who was about to have his girlfriend taken as a mistress by Serizawa, was tricked by Saeki Matasaburo and others into deserting his unit, and was then slain.

In this story told by Yagi Tamesaburo, after the incident, Okita said, "It was all Serizawa's plan (あれはすべて芹沢の指図だった)".

I wondered how Okita knew that, but I guess he was trying to find out the cause because Sasaki was his own subordinate.

However, if Sasaki was enrolled at the time of this roster, that episode might be fictional.

Yet it seems to be true that Sasaki disappeared from the Shinsengumi after that, and that Okita Souji was talking about something that happened to Sasaki's life.

Around the Twelfth Month of Genji 1

Okita Souji: Born Tenpo 13

Aridoshi Kango (蟻通勘吾): Born Tenpo 10. Participated in the Ikedaya Incident and other incidents. Severely wounded in Aizu and hospitalized at Hakodate Hospital. Died in battle on Mt. Hakodate

Yamano Yasohachi (山野八十八): Birth year unknown. One of the "Five beautiful men of the Shinsengumi". He was Hijikata's retainer in Hakodate. After the surrender, he seems to have been engaged in salt manufacturing in the Shizuoka domain. After that, he returned to Kyoto and worked at an elementary school until 1896.

Tsukamoto Zennosuke (塚本善之助): Birth year unknown. Joined the Shinsengumi after the Ikedaya Incident, but apparently left by the following year.

Muro Takunosuke (室宅之助): Birth year unknown. Joined by the 11th month of Genji 1. It appears that he left the Shinsengumi after the Shogun announced his resignation.

Oishi Kuwajiro (大石鍬次郎): Born Tenpo 9. Sword style: Onoha Itto-ryu and Tennen Rishin-ryu. Son of a vassal of the Hitotsubashi family and student of Kondo. Known as Manslayer Kuwajiro, he killed Itou Kashitaro. After his defeat in Koshu, he went into hiding in Edo, but was arrested by Kano and others and executed for Itou's murder.

They are members who joined after the Ikedaya Incident.

Oishi Kuwajiro, also of the Tennen Rishin-ryu, has joined the group.

Other strong men assigned to the group include Aridoshi Kango and Yamano Yasohachi, who fought all the way to Hakodate.

Did Tsukamoto Zennosuke join the Shinsengumi because of the Ikedaya Incident's fame? Although he admired the Shinsengumi, he probably quit because he couldn't stand the harshness of reality. This is still common today.

Muro Takunosuke remained in the Shinsengumi for three years after this, so it doesn't seem that he didn't fit in with the Shinsengumi. Seeing that he left the Shinsengumi after the Shogun announced his resignation, it's possible that he later leaned toward an ideology of overthrowing the shogunate.

Nevertheless, overall, no one was seen to have conflicting purposes, and the addition of Oishi Kuwajiro must have made things easier for Okita.

Around the Fifth Month of Keio 1

Okita Souji: Born Tenpo 13

Kiyohara Kiyoshi (清原清): Born Tenpo 3. He became a part of the  Goryo-eji. After serving in the Goryo-eji, he was attached to the Satsuma clan and worked with Kano in Itabashi to uncover Kondo's true identity. Killed in battle at Shirakawa. Changed his name to Takekawa Naoe (竹川直枝 or 武川直江).

Tani Mantaro (谷万太郎): Born Tenpo 6. He opened a dojo in Osaka with Tani Sanjuro. Harada Sanosuke, Shimada Kai, and Abe Juro are his spear-fighting pupils. He joined the Shinsengumi one step earlier than his brother, but upon his brother's death, he left the Shinsengumi and devoted himself to running the dojo in Osaka.

Wada Juro (和田重郎): Birth year unknown. Joined the Shinsengumi by the 11th month of Genji 1. Killed in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi.

Oishi Kuwajiro (大石鍬次郎): Born Tenpo 9. Sword style: Onoha Itto-ryu and Tennen Rishin-ryu. Son of a vassal of the Hitotsubashi family and student of Kondo. Known as Manslayer Kuwajiro, he killed Itou Kashitaro. After his defeat in Koshu, he went into hiding in Edo, but was arrested by Kano and others and executed for Itou's murder.

Wado Teizo (輪堂貞三): Birth year unknown. Formerly an investigator for the Aizu Domain. In Keio 1, he was committed to protecting Yano Harumichi (矢野玄道), a scholar of Japanese studies. After escaping, he became a teacher in his hometown of the Saijo domain of the Iyo province (some say that he was released from his assignment from the Aizu Domain) After the Meiji Restoration, changed his name to Ohashi Eikin (大橋英金).

Miyakawa Kazuma (宮川数馬): Birth year unknown. Joined the Shinsengumi by the 11th month of Genji 1. Killed in battle at Yodo Senryo.

Abe Shinjiro (阿部信次郎): Born Tenpo 8. The same person as Abe Juro. Deserted after Serizawa's death. Reinstated once, but left the force in Keio 3 with the Goryo-eji. Plotted revenge for the Abura-no-Koji Incident and shot Kondo. After that, he attached himself to the Satsuma Clan and joined the Sekihotai. Later ran an orchard in Hokkaido.

Kimura Kota (木村広太): Born Kouka 3. Enlisted at Edo in the 4th month of Keio 1. Believed to have left the Shinsengumi by Keio 3.

Fujiwara Wasaburo (藤原和三郎): Born Tenpo 1. Escaped after the defeat in Koshu. Became a merchant in Edo, but was imprisoned in conjunction with other members of the Shinsengumi

Sakuma Nobuto (佐久間登人): Born Kaei 1. Enlisted at Edo in the 4th month of Keio 1. Believed to have left the Shinsengumi by Keio 2.

Miyagawa Nobukichi (宮川信吉): Born Tenpo 14. Tennen Rishin-ryu. Cousin of Kondo Isami. Protected Miura Kyutaro (三浦休太郎) in the Tenmanya Incident and died in battle.

By this time, the Shinsengumi had grown in size, and the number of members had increased considerably. Almost half of the subordinates were new recruits, and training must have been difficult.

Although the number of friends among the Shinsengumi members increased with Miyagawa Nobukichi, a Tennen Rishin-ryu practitioner, there were also those who were inclined towards overthrowing the shogunate, such as Kiyohara Kiyoshi and Abe Juro.

Kiyohara was a problem employee who "advocated righteousness" (義を唱え) in the unit and was hated by his colleagues, so he deserted the following year. He may have been a vocal advocate of the overthrow of the shogunate. He later joined the Goryo-eji.

Abe Juro, as detailed, is an anti-Kondo faction member. He was older than Okita and had some skill, so he was a difficult subordinate for Okita to deal with.

To add to that, Abe Juro deserted from the unit once, so Okita probably didn't trust him very much. It's likely that Abe's many bad comments about Okita in the Meiji era were also due to something that happened at that time.

It's said that 70% of stress in the workplace is caused by the relationship between superiors and subordinates.

Abe must have been stressed, but his boss, Okita, must have been even more stressed.

We don't know how long this group lasted, but considering that Okita became ill in the 2nd month of Keio 3, is it too much to think that this kind of stress may have been a contributing factor?

* The list of names was compiled by referring to and citing 取調日記 and the documents by 伊藤哲也 and 相川司.

References

全360人新選組隊士 入隊順リスト最新版!　相川司 (歴史人 真説 新選組)

新選組隊士録　相川司

空白の時期を埋める隊士名簿発見!　伊藤哲也 (別冊歴史REAL 新選組10人の隊長)

取調日記　山崎烝 (新選組史料大全　菊地明・伊東成郎)

新選組粛清録　伊東成郎

新選組始末記　子母澤寛全集(一) 子母澤寛

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki - Record of Curious Tales: Katana and Samurai #8, Kofuzumi Okitomo

well, this is the last of these that I can translate. sorry it's a bit late but I had a difficult time tracking down the sword name mentioned in this. Also, I won't be doing Sannan's since I got contacted for the raws... and I won't say no to not translating though I need to figure out what I'll do next.

Anyway, I ended up not working on this sooner than I would have liked... and I think the heat's getting to me again. (┬┬﹏┬┬) fucking hate summer.

This was originally published in 電撃Girl’s Style 2016年6月,

Hakuoki - Record of Curious Tales: Katana and Samurai #8, Kofuzumi Okitomo

Translation by KumoriYami

2nd year of Keiou, 4th month——

The Shinsengumi Seventh Division Captain, Tani Sanjuro died. The cause of death seemed to be the result of a personal fight, where he was unilaterally beheaded/sliced then killed, and the identity of the perpetrator was unknown. Although Hijikata Toshizou ordered the Watch to secretly investigate, there were ultimately no results. As a result, the real cause of Tani Sanjuro's death was never made public, and he was declared to have died suddenly.

Tani Sanjurou was the eldest son of three brothers in the Tani family, and in the fall of the third year of Bunkyuu, he enlisted with the second son Mantaro and the last son, Shuuhei. The Tani brothers had originally run a swordsmanship dojo in Osaka, but the eldest son, who usually practised Jikishin-ryu [I think?] and Shinkage-ryu [新陰流], served as the Shinsengumi's spearmanship instructor. Both of them participated in the Ikedaya Incident and were awarded for their outstanding contributions.

The members of the Shinsengumi were very troubled by Tani Sanjurou's murder. There was no way that a Captain of the Shinsengumi would get killed in a private fight while drunk. Due to how this matter could not be made public, the cause of Tani's death was buried in darkness.

After the incident was resolved, the second son, Tani Mantaro, decided to leave the Shinsengumi. Although the Shinsengumi was thought of as an organization that you couldn't leave after you joining, that wasn't the case. If a member had a reason that the executives could understand, they would be allowed to leave. That was to say that Mantaro's reason for leaving was sufficient to Vice-Commander, Hijikata Toshizou.

On the night Tani Mantaro left, Harada Sanosuke was summoned by Hijikata to his room.

"So does the reason you called me here have something to to with Tani Mantaro leaving? Let me tell you, I don't know anything about why he's quitting."

As soon as he entered the room, Harada sat down with a slightly dissatisfied expression as he spoke. Seeing Harada like this, HIjikata helplessly shrugged his shoulders.

I don't have the slightest doubts about you. That guy went back to the Matsuyama Domain [松山藩] instead [in place?] of his brother."

The unexpected answer made Harada somewhat bewildered.

"…Huh. So that's how it is. I thought he quit because he couldn't stand the way Sanjuro was treated. So is Shuuhei, the youngest son, going to go too?"

"No, I heard that his return goes smoothly, then Shuuhei will be called."

"I see… In that case, why did you allow him to leave so easily? Is that really okay? Won't our internal affairs leak out?"

"…Hmm. I don't want him to intentionally speak ill of the Shinsengumi to Lord Matsuyama when he returns and cause unnecessary difficulties. Besides, we can make something about our internal situation [I think…?]

"That's true. You're as shrewd as ever when it comes to those sorts of things. So exactly what did you call me here for?"

In response to this question, Hijikata stood up and took out a long spear from teh corner of the room, and placed it in front of Harada.

"Actually, when Tani Mantaro left, he left this spear for you."

"Ah… Is this… for me?"

"Although it's nameless, it looks like a good spear. It's workmanship and quality have already been checked out, but I don't know about spears. How about it, do you want to use it?"

"In the end, doing something like one who would act as a master... Then I'll gracefully accept it."

When Harada was younger, he briefly lived in Osaka and learned how to use the spear under the guidance of Tani Mantaro. It was that reason why the Tani brothers Shinsengumi wasn't because Harada was there or they wanted to rely on him, but because that of his experience as his former master made the eldest brother, Sanjurou, quite proud/bossy.

As Hijikata gazed at Harada holding the spear in his hands, he suddenly remembered something and asked.

"…Speaking of which, your sword. Didn't it break during the Ikedaya Incident? Are you still using it?"

"Yeah, though it looks like it'll still be usable if I sharpen/polish it. I mainly use the spear so that sword's enough for me."

"With your salary, you should be able to buy a better sword, right? If you don't have enough, I can lend you some. Sword are used to protect lives so even if they're a bit expensive, you need to have a good sword."

"While I appreciate you saying that..."

"What, do you have feelings for that sword?"

Harada didn't respond and instead let his eyes wander to look into the distance.

Kofuzumi Okitomo. [江府住興友]

It was a sword wielded by a man who was like a brother that he knew from Osaka. That person gave up the pursuit of his dreams with Harada to start a family with a woman. He said that he wouldn't fight anymore for his woman's sake ever again and he removed his katana from his waist and gave it to Harada.

It was said that Harada, who left by himself, decided to go to Edo after reading the inscription on the sword which said "Kofu".

"…Yeah, sort of. I received this sword from a very important guy."

As Harada spoke with a smile and Hijikata did not ask any further.

---end---

I had spent more than 30 minutes trying to find the name of Harda's sword. I couldn't tell what the raw said (I am extremely bad with stylized writing) so what I thought was the 3rd character was wrong and that kept getting me Chinese results which are not helpful when looking up Japanese names. Eventually, I just tried looking up 新選組 の愛刀 to get the names of them... which eventually got me 江府住興友 though finding something in English took a while since all the google translations of the name didn't get me results so I had to keep spelling the romancized text in different ways... then gave up and just tried Harada and Kofu a few times before pulling up the name.

references used (not in order):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkage-ry%C5%AB

https://samurai-archives.com/wiki/Harada_Sanosuke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashima_Shinden_Jikishinkage-ryū

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyo-Matsuyama_Domain

https://shinsengumi.net/index.php/welcome-to-shinsengumi-no-makoto/tani-sanjuro/

http://www.toshizo.com/nozoku/skatana2.html

got a headache will deal with other stuff later.

[byneddiedingo]

Tatsuya Nakadai in Odd Obsession (Kon Ichikawa, 1959) Cast: Machiko Kyo, Ganjiro Nakamura, Junko Kano, Tatsuya Nakadai, Tanie Kitabayashi, Ichiro Sugai, Mantaro Ushio, Jun Hamamura. Screenplay: Keiji Hasebe, Kon Ichikawa, Notto Wada, based on a novel by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa. Music: Yasushi Akutagawa. As with so many foreign-language films, the English title Odd Obsession seems to miss the mark a little, but the Japanese title, Kagi, which means "The Key," also seems a little off-target, even though it was taken from the novel on which the film was based. If I were retitling it, I'd call the film something like "The Jealousy Cure," which is not only in keeping with the plot but is also supported by the way the film opens, as if presenting a case study: We see a man (Tatsuya Nakadai) in a physician's white coat standing before an anatomy chart, speaking directly at the camera. He describes the various effects of aging on the body before turning away to enter the action of the scene. We learn that he is Kimura, an intern in the clinic of Dr. Soma (Jun Hamamura), who is treating a post-middle-aged man, Kenji Kenmochi (Ganjiro Nakamura), for sexual dysfunction. The doctor advises Kenji that the injections he has been giving him are probably ineffective, and that he should try to find other ways of dealing with the problem. Kimura has also been dating Kenji's daughter, Toshiko (Junko Kano), and he has let slip to her that her father is seeing Dr. Soma. She passes the information along to her mother, Ikuko (Machiko Kyo), whom we then see visiting Dr. Soma to find out if there is something she can do for her husband. It's an awkward encounter: Ikuko is rather embarrassed by the subject of their sex life, but she resolves to do what she can to help. Kenji then discovers that his libido is stirred by the thought of anyone having sex with his much younger wife, and when Kimura comes to dinner, Kenji begins to plot ways of bringing his wife and the young and handsome intern together. As Kimura and Ikuko begin an affair -- the key from the Japanese title is the one she gives Kimura to the back gate -- Kenji's sex drive reawakens, with the added consequence of dangerously elevating his blood pressure. Odd Obsession is not so much a case study, however, as an ironic dark comedy, one in which the follies of the various characters lead to what might be a tragic conclusion if viewed from another angle than the one Ichikawa chooses. It's also a showcase for the versatility of Nakadai and Kyo, who reteamed seven years later for the more serious The Face of Another (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1966). I think Ichikawa is a little too interested in "trying things out," such as the opening segue from breaking the fourth wall into starting the action of the film, or the freeze frames that interrupt the action in the opening section, tricks that don't feel consistent with the rest of Odd Obsession.

[elstelsblog]

Investor-State Dispute Settlement

So called investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) have become an instrument of international law by various bilateral investment treaties as they have been signed with many developing countries. Europe is affected by the Energy Charter Treaty from 1998 which has already been signed by 51 countries, the European Union as well as Euratom. Investor-state dispute settlements guarantee investors the right to file a lawsuit against a foreign government whenever their future profits should be at risk. What may sound harmless and justified is in deed an unjust regime which already accounts for many human rights violations, mainly in developing countries. ISDS as they are currently state of the art have already heavily compromised the democratic legislation of many affected states. They can require the public to pay high indemnifications or even worse to take back and abolish consumer, social, environmental or other regulations. The trials are held under exclusion of the public and without any possibility to appeal. The lawyers are neither voted democratically nor are they designated by the public.

The planned free-trade agreements between Europe, the USA and Canada (TTIP, CETA, TiSA) have also been devised to contain such a special clause for investor protection which allows companies to sue against states. After vehement protests of EU citizens against TTIP and CETA there are no more negotations about TTIP and the ratification of CETA has been deferred. A verdict of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on th 6th of March which applies to an investor protection treaty between the Netherlands and Slovakia gives us reason for hope because it says that a concurrent legislative system and investor state dispute settlement courts are incompatible with EU law.

Nonetheless the lobby does not sleep: On the 20th of March the governments of the EU member states have convened to entrust the European Commission with negotiations about rules for a new global investment court. The new global investment court is no more called ISDS but now it is called MIC “Multilateral Investment Court”. An advantage of the MIC towards the ISDS is that lawsuits will not be excluded from the public. Furthermore parties will have the right to appeal. However if the Multilater Investment Court would be installed in deed then big companies can continue to sue states based on poorly defined clauses like the 'fair and equitable treatment'. Only foreign state investors are allowed to file a complaint. Big transnational companies would acquire unimagined rights for profit without incuring any duties like complying with human rights. It can only be the aim of the population to fully get rid of the unjustified special actions as granted to big companies by a global investment court like the MIC, the Multilateral Investment Court.

Read more about TTIP

When Bolivian Water had been a Highly Profitable Investment

The lawsuit of Agua del Turani against Bolivia is one of the worst examples for investor state dispute resolutions (Aguas del Turani S.A. v. Republic of Bolivia - ICSID Case No.RB/02/3). A non-public contract from 1999 about the privatization of the water supply of Cochabamba was the base for the lawsuit. It included concessions about the water delivery for 40 years with a guaranteed annual cash flow of 16%. The privatization of the water supply was a precondition for new credits from the World Bank. The majority shareholders of Aguas del Turani were the company Bechtel the largest construction and plant engineering company of the USA and the Spain multinational Abengoa.

As the contract was put into practice in November 1999 a violent increase in prices was the result. According to Aguas del Turani the rise in prices accounted for just 10% while other sources state increases from 50% up to 200%. Tany Pardees an affected person commented the dramatic surge in prices like the following: ‘What we pay for water comes out of what we have to pay for food, clothes and the other things we need to buy for our children.’.

As a result people protested heavily for their right on an affordable water supply. The government tried to suffocate the protests with police and military and even declared martial law. After the death of a 17 year old adolescent (Victor Hugo Danza) things went out of control so that the concern left Bolivia in April 2000. The government took the concession back and passed a new law for water delivery. In November 2002 Aguas del Turani sued Bolivia at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Bolivia was condemned to pay 50 Mio USD of lost revenue though the company had just invested 1 Mio USD. At the background of ongoing protest Aguas del Turani and Bolivia finally agreed for a symbolic compensation payement in 2006.

Egypt was Sued Because it Introduced a Minimum Wage

The French concern Veolia which was engaged by the Egyptian state e.g. for water purification has sued Egypt for its introductin of a minimum wage. The minimum wage reduced the companies prospective profits. Amount in controversy: 82 Mio. USD. There is not much known about this lawsuit as it is held behind closed doors. With more than 100 bilateral contracts including investor state dispute resolutions there are likely more companies which would have to agree with the Egyptian state on the introduction of minimum wages. More than just a clear loss of national sovereignity.

Arbitration Award for RDC against Guatemala and the Customary International Law

In 1997 Guatemala has privatized its well equipped railway network which was no more sufficiently utilized since the upgrading of the road system and the closing of banana plantations. The privatization contract contained the commitment to invest about 10 Million USD into the railway network which was already suffering from decay.

However the Railroad Development Corporation never adhered to the commitments it was considered having agreed upon so that Guatemala sued against the company by a so called leviso proceeding (leviso, es: inimical). As a consequence the company sued back. In 2012 Guatemala was condemned to pay 50 Million US-Dollars of lost revenue, the 10 Million USD the company should have invested into the countries railroad sytem plus 5 Mio. USD of process costs while the leviso proceeding against the company were already closed.

Basically the free trade contract should have guaranteed “fair and equitable treatment” (FET) which means that the judicature would need to adhere to the minimum standard as provided by customary international law. Customary international law is part of the law of nations. However law was interpreted “investor friendly” which means in parctice that the leviso preceedings were condemned though they are part of the legal order in many many South American states.

The so called fair and equitable treatment is also part of TTIP and CETA. The analysis of the precedent case and its possible effects on Europe if these free trade agreements should become signed has not yet been finished by the Technical University of Dresden.

Peru: Mining Combine Refused to Accept Environmental Regulations and Sues Back because it had to Close Down

According to the Blacksmith Institute La Oroya has been one of the ten most polluted areas of the world in 2006 and 2007. It is the centre of Peruvian mining activity with large deposits of lead, copper, zinc and silver. In 1997 it has been baught by Doe Run Peru, an US-American company which is part of the Renco Group. The waste waters of the smeltry are contaminated with heavy metals and its sulphurous exhaust gases contain lead, arsenic and cadmium. The acidic rain pollutes areas under cultivation and the Rio Mantaro which is the source of drinking water for La Oroya. Seven of Ten children in La Oroya had 20-40μg lead in their blood while the maximal acceptable concentration as given by the WHO is 10μg. Many people suffer from asthma bronchial, kidney diseases and nervous affections.

Environmental Assignments were part of the contract when Doe Run Peru bought the area like f.i. to equip the smeltries with filters. The company entirely failed to implement any of these environmental specifications so that its operating license was taken back in 2010 by the Peruvian state. As a consequence the company has filed a lawsuit of about 800 Million Dollars against the state which is still running (2014).

Chevron against Ecuador

Before the Texaco Petroleum Company (TexPet) has been baught by Chevron in 2001 it had mined crude oil in the Ecuadorian Amazon however without deploying state of the art technology. 17 Million gallons of crude oil and 64 Billion liters of toxic waste have been spilled contaminating huge areas while flaring natural gas. The drinking water of people has been contaminated. Many people have died from cancer. Some indigenous communities have been braught close to extinction.

In this case TexPet Ecuador was the first to start a complaint against the Ecuadorian state. Ecuador should have falsified its demand in oil and thus have received unjustifiable cost advantage. Ecuador was condemned by a court of arbitration (UNCITRAL) to pay an indemnification of 100 Million USD. As a consequence the Ecuadorian state was pressed to sign the “Settlement Agreement” in 1995 while the “Final Release” was signed in 1998. It says that Ecuador will not be alowed to sue TexPet because of the environmental disaster it has caused because it had already taken some cosmetic measures against the oil spill like covering crude oil sinks with earth.

The solely remaining possiblilty was that the population itself sued against Chevron which was done by the “Largo Agrio” claim in 2011. It resulted in Chevron being demanded to pay 18 Billion USD which could however only be prosecuted by foreign courts because Chevron had no more possesions in Ecuador at that time. Nonetheless Chevron sued back on top of the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) Ecuador had signed in 1997. The result was that Ecuador would have to pay the 18 Billion USD itself or that it would stop the proceedings. In deed the claimants demanded the tribunal to override the Ecuadorian constitution and its obligations under the human rights treaties in favour of the BIT. Until today Chevron has persistently refused to pay any indemnification or to mitigate the suffering of the affected people.

Lone Star tries to claim Tax Avoidance Tricks

During the finance crises Lone Star Fonds Korea Exchange Bank Holdings a letter-box company in Belgium baught the Korea Exchange Bank from South Korea just in order to resell it to the Private Equity Funds Lone Star the rather buyer. As the bank was sold from a holding in Belgium and not directly from South Korea the bank endorsed itself by a free trade agreement signed in 1976 to pay no more capital yields taxes as no such tax used to exist in Belgium. However South Korea did not accept this as their administration of justice reasoned that the rather buyer was the investment fund Lone Star on from the beginning.

As you may already suppose Lone Star opened up an investor state dispute resolution against South Korea demanding 2.7 Million Euro of already paid taxes back. Lone Star simply tried it with similar tax avoidance tricks as many other big companies like Google, Starbucks and others desiring to claim them enduringly basing on the investor state dispute resolution of the said free trade agreement (If Lone Star wins the proceedings there will be another precedent case and no possibility to appeal.).

Metalclad is Allowed to Build a Disposal for Hazardous Waste

In 1992 the US-american company Metalclad has baught a treatment plant for hazardous waste in Guadalcazar, Mexico. It wanted to transform it into a landfill and had obtained a permission by the Mexcian state to do so. However the construction approval of local authorities was missing because the location was inappropriate for such a disposal. The local population had already been complaining about contaminated drinking water for years.

Metalclad started to transform the site into a landfill and local authorities imposed a suspension of building work. In 1995 they refused to give it an operating license. Basing on NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, Metalclad sued the Mexican state demanding compensations of 90 Million USD. The arbitration court condemned Mexico to pay 15.6 Million USD and allowed the dispose hazardous waste at the landfill.

Pharama Concern Sues Canada for its Interpretation of Patent Law

The pharma concern Eli Lilly sues Canada for 500 Million USD. Canada has declared the patents for the medicinal drugs Straterra (against ADHS) and Zyprexa (against schizophrenia) because of lacking long term studies invalid. The benefit of these drugs was put at doubt. Note that Zyprexa is a medicine which is administered to people against their will and which can have severe side effects like up to a sudden unexplainable death in seldom cases. The lawsuit was filed by a competitive producer of generic drugs. It is said that the main goal of Eli Lilly would not be the indemnification but a change in Canadas constitution.

Ethyl Sued Canada in order to Sell a Harmful Fuel Additive

At the end of the 90ies Ethyl Corp sued Canada to sell its Fuel Additive MMT containing manganese which was suspected to harm the nerval system. The additive was already forbidden in the United States. While the respective long term studies demanded by Canadian law were still missing Canada had issued an explicit embargo for the import and transport of this substance. This was considered an “expropriation” by the arbitration court of the ICSID as governed by the World Bank and set in force by NAFTA. Canada accepted a settlement of the dispute and paid 13 Million USD to Ethyl Corp. Nonetheless it had to allow the substance.

The described case contributed to mobilize “globalization critics” (I would rather say critics of carnivore capitalism and corporocracy) to participate in the protests in Prague (2000) an Genova (2001). Even the Chrétien government which was fighting for this free trade agreement had to admit a defeat.

Canada Pays because it Stopped Export of Toxic Waste

On the 5th of May in 1992 Canada ratified together with many other nations the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazarduos Wastes and Their Disposal. Hazardous wastes must not be exported to foreign countries but disposed professionally on-site. When the U.S. environmental protection agency allowed such an export in October 1995 of PCB from Canada to the USA Canada stopped the export on base of the Basel agreement. PCBs have been globally forbidden by the 2001 Stockholm Convention`s Dirty Dozen among twelve especially toxic and hazardous substances.

However the company S.D. Myers Inc. which would have profited from such an export sued on base of NAFTA, the North American Trade Agreement for 20 Million USD. The court decided that the Canadian state had to pay 4.8 Million Dollars.

Canada Sued because of Fracking Moratorium

In 2011 Quebec had administered a fracking moratorium until an environmental impact assessment could be made for mining gas at the St. Lawrence River (e.g. At some sites of the USA the drinking water became inflamable and contaminated by fracking activities.). In 2012, as a result the US-american company Lone Pine Resources Inc. sued against Canada demanding 250 Million USD at the base of NAFTA. The government would have acted ‘arbitrary, indiscriminately and illegal’. The mining rights would have been held back ‘without a “fair” trial, without compensation and without any recognizable public interest’.

Vattenfalls first Stroke against Germany

In 2007 the local CDU government permitted the construction of a new coal-fired power plant for Hamburg. When the CDU lost its absolute majority in 2008 the green party joined the government. However they could not achieve a withdrawal of the concession. Neither could they achieve a gas power plant to be built instead because it would have been rarely feasible to construct a gas power plant with the same power output. Management spokesman of Vattenfall Hans-Jürgen Cramer had threatened the new government to be sued for Billions of Euros.

Consequently the coal-fired power plant was constructed. However the new coalition enacted a legal ordinance that the power plant may only work throttled for 250 days of the year. After a lawsuit at the higher administrative court of Hamburg had been unsuccessful Vattenfall sued against Germany in front of the ICSID (International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes) demanding 1.4 Billion USD. The lawsuit was possible due to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) which came into force in 1998. Currently 51 countries, the European Union as well as Euratom have signed the treaty. The outcome of the lawsuit is yet unknown to the public because of nondisclosure agreement clause. Even well known experts are not allowed to see the documents.

Vattenfall sues against the Nuclear Phaseout of Germany

As a consequence of the Fukushima worst-case nuclear accident the Lower House of German Parliament has decided to phase out nuclear energy with overwhelming majority. The extension of the running time for many nuclear power plants approved in the year before was canceled. Eon, RWE and Vattenfall appealed on a constitution complaint for 15 Billion Euro at the Federal Constitution Court which was dismissed. EnBW which is also running nuclear power plants in Germany did not take part in the complaint (we suppose likely due to ethical reasons).

The Swedish Vattenfall concern did however even go further. Vattenfall sued due to the ECT (see for the last section) at the ICSID (belonging to the World Bank) against the decision of the Lower House of the German Parliament. The volume of the complaint amounts to 3.7 Billion Euro. The proceedings do now already extend for years. An inquiry of the green party was dismissed due to nondisclosure clause signed bywith the ECT. 2015-08-01: The ICSID in Washington has decided that Germany should pay an unbelievable amount of 4.7 Bio. Euro to Vattenfall; Take Action at SumOfUs.

Italy: against Oil Drilling in the Adria

The British oil and gas company Rockhopper sued Italy in May 2017 because Italy had refused to allow for oil drilling in the Adriatic sea. Before the Italian parliament had forbidden all oil and gas activities because of environmental concerns and because of the problem of earthquakes. Rockhopper sues on top of the Energy Charta Treaty (ECT) for indemnification in the amount of 200-300 Million USD. There has been no decision on the issue yet (2019).

Although Italy has already left the Energy Charta Treaty (ECT) it can still be obliged to pay. Italy can be sued up to 20 years with hindsight for any investment taken before Italy has exited the ECT (January the 1st of 2016); a 'zombie' clause in the treaty makes this possible.

Curchill Mining wants Indonesian Coal

In May 2007 Churchill Mining PLC baught mining rights from four companies over an Indonesian affiliate from the Ridlatama Group. However the investment contract between the Ridlatama Group and Churchill Mining PLC was declared invalid by the South Jakarta District Court because the company did not even have a license to mine coal in Indonesia. Churchill Mining had caused offences against existing licenses during mining activities in the woods. As a result no additional license was granted.

Though the company had only invested 40 Million Dollar into the exploration of a coal deposit it sued at the base of the UK-Indonesia-BIT and the Australia-Indonesia BIT for Billions of Dollars.

… and Even More Examples

There are even many more examples for investor state disputes like Mexico being sued for a 20% tax on High Fructose Corn Sirup which has been confirmed to be a special cause for obesity or Australia for its Tobacco Plain Packaging Regulations in 2011 which lays down the design of the packaging because producers had obscured or hidden the health warning notes as required by law. Though Australia had won the dispute about tobacco packaging (the lawsuit had been dismissed because of ‘formal reasons’) the public still had to pay 39 million USD. Ecuador had to pay 2.3 Billion Dollar while the compensation for the nationalization of Occidental Petroleum amounted only to 1.8 Billion Dollar. The nationalization was done after an offence of contracts by Occidental Petroleum. South Africa was not allowed to prescribe a certain national percentage at the auction of mining rights …

The Investors do not Cry for Argentinia

While we do not want to examine the reasons for the Argentinian crises in detail where private people have been expropriated by locking the money on their banking accounts in order to use it to pay off the depth of the state (Yes they have simply looted their peoples banking accounts to serve the debtors of the state.) we want to set an eye on some of the investor state disputes held with Argentinia.

Under the pressure of public debts many sectors of the Argentinian economy have been privatized in the 90ies: water supply, energy supply, remote communications and a large share of public transport. While the poverty of the people exacerbated and all life sustainmant costs were on the rise the government found itself constrained by heavy riots to do something against the rise in prices for electric current and water which did especially hit the poorer classes of the population: The government mandated a cap in prices for electricity and water.

The result were heavy international dispute settlement claims. In the year 2006 on third of all ICSID claims were targeted against Argentinia. Some lawsuits have already been finished: Argentinia is supposed to pay 165 Million USD to the water supplier Azurix (USA), 54 Million USD to the energy supplier National Grid (UK), 133 Million USD to the gas supplier CMS (USA) and 185 Million USD to the investment group BF (UK).

In the face of these horrifying prospects the Argentinian government considers to break up with all of its free trade agreements which contain so called investor protection clauses. This may be the only viable way for the future. Other countries like Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia have already done so.

We believe that it should not be necessary to comment any further about any of these issues as we believe that most people will have a natural feeling of justice. Isn`t it direly perverted to prosecute those people by law who should in deed be saved against various partially severe crimes commited by leaders of international concerns and companies? .- apart from the fact that many, most or all of the said cases seem to contradict legal conceptions as they are currently established a.o. in the member states of the European Union (The really bad thing is that these courts take precedence over national courts.).

For those who simply can not believe what they have just read it should be time to wake up!

Joining one of the free trade agreements like TTIP, CETA or TISA at least without discarding the clauses for investor state protection may be the end of the “European Dream”. It is most likely that Europe would simply fall apart into singleton nation states (which we believe can defend themselves much worse than a joint union of states; one could just remember the GATS which was taken back in Austria only because of joining the European Union) because withdrawing from such agreements and staying part of the European Union would only be possible if all government heads consented. We believe it to be almost impossible that any folk of the world will bear such an aggravation of injustice, crime and deterioration of living circumstance in endurance.

Note that in our opinion not even an economic justifications can be given for so called investor state dispute resolutions. Interest rates and profits are considered to be a compensation for economic engagement and especially the risks. If there is no more risk for the investor because the public becomes liable for enterpreneurial risks then what justification is there for high profits? (We also see this with large banks which are considered “system critical”.) It is heavily unfair in order not to say that it is a crime to challenge the public for expected profits and the risk of loss; apart from that: How fair is a game where those who are in leadership can change the rules of the game arbitrarily? Article Source - https://www.elstel.org/ISDS.html.en

[impracticaldemon]

Chapter 7: The Shinsengumi of Fairy Tail ~ A Guide

Note:  The REAL Chapter 7 is in progress, but a number of people commented that although they really liked the story, they were getting confused by all the names.  So welcome to Levy’s Guide to the Shinsengumi of Fairy Tail!

My fabulous NEW GAJEVY CHIBIS (!!!) were created by MintAnneComics.

(Please don’t reproduce my commissioned art without asking me, thanks. :)

Fanfiction copy of the chapter is linked above. Text is posted below.

Chapter 7—The Shinsengumi of Fairy Tail

Author's Note: It is taking me longer to finish writing the final chapter of this Gajevy story than I had anticipated. In the meantime, I wanted to address the comment that although the characters are entertaining, it isn't easy to keep track of who is who without knowing more about the Shinsengumi. Consequently, this "chapter" is actually a short "cast of characters" that I hope will be both interesting and helpful to those of you who have tried to follow my rapidly-expanding list of players! For what it's worth, I had to do this for my other Shinsengumi-related story (now at 81 chapters) for similar reasons—it's just easier to keep track of what's going on when you know who is who and how they are connected.

All of those listed are real historical characters, although their real life counterparts did not necessarily have the same appearance as described in this story. I note, however, that Hijikata Toshizō was described as being "as handsome as an actor" and had a number of women interested in him. He never married. Moreover, since this story is at least partly a Hakuouki cross-over, many of the physical descriptions and some of the general concepts are taken from that particular Shinsengumi setting, to the extent that they fit in well with Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail remains the major/intended basis for this story.

Part I—Shinsengumi

Kondō Isami, Commander—the current overall leader of the Shinsengumi; Levy has seen him but rarely interacts with him; she doesn't know if he is one of the People

Sannan Keisuke, Colonel or Deputy Commander—the military and tactical advisor and second-in-command of the Shinsengumi; Levy has rarely seen him and knows little about him; he was seriously injured in battle before she arrived and has been reclusive ever since

Hijikata Toshizō, Vice Commander—the day-to-day leader of the Shinsengumi and currently the functional second-in-command; Hijikata is known for being a stern disciplinarian, which has earned him the name of "Oni no Fukuchō" (the Demon Vice Commander); Levy has met him a few times and has mixed feelings—he seems very strict, but also seems to have compassion, although he doesn't let it interfere with the efficient running of the Shinsengumi; Levy now believes him to be one of the People

Okita Sōji, First Division Captain (Dragneel Natsu)—brash, fiery-tempered and more than a little bitter; supposedly used to be a lot more cheerful and easy-going, but Levy hasn't seen much of that; he and Gajeel seem to have a semi-friendly rivalry; Dragon Clan [actual appearance: pink hair, green eyes]

Nagakura Shinpachi, Second Division Captain (Alberona Kana)—cheerful, outgoing and hard-drinking, popular with his (her) soldiers; Levy was shocked to discover that "Nagakura" is actually a woman, and wears almost as little under her illusion spell as "Nagakura" wears in general (which isn't much!); one of the People, probably one of the Yōsei (Fairies, for lack of a better translation); Levy wonders why Nagakura has a reputation for frequenting the higher-priced brothels given her actual gender

Saitō Hajime, Third Division Captain (Fullbuster Gray)—quiet, reserved and clearly one of Hijikata's most trusted officers; generally works well with others and has a good relationship with Gajeel (unknown why); has a slightly strained relationship with Okita/Natsu (unknown why); is cautious, but seems disposed to be kind to Levy; probably one of the Yōsei but may have some Oni (Demon Clan) blood (rumour only because he is a surprisingly powerful fighter for one of the Yōsei) [actual appearance is midnight blue/black hair and eyes]

Inoue Genzaborou, Sixth Division Captain—does not appear to be affiliated with the People, or maybe Levy just can't tell; seems much calmer and more normal than the others, appears older but is probably only in his early thirties

Tōdō Heisuke, Eigth Division Captain—described as generally cheerful and full of energy, but currently still under medical care following a brutal head-wound received at the Ikedaya Inn (where Levy was working in Chapter 1) during the raid; it has been implied that Heisuke (who tends to go by his first name, unlike most people) is one of the People and may have been attacked by one of the People (of the Oni/Demon Clan) at the Ikedaya; Levy has not spoken with Heisuke much because of his serious injury (also, the others seem very protective of their comrade)

Harada Sanosuke, Tenth Division Captain (Scarlet Erza)—tall and friendly, with bright red hair and superb weapon skills; clearly one of Hijikata's most trusted officers; one of the Yōsei Clan like Levy, she keeps her red hair visible because it makes it easier to distract people (by illusion) from her true appearance as a woman; PAGE [actual appearance is similar to shown appearance, but female and shorter]

Tani Mantaro, Second Division Vice-Captain (Redfox, Gajeel)—frequently fills in as captain for the other divisions when there are injuries; close friend of his roommates Yamazaki Susumu and Shimada Kai; Dragon Clan (Levy's mentor, despite having hurt her and attacked her foster-mother Keiko-san during the Ikedaya Inn raid) [only the red eyes are concealed]

Yamazaki Susumu, Inspector (Lahar)—one of the Shinsengumi's spies and internal investigators, Yamazaki is a skilled shinobi (similar to a ninja) and also the doctor/medic of the organization; currently teaching Levy magic; member of the Yōsei clan [true appearance has purple eyes]

Shimada Kai, Inspector and also Second Division Vice-Captain—as big as Gajeel and very broad, Shimada is friendly and easy-going; like Gajeel, he is often placed in whatever Division needs him most and he can lead if required; his main job is to work with Yamazaki/Lahar as a spy/investigator; he does not appear to be one of the People, but Gajeel and Lahar seem to speak freely around him so Levy assumes that he is [appearance is black hair and dark brown eyes—quite normal, just very big]

Yamato Daisuke, Page to Harada Sanosuke (Marvell, Wendy)—appears to be about thirteen or fourteen and about two inches taller than Levy; is actually a girl of fourteen and about the same height as Levy (4'8" or 4'9"—note that average height for women in Edo Japan was about 4'10"); although unspecified, Levy believes that Yamato/Wendy is a Yōsei because of her dark blue hair; Levy knows that Wendy has the ability to heal others and has learned how to fight and hit but is quite gentle

Yukimura Aki, Page to Yamazaki Susumu (and general) (Levy, former alias "Aoi" meaning blue; last name and family unknown)

Part II—Fairy Tail Guild (Post-Split)

The Split occurred when Dreyar Laxus, the grandson of then Guild Master Dreyar Makarov, successfully attacked and took control of both Fairy Tail Guild and the title of King of the small kingdom containing the Guild. Several Fae (the People) sided with Laxus-sama and some Fae were captured or killed during the brief and violent civil war; the Fae who fought hardest against Laxus-sama (and who weren't captured or killed) eventually retreated and have been in exile ever since. Quite a few are in Kyoto, as the large population makes it easy to blend in. Also, Kyoto is more or less central while still being quite some distance from Fairy Tail Guild.

Kazama Chikage (Dreyar Laxus)—blond and arrogant, Laxus does not change his appearance although he uses a bit of power so that humans find it intimidating but not especially strange; he is searching for the missing Fae of the original Fairy Tail; apparently he showed up at the battle near the Imperial Palace and may or may not have recognized Hijikata Toshizō and Gajeel as Fae (unclear—maybe not)

Amagiri Kyūju (Justine Freed)—lean with long green hair; met with Saitō Hajime (Gray) during the battle near the Imperial Palace—may or may not have identified him; also noticed Levy but likely didn't recognize her as Fae thanks to Gray; he is an Oni (Demon Clan) with very strong powers

Shiranui Kyō (?)—Harada (Erza) mentioned having met another of Laxus' allies, but Levy didn't catch any names or other comments other than the fact that Erza thinks that she may have been identified

Please leave a comment in the notes if you found this interesting or helpful!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll have the new chapter ready soon.

[ladyyomiart]

I thought of making more portraits of my OCs in the same art style I used in my recent "OCs VS Artist" meme to include them on their profiles at my Toyhouse account. 📸✨ This is Tani Mantaro, the adoptive younger brother of my other OC Tani Sanjuro, and also a selfless doctor who tried to (unsuccessfully, lol 💀) heal Sannan's arm!

[shinsengumi-archives]

Tani Mantaro

[shinsengumi-archives]

Tani Mantaro [shinsengumi-no-makoto]

 1835 - June 30, 1886

           The second son of his family, Tani Mantaro was the younger brother of Captain Tani Sanjuro. He had followed his brother to Osaka in October of 1856, where they established a dojo. He then followed his brother into the Shinsengumi in 1863.

           Though he does appear to have been in Kyoto at times, Tani was mostly based in Osaka where he continued to operate the dojo and also maintained a headquarters for the Shinsengumi. He left the group after Sanjuro died in 1866, but his dojo later failed and he spent the rest of his life in obscurity. He passed away from an illness in 1886 at age 52 [51].

           Incidently Tani’s ability to leave the group without fear of reprisal is one of the reasons the authenticity of the so-called “dreaded articles” is in doubt.

[shinsengumi-archives]

On June 4, 1864, under torture by Hijikata Toshizo and others, Furutaka Shuntaro confessed to a plan to set fire to the Imperial Court on a windy day around June 20 and take the Emperor away to Choshu. He also confessed that "Ikedaya" and "Shikokuya" were the two meeting places. On June 5, the Shinsengumi prepared to meet the Kyoto Shugoshoku and stood by, but he did not show up at the appointed time. Reluctantly, the Shinsengumi decided to attack alone at around 10:00 p.m. After some hesitation as to whether to attack Ikedaya or Shikokuya, the Shinsengumi decided to split up into two groups. 10 elite members headed for Ikedaya: Isamu Kondo, Soji Okita, Shinpachi Nagakura, Heisuke Toudou, Mantaro Tani, Totaro Asano, Kanryusai Takeda, Eisuke Okusawa, Hayataro Ando, and Kisaemon Nitta. On the other hand, more than 20 people headed for Shikokuya, led by Hijikata Toshizo. This shows that the number of those mobilized at this time was only 30 or so. It turned out, the shishi were at Ikedaya. 

First, Okita Soji held the second floor by himself and killed several people, but he had a fit and collapsed. We do not know if this was due to tuberculosis. If it was tuberculosis, he would have fought for four more years. It’s hard to believe that a TB patient who had progressed to the point of having coughing fits and collapsing could have played such an active role in battle. If it wasn’t TB, what was it? I’m at a loss.... Kondo was at the back entrance at first, and after killing one person, he went inside the room to help Nagakura and the others. It’s said that Kondo's fighting spirit (his loud voice) encouraged the other members. Todo was fighting near the courtyard when he was cut on the forehead and lost a lot of blood. He was unable to fight as well as he wanted because of the blood in his eyes, and Nagakura saved him. Nagakura was fighting near the dining area, and it’s said that he was slightly cut on his palm. It is said that Takeda, Tani, and Asano were in the front, and Nitta, Okusawa, and Ando were in the back. The three men guarding the back door were also victims of the incident.

Later, Hijikata and others rushed to the scene, and the Ikedaya Incident resulted in the death of seven of the enemy samurai, including Miyabe Kinzo, Kitazoe Norimaro, and Otaka Matajiro, and the capture of about ten others. It was after noon the next day when the mobilized soldiers returned home with bloodstained hakama, some of them injured, and half of their bodies covered in blood. The people of Kyoto must have been astonished to see them walking back through the streets of Kyoto in such a state of disarray. Although people differ in their evaluations of this incident, the Ikedaya Incident is said to have delayed the Meiji Restoration by one or more years.

[shinsengumi-archives]

Was Iwata Kou the girl who got rejected by Okita?

The story about the girl who got rejected by Okita cames from “新選組余話” written by Kojima Masataka, a descendent of Kojima Shikanosuke. It says:

There was an adopted daughter of Kondo. I don’t know her name and age, but she was taking care of cleaning and washing at the Shieikan dojo. At one point, this girl confessed to Okita that she was in love with him and wanted to become his wife, but he told her, “I’m still in training…” Hearing this, she tried to commit suicide by stabbing her own throat with a kaiken dagger, but it did not cause fatal injury. Later, it was said that she married into another family arranged by Kondo Isami.

According to the blog 新選組事典:

Although the name of the woman is not revealed here, it’s clearly stated that she was the adopted daughter of Kondo Isami, but was it true that Kondo Isami had an adopted daughter?

Kojima Shikanosuke's father, Kojima Kakuzaemon's book "聴書", has an anecdote from the 3rd day of the 7th month, Genji 1:

"Kondo has a thirteen-year-old (?) adopted daughter.” (”近藤は養女まで致し候由。十三歳位の趣也”)

It is confirmed that there was an adopted daughter during the Shinsengumi era. And there are other statements that support this. Hatsuko, the granddaughter of Sue, the wife of Shinsengumi spear master Tani Mantaro, talks about her grandmother Sue’s younger sister, Kou.

Iwata Hatsuko stated: "It was decided that she would be adopted by Kondo Isami with along with Shuhei."

Tani Masatake, also known as "Kondo Shuhei", was adopted by Kondo Isami at one point. Since Kondo adopted Shuhei before Ikedaya, it is probable that Iwata Kou, the younger sister of Tani Mantaro’s wife Sue, was adopted by Kondo around this time. Even more surprisingly, Kou's father, Iwata Fumio, is a doctor. Due to this fact, the existence of Iwata Kou suddenly becomes more plausible...

However, Iwata Hatsuko continued: "Kou was Shuhei's fiancee."

When?!

At that time, it was very unlikely that adopted children could get married. If this statement by Iwata Hatsuko is correct, it means that there was a complicated love triangle between Okita Souji, Tani Shuhei, and Iwata Kou.

In Kondo Yugoro's interview: "Kondo once admonished Okita and told him to break up with his daughter." However, for Kondo who wanted to solidify the political foundation of Tani from the prestigious Itakura clan and Higo-no-kami (Matsudaira Katamori), bringing them together with Kou, the daughter of Iwata Fumio, a samurai doctor of Nakayama Dainagon, may be able to fulfill his wish. It could be that Kondo's circumstances led to Okita's rejection of Kou's feelings.

When Shuhei's older brother Sanjuro Tani was killed by someone on April 1, 2nd year of Keio, Shinohara Tainoshin attributed his death to be from a "left thrust". From this testimony, it is speculated that the killer is Saito Hajime, but there’s a theory that Okita was also left-handed, and it can be thought that it’s related to this love triangle, but this is a big leap, so I'll stop here. 　

Shuhei has been in and out of the Iwata family since the Meiji era, but there is no indication that he married Kou. And it is a famous story that Shuhei adoption was later canceled, but I wonder if there was any relationship between this and Kou...

The blog 日本の女性史 says:

Okita doesn't talk about very close female relationships, but there is an anecdote that he fell in love with a doctor's daughter.

She would be the daughter of a doctor in Osaka and her name was Iwata Kou. Kou also became Kondo's adopted daughter in order to marry Tani Shuhei, who was adopted by Kondo Isami. She met Okita there and fell in love, but Okita couldn't respond to Kou's courtship because he respected Kondo’s wishes, so Kou tried to kill herself by piercing her throat with a sword, but managed to stay alive.

She couldn't marry Tani Shuhei because ​​it was such a big incident, so she got married to a merchant by Kondo's arrangement.

One thing I’m confused about is that the story about Okita’s rejection took place at the Shieikan, but the events related to Iwata Kou, who’s commonly believed to be that girl, took place after the Shinsengumi’s formation, so I’m not sure how they fit together. Maybe I misunderstood something.

According to the blog ケペル先生のブログ:

Another lover of Okita was from the Edo Shieikan days. She is Kou, the daughter of Iwata Fumio, who did cleaning and washing for the dojo. She once confessed her feelings to Okita that she wanted to become his wife, but she was rejected with the reason, "I'm still in training." Out of shame, Kou tried to commit suicide by stabbing her throat with her sword, but she was not fatally injured and she survived.

It’s said she was later adopted by Kondo and she married another family. However, Iwata Fumio lived in Minamihorie, Osaka, and Tani Mantaro is married to Sue, the second daughter of Fumio. Kou is the third daughter and it may be in Kyoto that she met Okita.

If everything was true, it would only make sense to me if the girl who was rejected during the Shieikan days and Tani Shuhei’s fiancee Iwata Kou were two different people. Maybe Kondo had two adopted daughters, but the first one didn’t go down on historical records?

Along with doctor’s daughter Iwata Kou, Okita also had a relationship and broke up with another doctor’s daughter who may or may not be the same person, and another one whose name was possibly Ishii Tsune who might have had a child with him.

Did Okita have a thing for doctor’s daughters? 😂

[shinsengumi-archives]

The Ikedaya Incident

From Illustrated Shinsengumi

6th month, Genji 1 (1864)

On June 5, 1864, due to the confession of Masuya Kiemon of Shijokobashi Nishiiri Shincho (Mamachi) ((1) on the map), the Shinsengumi, who learned of the banned fire plan of the outlawed ronin and others, immediately reported to the Aizu clan and requested that they be dispatched on the same day.

However, Aizu soldiers did not appear at the meeting place Gion Town Hall (2) even near 8 pm, so Isami Kondo led nine people including Okita Souji and headed north to the western part of the Kamo River (3). Toshizo Hijikata, with Saito Hajime and others, led 23 people to explore the eastern part of the Kamo River (4). After discovering the gathering of Ronin, they rushed indoors with a small number of people.

The room where the Ronin gathered at Ikedaya was traditionally said to be the on the front of the second floor leading from the front stairs, but according to Nagakura Shinpachi's diary discovered in 1998: “the owner was very surprised and ran to the second floor in the back.”

Ikedaya Sobei (Sobee) notified the crisis on the 2nd floor, and it was found that the stairs where Kondo Isami climbed were the back stairs. If so, the meeting place for the Ronin will also be the room on the back second floor, and the battle situation will be different from what has been said in the past. Based on these facts, the illustration illustrates the more accurate battle situation inside Ikeda.

Kondo, who said to the owner of the Ikedaya, "I'm going to change the inn tonight," ran up to the second floor, even though the owner was surprised (1), and went to the place where "Twenty Choshu men picked up their swords". Kondo shouted “I'll mercilessly slash my way in.” Okita Soji then “cuts someone down” (2), but after that, Okita “returned to the headquarters due to his chronic illness”.

Meanwhile, Okuzawa Eisuke and three others broke through the backyard exit (5), so Kondo went to the backyard following the escaped Ronin (4), and Nagakura Shinpachi and Todo Heisuke fought the Ronin on the first floor. Preventing escape (5), the ronin who escaped to the front was struck down by Tani Mantaro with a spear (1). It was around this time that Nagakura saw Todo being slashed by a ronin in the midst of a turbulent battle and tried to help him.

10 ronin were killed on the night (including 1 dead after injury). This number clearly shows the fierce battle of the Shinsengumi at Ikedaya. 

[shinsengumi-archives]

Ikedaya Incident from Nagakura’s Diary

All the same, in any way I can’t finish it off normally, I’m stuck on the description of Nagakura’s exploits in Ikeda-I (and how easy it was to retell: “to this destiny, then to that bam!”) So I’m doing a half-closed record again, please take a look at the subject of bugs and who-where-to-who-why. She tried to preserve the stylistics of Nagakurina, but he has almost every sentence there: “without losing a minute, he chopped off”, “without losing a minute, ran” and other endless repetitions, I dilute as much as possible))

A native of Omi Province named Omiya Shungoro (aka Masuya Kemon) held a horse harness shop on Shijo Kobashi Street. Shinsengumi was arrested of this type and taken to the barracks, where during the course of the investigation he gave his real name - Furutaka Shungoro. During the interrogation, he stubbornly did not want to confess, so he was tortured, and in the end he confessed everything. According to Furutaki’s testimony, 10 people often visited his house, all like one of Choshu, and in his warehouse he kept all kinds of equipment for setting fire to the imperial palace. The implementation of their plan was scheduled for the 22nd day of 6 months - on a windy day they were going to set fire to the palace, capture Emperor Komei and take him to Yamaguchi Castle. In plotting this plot, people from Choshu were hiding in the vicinity of Shijou, as well as on Sanjou Street, in a hotel under the guise of the Minakuchi clan from Omi, etc. - Only about 300 people. From Furutaki's confession, all their intentions became clear, which Shinsengumi immediately reported to the head of the Aizu clan, Mr. Matsudaira Katamori. Utterly shocked

Hijikata Toshizo, based on the testimony of Furutaki, led a detachment to Gion Kaiso (chambers of commerce) , which is at the foot of the stairs of the Yasaka-jinja temple. Already at 7 o’clock in the afternoon (from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.), Shinsengumi arrived there and searched every corner of the teahouse, but they didn’t find anyone - apparently everyone had already escaped from there. Then they began to comb the entire area along the Kamogawa coast and received information that in the north, in the Ikeda-ya hotel near Sanjo Kobashi, perhaps Choshu was holding a secret meeting. Leaving a few people outside, Kondo Isami, Okita Soji, Nagakura Shinpachi and Todo Heiske entered the front door and found rifles, spears and other weapons that they tied together to confiscate. Entering the front hall, they called the owner Ikeda-ya and said: “Tonight we check all the hotels!” The owner got scared and rushed up the far stairs to the second floor, four Shinsenites immediately rushed after him, and there were about twenty Choshu, and all with swords at the ready. “You are arrested until the circumstances are clarified. If you resist, you will be ruthlessly killed, ”Kondo shouted in a thunderous voice. The rebels trembled with fear and stepped back, but then the bravest of them suddenly attacked. Okita instantly finished him off with one blow. Then the others rushed to the first floor, and Kondo immediately ordered them to follow. Light was burning in the lower rooms, and this became a big help for Shinsengumi, but soon Okita was forced to leave the battlefield due to his illness (he returned to the barracks) , so there were three of them left inside the hotel. Kondo held the defense in the far rooms, Nagakura guarded the area from the kitchen to the main entrance, Todo - access to the garden. Noticing that one of the rebels rushed to the front door, Nagakura chased after him. Near the exit, the fugitive pierced Tani Mantaro with a spear, and Nagakura finished off with a blow to the shoulder, after which he returned to his former place. When another man ran to the same exit, Nagakura caught up with him and cut him off the shoulder obliquely. Then one of the conspirators rushed towards the garden and disappeared into the restroom. Nagakura pierced the enemy through and through, he tried to draw his sword, but lost his strength and fell. Without waiting a minute, the Shinsenovets cut him with one blow. Todo Heiske was seriously injured by one of Choshu, blood pouring in his eyes, preventing him from fighting, and besides, his sword blade broke. Seeing this, Nagakura hastened to help Todo, intending to hit his opponent in the side, but he skillfully repelled the blow and switched to Shinpachi. Todo due to severe wounds was no longer able to continue the fight (retired to the same place and Okita) . 永倉は必死に闘いつづけ近藤を見ていると,三度ばかり切られそうになり,助太to PLCしようとすれど, 奥 の 間 に 志士 が 大勢 い て そ れ も ま ま な ら ず 、 永 倉 は や っ と の こ と で こ の 者 の 肩 先 に 切 り 込 ん で 倒 し た。。 Nagakura, fighting not for life but for death, saw that Kondo was nearly killed 3 times? Or 必死 does this apply to Kondo? Nagakura wanted to help him, and what was there with that crowd of people? And the one whom he killed at the end is talking about the same with whom Todo had fought before, or is this already from Kondin’s opponents? The four rebels laid down their arms and apologized, after which they were immediately connected. Nagakura’s hand was slightly injured, and the blade of the sword was chopped, so I had to take the sword of one of Choshu. At this moment, several people from Shinsengumi burst through the main entrance and began to search the hotel. Having broken the ceiling, one of the conspirators collapsed from the second floor, and Takeda Kanryusai immediately cut him down. All those who managed to run out into the street surrendered to the riot police. 島 田 魁 の 鑓 が 長 州 人 に 刀鎗 の 太 刀 打 よ り 五寸 ほ ほ ど 手 前 よ り 切 り 落 と さ れ 、 す ぐ さ ま 刀 に て 仕 留 め る - I don’t understand what the hell is like after that? Skirmishes also occurred in front of Ikeda-ya in the Sanjo Kobashi area. The owner of Ikeda-I was not tied up, as a result of which he untied several conspirators and allowed them to escape. Noticing this, Harada Sanosuke rushed after him and dealt with them with his spear. At this time, the vassals of Matsudaira Etтu no kami (Matsudaira Sadaaki) killed two Choshu - they died instantly. And the vassals of Matsudaira Higo no kami (Matsudaira Katamori) took the rebel from Choshu for the samurai of the Minakuti clan, and without becoming tied, they led him under arrest. On the way, the detainee slashed the warrior of the Aizu clan from the shoulder obliquely and rushed to run, but at the gates of the residence of Choshu he was caught and killed. Meanwhile, Shinsengumi arrested another 4 or 5 people from Choshu, as well as the owner of Ikeda-ya, and without exception brought everyone to the city prefecture. After this, Matsudaira Higo-no-kami immediately reported the incident to the imperial court, where everyone was in great admiration. As a reward, Shinsengumi granted 300 ryos from the emperor, a gift sword and 500 ryos from the shogunate, and 25 ryos from Matsudaira Higo no kami.

2nd version 

https://fushigi-dono.diary.ru/p163570341.htm?oam#more1

Finally, I post the second version of the events in Ikeda-ya from Nagakura Shinpachi! Shmyrina_Anna already translated the first here , and here she explained why there are two of them. One version, dictated to the journalist (and generously edited and supplemented by him) was published in the Otaru Shimbun newspaper from March to June 1913 under the heading Shinsengumi Nagakura Shinpachi, and was later reprinted several times under the title Shinsengumi Tenmatsuki (which something like "Detailed Notes" or "Shinsengumi Fact Records"). And in 1998, all of a sudden, the very first lost memoirs were found (where and how they were found, for some reason, it’s not written anywhere), and they were published under the name Shinsengumi Senjo Nikki. ronin of the Bunkyu era). Thanks for them to Donna Anne (Lliotar) . So there is an opportunity to compare and feel the difference! The translation is not literal, but very close to the text, the style tried to preserve Nagakurin whenever possible. Unlike a journalist, he wrote in such a way that the three of us spent three days analyzing one proposal (post below) On June 6, 1, Genji A native of Omi Province named Omiya Shungoro (aka Masuya Kemon) held a horse harness shop on Shijou Kobashi Street. Shinsengumi was arrested of this type and taken to the barracks, where in the course of an investigation he gave his real name - Furutaka Shyungoro (actually he is Shyuntaro, but Nagakura says so) . During the interrogation, he stubbornly did not want to confess, so he was tortured, and in the end he confessed everything. According to Furutaki’s testimony, 10 people often visited his house, all like one of Choshu, and in his warehouse he kept all kinds of equipment for setting fire to the imperial palace. The implementation of their plan was scheduled for the 22nd day of 6 months - on a windy day they were going to set fire to the palace, capture Emperor Komei and take him to Yamaguchi Castle. In plotting this plot, people from Choshu were hiding in the vicinity of Shijou, as well as on Sanjou Street, in a hotel under the guise of the Minakuchi clan from Omi, etc. - Only about 300 people. From Furutaki's confession, all their intentions became clear, which Shinsengumi immediately reported to the head of the Aizu clan, Mr. Matsudaira Katamori. Utterly shocked Hijikata Toshizo, based on the testimony of Furutaki, led a detachment to Gion Kaiso, which is at the foot of the stairs of the Yasaka-jinja temple. Already at 7 o’clock in the afternoon (from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ), Shinsengumi arrived there and searched every corner of the teahouse, but they didn’t find anyone - apparently everyone had already escaped from there. Then they began to comb the entire area along the Kamogawa coast and received information that in the north, in the Ikeda-ya hotel near Sanjo Kobashi, perhaps Choshu was holding a secret meeting. Leaving a few people outside, Kondo Isami, Okita Soji, Nagakura Shinpachi and Todo Heiske entered the front door and found rifles, spears and other weapons that they tied together to confiscate. Entering the front hall, they called the owner Ikeda-ya and said: “Tonight we check all the hotels!” The owner got scared and rushed up the far stairs to the second floor, four Shinsenites immediately rushed after him, and there were about twenty Choshu, and all with swords at the ready. “You are arrested until the circumstances are clarified. If you resist, you will be ruthlessly killed, ”Kondo shouted in a thunderous voice. The rebels trembled with fear and stepped back, but then the bravest of them suddenly attacked. Okita instantly finished him off with one blow. Then the others rushed to the first floor, and Kondo immediately ordered them to follow. Light was burning in the lower rooms, and this became a big help for Shinsengumi, but soon Okita was forced to leave the battlefield due to his illness, so there were three of them left inside the hotel. Kondo held the defense in the far rooms, Nagakura guarded the area from the kitchen to the main entrance, Todo - access to the garden. Noticing that one of the rebels rushed to the front door, Nagakura chased after him. Near the exit, the fugitive pierced Tani Mantaro with a spear, and Nagakura finished off with a blow to the shoulder, after which he returned to his former place. When another man ran to the same exit, Nagakura caught up with him and cut him off the shoulder obliquely. Then one of the conspirators rushed towards the garden and disappeared into the restroom. Nagakura pierced the enemy through and through, he tried to draw his sword, but lost his strength and fell. Without waiting a minute, the Shinsenovets cut him with one blow. Todo Heiske was seriously injured by one of Choshu, blood pouring in his eyes, preventing him from fighting, and besides, his sword blade broke. Seeing this, Nagakura hastened to help Todo, intending to hit his opponent in the side, but he skillfully repelled the blow and switched to Shinpachi. Due to a severe wound, Todo was no longer able to continue the fight. Nagakura fought not for life, but for death. Kondo Isami noticed that Shinpachi nearly wounded three times, and wanted to come to his aid, but could not, because he himself in the depths of the room opposed many opponents. In the end, Nagakura defeated the enemy, cutting his shoulder. The four rebels laid down their arms and apologized, after which they were immediately connected. Nagakura’s hand was slightly injured, and the blade of the sword was chopped, so I had to take the katana of one of Choshu. At this moment, several people from Shinsengumi burst through the main entrance and began to search the hotel. Having broken the ceiling, one of the conspirators collapsed from the second floor, and Takeda Kanryusai immediately cut him down. All those who managed to run out into the street surrendered to the riot police. Shimada Kai crossed the spear with the enemy blade, and when the base of the spear was cut off, he instantly dealt with the enemy katana. Skirmishes also occurred in front of Ikeda-ya in the Sanjo Kobashi area. The owner of Ikeda-I was not tied up, as a result of which he untied several conspirators and allowed them to escape. Noticing this, Harada Sanosuke rushed after him and dealt with them with his spear. At this time, the vassals of Matsudaira Etтu no kami (Matsudaira Sadaaki) killed two Choshu - they died instantly. And the vassals of Matsudaira Higo no kami (Matsudaira Katamori) took the rebel from Choshu for the samurai of the Minakuti clan, and without becoming tied, they led him under arrest. On the way, the detainee slashed the warrior of the Aizu clan from the shoulder obliquely and rushed to run, but at the gates of the residence of Choshu he was caught and killed. Meanwhile, Shinsengumi arrested another 4 or 5 people from Choshu, as well as the owner of Ikeda-ya, and all, without exception, were taken to the city prefecture. After this, Matsudaira Higo-no-kami immediately reported the incident to the imperial court, where everyone was in great admiration. As a reward, Shinsengumi granted 300 ryos from the emperor, a gift sword and 500 ryos from the shogunate, and 25 ryos from Matsudaira Higo no kami. Etu-no kami and Higo-no kami - honorary titles given by the name of the provinces, something like "Count Higo." Well, now the pictures. This is the plan of the Ikeda-I hotel and the movement scheme of the Kondo and Hijikata groups: 

The numbers indicate the size of the rooms in the tatami. Apparently, the administrator was sitting in the “cash desk”, and weapons were stored in the “closet”. The red arrow shows which stairs and where Kondo and the others climbed. Here the schematic is even better - if you hover over it with the mouse, you will see who was where.

On the second floor on the left is Okita, on the right is Kondo. On the first: at the entrance of Tani Mantaro and Takeda Kanryusai, at the exit to the courtyard - Todo, in the middle of the Nagakur corridor. Three others held the defense in the kindergarten behind the hotel, and they had the hardest time - there was open space, those who escaped could jump from anywhere in the Engava and attack from any direction. So Okuzawa died on the spot, Ando and Nitta later died of wounds. This is the very second floor:

Tiny Ikeda-ya:

Nagakura writes: "the light was on in the lower rooms" - there is not even just light, but an "eight-room lamp")) I looked for what it was and found it :

Well , it looks like this Ikeda-I these days:

The Gion Kaiso, which is mentioned in the text, is literally the “assembly hall” in Gion. There used to be such buildings both in cities and in villages - there people were going to discuss something or buy-sell, there were all kinds of trade missions, etc. Now at this place this is:

It is viewed from the temple, and if facing the temple’s gate, then (the former "chambers of commerce" is on the right):

On the site where I found a small description of this "assembly hall", it is said that next to it Shinsengumi were waiting for reinforcements from the Aizu clan, but they did not wait and decided to act independently.

[shinsengumi-archives]

Ikedaya - Distribution of rewards

In addition to the letter, Kondo also translated the list of participants in the incident in Ikeda-I from Shinsengumi. He is in Japan and is in the comments to Nagakura’s memoirs, indicating who received the award for this. They gave out, by the way, honestly: whoever took part the most, that and more money. Nearby, I attributed the years of life and some people the cause of death. Of the 34 people, only six survived until peacetime, and eight more are not known. List of awarded 30 ryos (as well as a katana and a barrel of sake) Kondo Isami (10/09/1834 - 04/25/1868) 23 ryo Hijikata Toshizo (05/05/1835 - 11/05/1869) 20 ryo 1) Okita Soji (1842/44 - 05/30/1868 ) 2) Nagakura Shimpachi (04.11.1839 -. 05.01 in 1915 ) 3) Todo Hay (1844 - 11/18/1867 incident in Aburanokodzi) 4) Tanya Mantaro (1835 -. 30.06 in 1886 ) 5) Asano Toutaro / Kaoru (-? 1867 ?) 6) Takeda Kanryusai (? - 06/22/1867, Saito) 

Awarded posthumously (the money was transferred to their families):

7) Okuzawa Eiske (? - 05/06/1864, died in the barracks from wounds received in Ikeda-ya) 8) Ando Hayataro (? - 07/22/1864) 9) Nitta Kakuzaemon (? - 07/22/1864) The last two guarded the back door to Ikeda-I, also died from wounds, and one day. These 9 people entered the Kondo squad. For some reason, Shuhei is not among them, contrary to the letter, but there is his brother - Tani Mantaro.

17 ryo

1) Gendzaburo Inoue (1829 - 01/05/1868, the Battle of Toba-Fushimi) 2) Harada Sanosuke (1840 - 17/05/1868 missing after the Battle of Ueno) 3) Saito Hajime (01.01.1844 - 28.09. 1915 ) 4) Shimada Kai (15.01.1828 - 20.03. 1900 ) 5) Shinozuka / Shinokhara Menezo (there is no data on Wiki, but it is known from Hijikata's letter that on October 5, 1864 he personally released the castle from the squad at the request of Matsudaira Katamori, who wished his former vassal to return to him) 6 ) Kawashima Katsuji (? - 1866) A rare case, he was kicked out of Shinsen for cowardice! But they later killed in Osaka for carrying out financial fraud, or just robbery, hiding behind the name of Shinsengumi. Moreover, Toyama Yahei killed him (no, not Saito!) - a Satsumi spy in the service of Shinsen. 7) Hayashi Shintaro (? - 10.27.1868, died in battle on the Mito tract) 8) Kazurayama Takehatiro (? - September 6, 1864, seppuku for Nagakura’s petition. Either voluntarily in a fit of anger, or forced. Dark business.) 9 ) Tani Sanjuro (? - 04/01/1866, Saito) 10) Misina Tyuji (? -?) 11) Aridoshi Kango (1839 - 05/11/1869, the Battle of Hakodate) 15 ryo 1) Matsubara Tyuji (1835? - 01/09/1865, in the Shinsengumi registers “died of illness”, there is suspicion seppuku for contact with the widow, whose husband he killed) 2) Iki Hatiro (? - escaped from the detachment in 1867, no further information) 3) Nakamura Kingo (? -? was listed in the standard bearers, after 1867 there is no information about him ) 4) Odzeki Yashiro (1831 - 11/07/1865, the elder brother of the standard bearer Odzeki, was discharged from Shinsen due to an illness from which he died the same year) 5) Shukuin Ryozo (1821 - 01/06/1868, the battle of Toba-Fushimi) 6 ) Sasaki uranoske (-? to July 1865 was registered in Shinsene, then somewhere has got) 7) Kawai Kisaburo (1838 - 02/12/1866, seppuku for embezzlement of public funds for six possible reasons) 8) Sakai Hyugo (? - July 1865, escaped from the detachment, it is assumed that he was killed by Okita) 9) Kyuchi Mineta (? -? Left from the detachment, along with Ito, served in the Kyoto police during the Meiji era ) 10) Matsumoto Kijiro (no data on Wiki) 11) Takeuchi Gentaro (no data on Wiki) 12) Kondo Shuhei, aka Tani Sentaro (05.20.1848 - 02.12. 1901 ) They remained in the barracks and did not receive any money: Yamanami Keiske, Ozeki Masajiro, Yamazaki Susumu, Yanagida Sanjiro, Ogata Shuntaro, Yamano Yasohati. Dates are everywhere on the lunar calendar, she wrote familiar first names as usual, unfamiliar mostly as expected, according to Polivanov)) In Japan (and in other sources) there is a version that the detachment was divided not into two parts, as Kondo wrote, but into three: 10, 12 and 12 people (under the command of Kondo, Hijikata and Inoue Genzaburo). 10 surveyed the west coast from Kondo, the rest east, because there are more hotels there. But judging by the list, this third detachment is frankly weak, especially compared to the first two. Probably, these 12 people just somehow did not show themselves very well. Kondo Shuhei including. Although for some reason it seems to me that Kondo Isami would not have given his newly adopted son to some other detachment, but would have taken him with him. Perhaps he was nevertheless sent for help, but he was not in a hurry back ... Well, nothing, I’ll still read Nagakur, it will be visible there))

Simpleton: on the Hijikati blog, Megumi found this book:

I don’t want this myself, but I really liked the picture!

[shinsengumi-archives]

Tani Sanjuro [shinsengumi-no-makoto]

Captain of the Seventh Unit

Born - Unknown. From Bitchutakahashi, Bicchu Matsuyama clan.

Died - April 1, 1866 at the bottom of the stairs to the Gion Shrine in Kyoto.

          [May 15, 1866.]

Names -

Imina - Tomokuni

Family History -

He was the eldest son of a Bicchu Matsuyama clansman. His father was an instructor of Tyokushin Ryu, a sword style.

Tani had two younger brothers, Mantaro and Masatake, who later became Kondo Shuhei when he was adopted by Kondo Isami.

Before the Shinsengumi -

Tani was an attendant in his clan in 1856, but he made some mistake for which he was forced to leave. He then went to Osaka. His brother, Mantaro, went with him and they opened a dojo where Tani was an instructor. He is supposed to have taught Taneda Houzouin Ryu, a spear-fighting style, to Harada Sanosuke at some point during this time period.

Martial Skills -

Sword Ryu - Tyokushin Ryu

Spear Ryu - Taneda Houzouin Ryu

Spear Ryu Rank - Menkyo Kaiden

Although it was not listed for certain, his rank in Tyokushin Ryu was probably also Menkyo Kaiden since he was supposed to be an instructor like his father. At any rate, he was said to be a very good swordsman as well as good with a spear.

Shinsengumi Years -

Tani joined the Shinsengumi in 1863, along with his two brothers. His former association with Harada Sanosuke may have been what helped him become a captain so quickly. He remained a captain of the group until his death in April of 1866. At the height of the Shinsengumi he was the Captain of the Seventh Unit and Teacher of Spear.

On January 8, 1865, he somehow suffered a slight wound to his foot.

How Tani died is one of the mysteries of the Shinsengumi. It happened suddenly while he was at the bottom of the Gion Ishidanshita, the stone stairway leading up to the Gion Shrine (also called Yasaka jinja) in Kyoto. The official cause of his death is listed as a stroke.

Of course there are stories which say this was a cover-up and that he was really murdered. One such version has it that Tani acted “shamefully” when acting as a second during the seppuku of Tauchi Tomo.

Tauchi had been wounded by the lover of his woman. For this reason he was accused of “non-preparation as a samurai” and ordered to kill himself on March 2, 1865. As his second, Tani was supposed to behead him as soon as he had cut himself in order to prevent prolonged suffering. Unfortunately Tani somehow failed to finish Tauchi with his first swing, an unforgivable error. Embarrassed by his mistake, Tani ended up failing several more times. Finally Saito was no longer able to bear it and so stepped in to finish the job himself.

Due to this event, Tani lost his reputation within the Shinsengumi. Kondo is thought to have ordered Saito to execute him one month later.

However there is a major problem with the story. Official records prove that the actual date of Tauchi Tomo’s seppuku was January 10, 1867 [February 14, 1867], a full nine months after Tani’s death. It has also been pointed out that Tani was in fact expert enough with a sword that it seems highly unlikely he could have messed up so badly. (Versions of the story which say he failed as Tauchi’s second generally try to make it that he was incompetent with a sword.) Furthermore at least one of his brothers stayed with the group for more than a year after his death.

Another tale has it that Tani and Saito went out drinking together on the night of his death. They became intoxicated and Tani made the mistake of claiming he was better with a sword than Saito. Outraged, the third captain killed him. Of course, one then has to wonder why Kondo and Hijikata would simply allow Saito to run around randomly knocking off other captains. At the very least there should have been some evidence of behind-the-scenes punishment, but this is apparently not the case.

In the end it appears most likely that Tani really did die of natural causes.

(Note - See Saito’s profile for details about the supposed investigation of Tani’s “murder”.)

[shinsengumi-archives]

Tani Sanjuurou Tomokuni

Tani Sanjuurou Tomokuni

·               Birthdate: Unknown – 1866

·               Shinsengumi Fukuchou Jokin, Nanabantai Kumichou

·               Tani Jirou, his father was a kendo teacher, a vassal of the Bicchu matsuyama han under the Daimyo Itakura Masasei

·               Was the eldest son and had two other brothers, Masatake (later to be known as Kondou Shuhei – adopted son of Kondou) and Masatake

·               In 1859 he he was involved in a domestic squabble that put him under his lord’s displeasure which forced him to leave and open a dojo in Osaka along with his brother Mantaro

·               Sanjuurou taught the Shinmei Ryu and some has also described him teaching Sugomoto Ryu and Kami-in Ryu.

·               It seems he joined the army immediately after it’s formation in 1863

·               He is said to be the best spear user but there is some theory that it is the younger brother Mantarou

·               While his youngest brother was temporarily adopted by Kondou, in April 1866 Tani died in Sakashita Gion. The usual suspect is Saitou hajime over a quarrel during the party, but there are some accounts that continues to puzzle whether Saitou did kill Tani.

·               His grave is at Honden Temple at Togano Osaka City.