Hijikata Toshizō
| Hijikata Toshizō (土方歳三) | |
|---|---|
(1866 or 1869)
|
|
| Nickname(s) | Merciless Vice-Commander (鬼の副長, oni no fukuchou) |
| Born |
May 31, 1835 Hino (Tamagun, Musashi Province) |
| Died | June 20, 1869 (aged 34) Hakodate (Goryōkaku) |
| Allegiance |
Japan Tokugawa Shogunate Republic of Ezo |
| Years of service | 1863-1869 |
| Rank | Fukuchou (Vice-Commander) Assistant Army Minister |
| Unit | Shinsengumi |
| Battles/wars | |
Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三?, May 31, 1835 – June 20, 1869) was the vice-commander of Shinsengumi, a great swordsman and a talented Japanese military leader who resisted the Meiji Restoration.
Hijikata Toshizō, with the posthumous name Yoshitoyo, was born on May 31, 1835, in present-day Hino, a suburb of Tokyo. He was the youngest of six children, and his father, a well-to-do farmer, died shortly before his birth. Hijikata's mother also died when he was a young boy, and he was therefore raised by his older brother and sister-in-law.
He was apparently tall compared to the average Japanese men of the period, and it is said that he was very handsome. He was said to be spoiled at an early age and was alleged to be mean to all but his friends and family. This changed when a 21-year-old swordsman from the Aizu clan known for opposing the Reformists was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). When Hijikata attended the man's funeral, he apparently cried in public.
Hijikata spent his youth selling his family's Ishida Sanyaku (medicine for treating injuries such as bruises and broken bones) while practicing his self-taught kenjutsu. His brother-in-law, Satō Hikogorō, managed a Tennen Rishin-ryū dojo in Hino; through Satō, Hijikata later met Kondō Isami and was formally enrolled at the Tennen Rishin-ryū's Shieikan in 1859. Although Hijikata himself never fully mastered the Tennen Rishin-ryū, it is said that he managed to develop the "Shinsengumi-Kenjutsu" fighting style from the Tennen Rishin-ryū.
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