Okita Sōji
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Okita Sōji was a Japanese samurai and the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi, a special police force in Kyoto during the late shogunate period. He was one of the best swordsmen of the Shinse
Portrait of Okita Sōji
Stele of Okita Sōji's last place at Imado Shrine in Asakusa
This souvenir photo from the Meiji era was often wrongly introduced as the photo of Okita Sōji through the modern times; the man in the photo is actually a different person. Currently, no existing photos of Okita Sōji have been discovered.
Hijikata Toshizō
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Hijikata Toshizō was a Japanese swordsman of the Bakumatsu period and Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi. As Vice-Commander, he served the Tokugawa Shogunate and co-led his group in its resistance agai
Okita Sōji
…training at the Shieikan with him around the age of nine. By that time, Kondo Shusuke had already adopted Shimazaki Katsuta (the later Kondō Isami), but Hijikata Toshizō had not yet enrolled at the Tennen Rishin-ryū school. Okita proved to be a prodigy; he mastered all the techniques and attained the Menkyo Kaiden scroll…
Hijikata Toshizo
The oldest grave memorial of Hijikata Toshizo in Hakodate
Grave memorial of Hijikata family (Hijikata Toshizō's on the right) at Sekidenji, Hino, Tokyo, Japan
Hijikata bust near the Hijikata Toshizō Museum, Takahata Fudo, Hino, Tokyo