GintaHistory!

So hey, remember Sasaki Tadasaburo and his second-in-command, Imai Noburo? Those guys who assassinated Sakamoto? And then made Kondo take the fall for it?

Yep, looks like I was just prepping you guys for the inevitable revealing of the (very much real) Kyoto Mimawarigumi! Or Edo, in Gintama’s case.

The Kyoto Mimawarigumi was a police force that was formed not too long after the Shinsengumi’s first incarnation, the Roshigumi, and served a similar purpose as them. The main difference was that the Mimawarigumi were, in fact, elite. Unlike the Shinsengumi, who had the occasional farmer and artisan among their ranks of ronin (masterless) samurai, the Mimawarigumi were comprised entirely of high-ranking samurai, some of whom were the sons of hatamoto (samurai who directly served the Tokugawa shogunate).

The Mimawarigumi were often assigned to guard the Imperial palace and facilities directly related to the Shogun’s affairs, while the Shinsengumi were relegated to to the jouka (castle town) and streets of Kyoto.

Pop culture references and historical dramas tend to suggest that the Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi were at odds (with the former not receiving the recognition they thought they deserved, because of their status). However, I’ve yet to buy any sort of books or magazines about the Mimawarigumi, so for now, I’m sticking with common and corroborated knowledge.

Have something/someone you want to know more about? Stick it in the ask!

匿名からの質問: I was kind of wandering if Matako was based on a real historical figure. If she is, could you possibly cover her?

Kijima Matako is indeed based on a real figure, and his name is Kijima Matabei. All I know about him off of the top of my head was that he hailed from Choshu (where Katsura and Takasugi were from). I’ll read up on him for you!

We’re preparing to start up full blast again, but BEFORE WE DO —

Who do YOU want to see history facts about? Anything goes! You can mention a group — Yorozuya, Joui, Shinsengumi, Mimawarigumi (WHO ARE FINALLY GETTING SOME AIR TIME) or individual characters! Who do you want to see more of?

As you can see, I obviously have my omiyage priorities sorted correctly.

Blog admin is going to the States for Christmas, guys! I’ve got one more update in the queue but haven’t had a chance to write any more. So we’ll have some dead air until mid-week next week. Guest submissions are always welcome!

Other tacky historical t-shirts that I own:

In 1864 English, Dutch, French and American ships sailed to Shimonoseki. The objective of the so-called Four Nation Fleet was to punish the Chōshu government for harassing trade shipping in the straights. They set about leveling all of the on-shore fortifications, which they did with great effectiveness. They were aided by the fact that their targets couldn’t put up much of a fight. Afterward, when they felt they had proven their point, they allowed a group of Japanese diplomats to come aboard and negotiate the terms of a new treaty.

The head of this delegation was a fellow by the name of Shishido Gyōba, with Itō Hirobumi and Inoue Kaoru serving as interpreters. Representing the Four Nation Fleet was Admiral Küper and a young English diplomat by the name of Ernest Satow. Satow later wrote about his experiences, and this is what he had to say about Shishido Gyōba:

He was dressed in a robe called the daimon, which was covered with large light blue crests (the paulownia leaf and flower) on a yellow ground, and wore on his head a black silk cap, which he took off on passing the gangway. His queue was then seen to be loose, hanging over the back of his head like a tassel, and his white silk underclothing was a marvel of purity.

They had no idea that Shishido Gyōba was, in fact, Takasugi Shinsaku. For the purpose of the negotiations, he had been adopted by a Chōshu elder named Shishido Bizen.

In the middle of the negotiations Takasugi and Itō received word that someone was out to kill them, so they disappeared for a few days. However, the Fleet refused to negotiate with anyone else, and so the two came out of hiding to finish their mission. It must be said that Itō did most of the actual negotiating. Takasugi was there to represent the nobility, which he did with the hauteur and comportment befitting a member of the aristocracy. Needless to say, he left an impression on the English. Satow described him as being “as proud as Lucifer”. Takasugi might not have been the most diplomatic chap on the planet, but his boundless confidence proved to be useful more than once.

Sources:

1. Satow, Ernest. A Diplomat in Japan. Stone Bridge Press. Berkeley, California. 2006.
2. Huber, Thomas M. The Revolutionary Origins of Modern Japan. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California. 1981.

Sakamoto had a very affectionate nickname for his older sister, Otome: The Demon.

Otome was three years older than Sakamoto, and Sakamoto was around six or seven when he started attending kendo school. Some more of Otome’s ordinary everyday feats include:

• Tying bamboo and rope around Sakamoto and throwing him in a river until he learned to swim, after being pushed into said river by a bully and almost drowning
• Teaching him how to fist-fight, and teaching him how to spar with bamboo swords
• Wrestling bears (undocumented)

The reason that we know so much about Sakamoto, however, is because he wrote to his sister as much as he could after he left his domain and became an outlaw. Most of his letters to her are titled, “To the Sakamoto family demon”. 

I’m also willing to bet Otome influenced Otae a little bit.

Source: 龍馬伝 (historical version, not the sort-of fictional rewrite that became the basis for the TV series), 月刊誌｢江戸文化を学び、幕末がわかる」

To this day, the person who actually assassinated Sakamoto isn’t known. The most accepted theory is that his assassination was planned by the Mimawarigumi and carried out by Sasaki Tadasaburo (who formally confessed), but the burden of proof was never met, and so it remains just a theory.

As to the likelihood of Kondo’s charges being true, it doesn’t hurt to keep in mind that Kondo was the head of the Shinsengumi, who got a lot of recognition and praise from the Shogun, and the new Meiji government was mostly people from Satsuma and Choshu who did not like the Shinsengumi very much.

There were a lot of theories and a lot of possibilities even immediately after Sakamoto’s assassination happened, which is sort of why Mutsu just decided to kill anyone who even seemed like they may not have liked him. 

This one was actually super hard to confirm. I ended up buying a whole new book that mentioned it. Many thanks to tumblr user r3tt3 for her help with this one.

Source: 新撰組を歩く

A map of some Gintama characters and their historical origins. I used the Gintama name for Yoshida Shoin and Shinpachi’s historical basis instead of Shimura Shinpachi in anticipation of future lessons. 

Sorachi, of course, saw fit to change a few things. Mutsu speaks like someone from Tosa, implying she’s actually from there. Instead of the Roshigumi being formed in Edo and sent to Kyoto, Gintama’s Roshigumi/Shinsengumi formed in Kyoto and were sent to Edo. As far as we know, Otose grew up in Edo. And Saigou is just a beautiful animal that no one can tie down.

Katsura Kogoro, who by then had changed his name to Kido Koin or Kido Takayoshi, was on his deathbed during the midst of the Satsuma Rebellion, during which Saigou Takamori rebelled against policies Katsura’s compatriots put into place for the new Meiji government. Katsura’s last words came as troops from the newly founded Imperial Army were marching to Satsuma in order to put Saigou’s rebellion down. 

Source: 西郷の戦