Nagakura Shinpachi
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Nagakura Shinpachi (永倉 新八) was the captain of the 2nd troop of the Shinsengumi.
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[edit] Background
Known as Eikichi or Eiji during his childhood, he was born in the Matsumae clan's "kami-yashiki" (upper residence) in Edo. Nagakura's birthday was the 11th day of the fourth month of Tenpo 10 (1839.) His father, Nagakura Kanji, was a retainer of the Matsumae clan, with a 150 koku stipend. Like Okita Souji, Nagakura was a true product of the Edo era-- being a son of a retainer (of a domain he had never seen), who had lived in Edo his entire life.
Nagakura's father spelled the family name with the "naga" meaning "long", but Nagakura later spelled it with the "naga" meaning "eternity". He could have gotten his start in kenjutsu earlier than fellow Shinsengumi member Okita. Okita started at around nine in Tennen Rishin Ryu, but Nagakura entered Okada Juusuke Toshisada's Shintou Munen Ryu dojo at eight. At age eighteen he reached mokuroku (6th dan), and received the menkyo kaiden certification. At age nineteen he left the service of the Matsumae clan in order to travel and improve his technique. He spent some time at Yurimoto Shuuzou's Shintou Munen Ryu dojo. Nagakura also spent time at Tsubouchi Shume's Shingyoto Ryu dojo, where he met Shimada Kai, the future vice-captain of the Shinsengumi 2nd unit. Around 1861, he started "taking his meals" at Kondou Isami's Shieikan.
[edit] Shinsengumi Period
Bunkyu 3 (1863)- Nagakura and Kondou's group in joined the Roshigumi. Upon arrival in Kyoto, joined Kondou, Serizawa Kamo, and co. in staying in Kyoto while the rest of the Roshigumi returned to Edo. One of the charter members of the Mibu Roushigumi, formed by the Kyoto Shugoshoku ("Kyoto Protector") Matsudaira Higo no Kami (Katamori, of Aizu), and headed by Kondou and Serizawa.--After the events of the 18th day of the 8th month (September 18, 1863), the group became known as "Shinsengumi."
Nagakura became a fukuchou jokin (assistant vice commander) in 1863, then became the captain of the 2nd unit in 1865. Nagakura changed his name to Sugimura Yoshie in the Meiji era once he was adopted into his wife's family. The Sugimura were the doctors serving the Matsumae daimyo.
[edit] After the Meiji Restoration
Later, Nagakura held requiems for his past comrades' souls. Some four years before his death, he gave an oral background of the Shinsengumi to a journalist for a newspaper. It is believed that since the reports were given half a century after the events, the accounts are more for pleasing crowds than a faithful record.
Nagakura did, however, keep memoirs that can constite first hand to the bloody lifetime of the Shinsengumi. These memoirs were lost for decades before being found and published in book form in 1998.
[edit] Death
Nagakura Shinpachi died from natural causes in 1915. He was seventy-six. Coincidentally, in this same year, Saito Hajime, another former Shinsengumi captain, died at the age of seventy-one from a stomach ulcer.
[edit] Bibliography
- Shinsengumi Tenmatsuki (1971)
