Updated:
[updated timeline]
still contains mixture of lunar+solar calendar dates, grammar errors,
last name first name reversals, typos (too tired to double check now)
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/ShinsengumiBakumatsuTimeline.htm
just use the timeline to get an "idea" of the order of events--but do
not quote it (except in the case of actual quotes from decent sources
incorporated into the timeline. List of sources at the bottom of the
page)
[updated: Matsudaira Katamori]
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/katamorifacts1.htm
[new: Dr. William Willis]
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/Dr.Willis.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[pages relevent only to the Fujita family in the Meiji era]
you have to read Saitou's page first
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/saitouhajime.htm
[minor update to Tokio's page]
do an 'edit' and 'find' for Yamakawa Futaba (co-worker of Tokio,
teacher to Yamaguchi Yukiko--Goro's niece, teacher to Nishino/Fujita
Midori, and co-worker of Fujita Goro)
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/TakagiTokioinfo.htm
[new]
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/AizuBeyond1868.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[boring stuff on textual sources]
Please take the time to review Romulus Hillsborough's book
Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps at
http://www.amazon.com
My review has not posted in a week now. I gave it 3 stars and
everything ::shrugs::
aha! I figured out why the title was changed to include "Last
Samurai" the book turns up in searches related to the Tom Cruise movie*
XD
love it, hate it, or completely neutral the book will be the only
source of info on the Shinsengumi for years to come
hence my dismay at Hillsborough's unprofessional approach to the
controversial group. Let's say a serious student or researcher
searches for anything with the word "Shinsengumi" all they'll get is
this book and the occasional 1 sentence mentioned in some academic
journal article. Thus, writers must try to be as responsible as
possible and think beyond their own personal agenda before publishing
anything remotely related to non-fiction. Hillsborough ofcourse noted
that his work is not entirely non-fiction (I mentioned this in my
review) but that doesn't mean he shouldn't give this project his best
effort. We all know the Shinsengumi have long since entered the world
of folk tales.
Hillsborough was missing many many good sources to use for his book.
as I was working on some stuff for
http://www.shinsengumihq.com I
turned to arguably the best book on why the shogunate system
fell...after using it for a doorstop for many months
Totman, Conrad. The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu 1862-1868 Hawaii:
The University of Hawaii Press, 1980. ISBN: 082480614X
both the Shinsengumi, Kondou Isami and Mimwari (Not indexed) are
mentioned...more importantly Totman included the end note on Kondou's
report given to Kyoto officials on Oct 9 1867.
This report is was reproduced in Kitahara Masanaga's book SHICHINENSHI
printed in 1904.
see
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/ShinsengumiBakumatsuTimeline.htm
do an 'edit' and 'find' for "Oct 9"
The Shichinenshi (SNS) was used by Totman alongside the Dai Nihon
Ishin Shiryo kohon (Manuscript of historical materials on the
restoration) DNISK "by far the greatest collection of historical
materials relating to the Meiji restoration but has been almost unused
by western scholars" (Totman 549).
The Shichinenshi was the first attempt to understand the politics of
1868 from the shogunate's point of view, but more specifically the
side of Aizu. Totman used SNS alongside KYOTO SHUGOSHOKU SHIMATSU
(the story of the Kyoto Protector) written by Yamakawa Hiroshi printed
by Numazawa/Numasawa Shichirou adopted father of Tokio+Goro's third son.
Again, I can only hope that both these works (used by many
researchers) discussed Aizu's most famous security group, the
Shinsengumi. Yamakawa Hiroshi, an Aizu samurai, was a personal friend
of Fujita Goro (we know Hiroshi best as the guy who put Goro and Tokio
together). Hiroshi's younger brother, Kenjiro, wrote Aizu boshin
senshi (several hundred pages, perhaps in collaboration with others).
The "status" of the Shinsengumi in these 2 works by the Yamakawa
brothers should reveal some interesting details. AFterall both
brothers knew a former captain of the Shinsengumi, not to mention
numerous other survivors from Aizu.
Aizu Beyond 1868
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/AizuBeyond1868.htm
is a study of the domain's Tokyo network, note the publication dates
and who was still alive to read many of the works...