Nlf7:
I'd like to second secretarytocapt3 and Kaneyoshi's comments, and say
how happy I am to have you here. It is outstanding to see an
individual such as yourself take a proactive approach to this topic,
and the misconceptions that arise from it.
At this time, I'd like to make a request, which I believe
secretarytocapt3 made earlier. Could you please tell us what books
you've been using (Japanese and English) for your Shinsengumi
research? We have a list of books which mention Shinsengumi on the SHQ
website (www.shinsengumihq.com, which I'm sure you've been to
already), and we would be delighted to add more titles to that list.
This isn't for any single person among us, but rather for ALL of us in
the non-Japanese speaking (and in some cases also the
Japanese-speaking) fandom, so that we can better understand these men
we are interested in.
I have perused some of your articles on Wikipedia (especially your
work on the Kondou and Okita articles), and I would like to applaud
your efforts there, as well. It often takes great courage to be able
to remind people to keep fact and fiction separate, especially in a
topic like this one, which has been so colored and often skewed by
popular portrayals. However, I'd like to suggest that you add a
"References" section to both articles, so that we know on Wikipedia as
well, where your information is coming from. I say this in all
honesty-- I'm curious to see what other books there are out there!
Also, please allow me to say that I hope that with such an attitude
toward spreading knowledge, that you consider writing an article or
book on Okita. Wikipedia is good in its own right, but as you know,
articles are open to being edited or deleted at anytime. By writing
something-- anything-- you'd be a trailblazer-- to the best of my
knowledge, at this time there are no biographies of Okita in print form.
However, I'd like to reiterate that if you'd like to write or publish
anything related to history, any editor or publication will likely ask
that you follow industry standards in citation. Even if you do not
plan to publish, when you attend school your teachers will also force
you to adopt a citation format as well.
The current most widely used format in the United States and now at
the international level is MLA (or something very similar to it). You
can learn more about this easy format here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/
An example of the format for the MLA citation:
"blah blah blah bakumatsu info blah blah blah" (Madison 34)
(author last name, page number)
It's really as easy as listing the books at the bottom of your webpage
like this:
(author last name, first name. title either in bold or underlined.
location published: company, year.)
With journal and magazine articles, though, there's a bit of a
different format.
Madison, Sconnie. THE GREATEST GUIDE TO SAITOU HAJIME IN THE ENTIRE
UNIVERSE. Los Angles: Makoto Publishers, 2007.
For webpages we at the shinsengumihq.com actually link right back to
the very webpage and note the person who translated from Japanese to
English
We're not trying to make fandom boring/tedious however we are trying
to acknowledge the hard work and valuable contributions of Japanese or
western scholars, and protect ourselves from plaigiarism (which is a
prosecutable offense).
**********************
Note on Wikipedia
Wikipedia allows ANYONE to go in and edit or delete your information.
I think that you can provide basic information on wikipedia and link
to your own personal website with additional information---that's
really a safe way of protecting your work. If you write a wikipedia
article it is also necessary to cite your information.
**********************
On a personal note as a longtime Kondou fan, I'd also like to thank
you for pointing out that the "Kotetsu" that he is said to have
posessed was most probably not a real one. The book "Swordsmith
Nagasone Kotetsu Okisato," an English text written by Yasu Kizu,
confirms what you pointed out: Kondou's sword was not a true Kotetsu,
but instead was a sword made by Minamoto Kiyomaro, the foremost
swordmaker of the shinshinto period, and roughly contemporary to
Kondou Isami. Apparently faked Kotetsu swords were common even during
the life of Kotesu himself, and he is said to have remarked on seeing
a fake "The blade is mine but the signature is not." (from page 8 of
the Yasu Kizu book).
Link on the Kotetsu from Kondou's page at the SHQ site...
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/KondouIsami.htm
And a new article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagasone_Kotetsu
Those who want to see a (real) Kiyomaro sword can visit this site:
http://perso.orange.fr/nipponto/kiyomaro.html
Once again, I thank you, and hope to hear more from you soon.
-M.