Hello to our new buddies Maria k and okushow01 (^_^)
Nobody should worry about their English writing ability---after all
many of us here cannot
read Japanese and here we are being devoted fans of the Shinsengumi.
Hirotada Tokugawa translated this for us
The Shinsengumi March
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/misc_facts.htm
The map of their "parade" (ok parade is not the right word LOL!) is
dated [1864]
so this appears as a link on
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/ShinsengumiBakumatsuTimeline.htm
(fangirl moment) so if Gintama Shinsengumi had a parade would they all
be in their squard cars, on their mopeds and motorcycles? LOL!!!
I really enjoyed how this document is evidence of Shinsengumi using guns.
[1864] The Shinsengumi March showing rifles and cannons
[1865] (reference point) The Choshu Kiheitai and their modern weapons
article will mention Kido Takayoshi, Tosa and Thomas Glover
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/earns/meiji.html
[1867] "...several Shinsengumi absconded from Kyoto because of their
resentment at
orders to adopt firearms. Three days later a serious confrontation
occurred in the city
between about two hundred pike-carrying city patrols (Mimawari) and
perhaps a battalion
of infantry (hohei) armed with rifles. After several hours of tension
the deployed forces were
quieted and no serious damage was done...The Shinsengumi was one of
the most vigorously
loyal patrol groups in Kyoto, and its men were fiercely proud of their
function and capacity."
(Totman 359)
[1868.2] Hijikata obtains "state-of-the-art breech-loading rifles" for the
Shinsengumi. (Hillsborough Shinsengumi 143)
[1868] E. Schnell (think of him as the Thomas Glover of the bakufu forces)
had sold weapons to Aizu and allies of that domain. Aizu samurai were
already trained
to use guns and canons earlier. The Yamamoto family history clearly
shows that pro-bakufu
forces were interested in this technology. I think Hirotada Tokugawa
had mentioned the Nagaoka rifle unit.
[1868 end of summer early fall] Saitou Hajime (now Yamaguchi Hajime)
saved Oshima Torao,
during his retreating, using small arms fire.
[1868] ofcourse at Hakodate, under Hijikata Toshizo, the Shinsengumi
also used guns/cannons etc
So if you read a text that says that samurai abhorred the use of guns,
think of these
examples. Every side which could afford guns used them. Going much
farther back in time,
feudal warfare in Japan, China and Southeast Asia has always
incorporated these tools.
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shinsengumihq.com was recently hacked. If you're curious this is how
the server
entry page looked like
http://1happyturtle.com/SHQ/SHQhackers.jpg
The site did go down for a while but it was the inability to enter the
server and check on files
which was worrisome---anyways everything seems ok (I think--only one
page had missing data).
I can't wait to see how the new "look" of the site will be after a
professional designer
shows her work. So in the next few weeks the site will be upgraded.
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UPDATES
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/cosplay.htm
new photos from a fan in Taiwan ~Natohi
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miralee has many *wonderful* updates here
http://shinsengumihq.livejournal.com/
friend the blog and the blog friends you back ASAP
also check out this relevant LJ
http://edo_meiji.livejournal.com/
Sources used in this post:
Hillsborough, Romulus. Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai ISBN:
0966740165
Totman, Conrad. The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu 1862-1868 Hawaii:
The University of Hawaii Press, 1980. ISBN: 082480614X
~~~ secretarytocapt3 ~~~
http://www.shinsengumihq.com/mibumyspace.jpg