Translated! From
http://www.geocities.co.jp/HeartLand-
Cosmos/4774/page015.html
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Suzuki Mikisaburou
Born in the Shizuki domain of Hitachi Province (modern-day Ibaraki
Prefecture, Niihari Ward, Chiyoda City). Born on Tenpo 8 (1837), July
12, the 2nd son of the Shizuki domain chief inspector Suzuki
Sen'emon. His elder brother was Itou Kashitarou, whose original name
was Suzuki Ookura.
His childhood name is rather obscureSuzuki Tamon (the kanji
for "mon" is misspelled, and is inconsistent with the rest of the
article). His older brother, while protecting the mansion (?),
changed his name to Settsu. Only after the Restoration did he change
his name from Miki Izumi to Suzuki Mikisaburou. He trained in Shintou
Munen Ryuu, but Itou Kashitarou (his older brother) had to force him
(?). He was better at quoting the Chinese classics (?).
After their father took part in the Heimon Incident, the his family
name was abolished and he was exiled from his domain. Following this,
they went to Sakura mura (present Yasato ward), the village their
father's grandmother was from, and stayed in the house of Sakurai
Shirou Saemon.
Subsequently, they were pardoned, but were not allowed to return to
the domain. So they established themselves at Takahama village, near
Todai bridge (modern Ishioka city). They opened a school of Chinese
studies called "Shunjuku" at Mitsui Temple.
The father's fame spread rather quickly, and soon several students
from Sawayama joined, seeming to indicate that the family's fortunes
were headed in a good direction.
In February 1852, the father died. After this, Okura (the older
brother) joined the Itou dojo, allowing Tamon to continue running the
school at Mitsui Temple.
However, Tamon was able to finish his studies incredibly quickly,
writing "A man should strive toward excellence in the martial arts",
and "Kusunoki Tamonmaru" (an allusion to the famous warrior Kusunoki
Masashige?) on flags.
Every day, he would tell stories of battles to the children and skip
teaching altogether. The children's parents found out, and they began
to pull their children out of the school one by one, and gradually
the school failed.
After this, Terauchi Souzaemon of the Shizuki domain wanted to adopt
Tamon. Terauchi was 80 years old and had no wife or children.
Apparently his mother had suggested it to him. Terauchi's house was
on the site of the old Suzuki house, so his mother apparently wanted
him to adopt Tamon.
After his adoption, Tamon was director of Yamabayashi. But, as he was
accustomed to drinking in Terauchi's house, he drank more and more
until he began to skip work. He was scolded, and in order to avoid a
scandal was kicked out of the house.
After this, he took the name Miki Arajirou, just to make the
separation final. But, since he couldn't kick the habit of drinking,
it came to the point where he was shirking his duty to the domain,
and he got in trouble. The lord spared Miki of being kicked out of
the domain, and gave him a small stipend.
Thinking of his brother in Edo, he started thinking of national
affairs. It came to the point where he was part of the Tenka Shishi
(proto-Ishin Shishi) for a time.
Just then, Perry arrived, the Ansei Purge occurred, and the Sakurada
Gate and Sakashita Gate incidents occurred, one after the other after
the other. Miki came under suspicion in these days and feeling a
sense of danger left Edo with a friend.
In Sakurada-shi in Sendai, they were about to head to Tamura at Taga-
gun in Hitachi, but they got the news that "traveling deep into the
countryside is dangerous."
This being the case, he went to the home of Uno Kuratsukuri (wrong
reading of the kanji, I think). Miki Arajirou stayed at the Uno house
for several years, teaching literature and fencing. One day, when he
tried returning to his mother, his mother appeared from Edo quickly
and returned just as quickly, since the older brother was serving the
nation (government?).
FIRST YEAR OF GENJI
At age 28, Kashitarou assisted in leading the Tengu party (which
Serizawa was also in), in accordance with the advice of the ronin
Komatsu Kanni of the Kurume domain. But because Shizuki han is close
to Mt. Tsukuba (north of Edo), Okura (Kashitarou) was worried because
of the havoc they caused and how it would affect his home domain.
Around this time he found Arajirou in Shizuki han. Miki and Tsuchiura
ate at an inn in Shizuki han, where the Tengu party (Tanaka's
brigade?) happened to be present, but had entered Shizuki without
permission. Miki tried to clear their presence in the domain, saying
that they had arrived there through the efforts of his uncle Kawamata
in Edo (?)
He was given a residence, and patrolled the domain with several
people and worked around the inner gates.
It worked for awhile, however, he escaped the fall of the Tengu
party, making it back to Edo just in time.
When he arrived in Edo, his elder brother Itou Okura had been
accepted into the Shinsengumi by Toudou Heisuke. That same year,
Okura's disciples and the entire Itou dojo entered the Shinsengumi.
At this time, he changed his name to Itou Kashitarou, and his younger
brother became Mikisaburou.
Suzuki Mikisaburou was the captain of the ninth unit and involved in
kansatsu operations (observations/spying, like Yamazaki Susumu).
The Satsuma clan now followed/enlisted him as a double agent
(DEFINITELY not sure the kanji are vaguely familiar to me, and
Babelfish says "prohibited reverse side").
After his older brother's assassination on November 18th, he started
thinking of ways to kill Kondou in revenge. On December 9th, he was
attacked on Kondou Street in Kyoto and injured.
He took part in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, and then joined the
Sekihoutai as 2nd unit captain. Shinsengumi revenge
(can't understand
the rest of this sentence).
In the Meiji era, he became the chief of police of Tsuruoka, and
contributed funds to the construction of a hospital. He retired to
his hometown in Ishioka, and lived to 1919, dying at age 83.