麻豆APP

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Okita S艒ji

Okita Soji. Photo by Public domain.

Okita Sji (, 1842 or 1844 鈥� July 19, 1868) was the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi, a shogunate-era special police force in Kyoto. He was one of the Shinsengumi’s best swordsmen. 

Okita Sjir Fujiwara no Harumasa  was born in the Shirakawa Domain’s Edo mansion in 1842 or 1844 to a samurai family. Okita Kan’emon was his great-grandfather, and Okita Sanshiro was his grandfather. Okita Katsujiro, his father, died in 1845, and he had two older sisters, Okita Mitsu (1833鈥�1907) and Okita Kin (1836鈥�1908).

In order to marry the Okita family’s adopted son, Okita Rintar (1826鈥�1883), his oldest sister Okita Mitsu became an adopted daughter of Kondo Shusuke in name in 1846.

1. Okita S艒ji changed his name

Okita Soji. Photo by Stefan Schubert.

Okita changed his name to Okita Sji Fujiwara no Kaneyoshi before sailing to Kyoto with the Rshigumi on March 26, 1863. The Rshigumi, on the other hand, were disbanded upon their arrival on April 10, 1863, and the rest returned to Edo. Okita and several other founding members stayed in Mibu to form the Mibu Rshigumi, which was renamed the Shinsengumi on August 18, 1863.

Okita was most likely the second youngest Shieikan member, with Td Heisuke being the youngest. Okita Rintar, his brother-in-law and a practitioner of the Tennen Rishin-ry, rose to become a commander of the Shinchgumi (the Shinsengumi’s brother league in Edo).

2. Okita S艒ji became a vice assistant

Okita Soji. Photo by Public domain.

Okita Sji quickly rose through the Shinsengumi ranks to become a Fukuch Jokin (vice-assistant). commander’s. He was a participant in the Serizawa Kamo (one of the original Shinsengumi commanders) and Uchiyama Hikojiro assassinations in 1863. 

3. Okita S艒ji had a signature technique

The ‘Sandantsuki’ is Okita’s most famous sword technique (Three Stage Thrust). He delivered three thrusts in the time it took him to take one step forward, starting from the Tennenrishin-ryu stance of ‘hiraseigan.’ It is frequently depicted in novels as his opponent believing he has been stabbed once when, in fact, he has been stabbed three times in the blink of an eye. However, the specifics are unknown.

Okita’s sword style was identical to his master, Kondo’s, according to Sen SATO in “Shinsengumi Ibun,” and even his thin, high-pitched yells were similar. However, it is believed that he had a habit of leaning forward and holding his sword with the point slightly lowered, in contrast to Kondo, who pushed his abdomen forward in the hiraseigan stance.

4. Okita S艒ji fainted because of tuberculosis

The public believes that his tuberculosis was discovered when he fainted during the Ikedaya incident, owing to a depiction in a famous work chronicling the Shinsengumi as well as a number of period dramas based on it. According to some sources, he contracted the disease after that. Both theories are plausible, as tuberculosis can kill quickly (in weeks) or slowly (in months) (many years).

However, once the disease progressed to the point where people would collapse, people rarely survived for more than a year, and Okita died four years after the affair. Some researchers now believe he died as a result of another illness, such as anemia or heat stroke. While many Shinsengumi fans believe Okita killed Yoshida Toshimaro during the Ikedaya Affair (based on Shimosawa Kan and Shiba Rytar’s fiction), this is a historical inaccuracy.

5. Okita S艒ji and Hijikata had a brotherly relation

Many people believe Okita and Hijikata were brothers based on Shiba Ryoutarou’s fiction. Yamanami Keisuke was the vice-commander with whom Okita had a brotherly relationship in the past.

Yamanami’s seppuku (with Okita as his second) in 1865 was a traumatic event in Okita’s brief life.  There is no evidence that Hijikata and Okita were close; it is debatable whether Okita even liked Hijikata.

6. Okita S艒ji was appointed captain of Shinsengumi’s first unit

Okita Soji. Photo by Stefan Schubert. Wikimedia

In 1865, Okita was appointed captain of the Shinsengumi’s first unit and kenjutsu instructor; later that year, Kondo Isami appointed him as the fifth master of the Tennen Rishin-ryu after him.

Although extremely unlikely, it was rumored that he possessed a famous katana known as Kikuichi-monji. He did, however, own a set of Kaga Kiyomitsu (a katana and a wakizashi), and his “Kikuichimonji Norimune” was most likely a Yamasiro Kunikiyo.

7. Everyone believed Okita would defeat his master with his technique 

Okita’s technique, according to Shinpachi NAGAKURA, “left Toshizo HIJIKATA, Genzaburo INOUE, Heisuke TODO, Keisuke YAMANAMI, and the others looking like children playing with bamboo swords. Everyone said that if Okita fought his master seriously, Kondo would lose, (“Nagakura Shinpachi Idan”) is well-known, but there are also comments to the same effect from outside Shinsengumi’s inner circle.

Shikanosuke KOJIMA stated prior to the formation of Shinsengumi (in July 1862) that Okita “will definitely reach the level of a master of the sword later in his life” (“Kojima Nikki”), and Kanefumi NISHIMURA, while critical of the Shinsengumi, described him as “Kondo’s most cherished follower and the best swordsman in his unit” and “a genius with the sword” (“Mibu Roshi Shimatsuki”).

Juro ABE, who fought against the Shinsengumi, stated in “Shidankaisokkiroku” that “As one of Kondo’s students, Soji OKITA is an excellent swordsman,” that “Soji OKITA and Kamajiro OISHI are young but have shown great skill with the sword on many occasions,” and that “Kamajiro OISHI, Soji OKITA, and Genzaburo INOUE have killed people without reason,” all of which shows it would have been extremely dangerous to make enemies of them.

The only dissenting voice came from Yaichiro CHIBA, a member of the Shinchogumi (the Shinsengumi’s Edo counterpart) and a colleague of Okita’s brother-in-law, who stated, “From our perspective, their skills are suitable for mokuroku (a low level).”

Of course, Nagakura’s claim that Yamanami, who had attained’menkyo-kaiden’ in the Hokushin Itto-ryu, and Todo, who was almost at the mokuroku level, were like children seems exaggerated, but it may indicate how superb and outstanding Okita’s sword skills were.

8. Okita’s swords were made by Kiyomitsu Kashu and Yasusada Yamato

Despite being a period when Japanese swords were commonplace, Norimune swords were extremely valuable old swords, and it is believed that, both economically and due to the necessity of having to use it frequently in actual battles, Okita would have been unlikely to own one, though the matter has received little attention among researchers. Okita reportedly owned swords made by Kiyomitsu KASHU and Yasusada YAMATO NO KAMI.

Aside from the Norimune swords, there were several other thin types of swords with a “Kikuniichi” crest, and Okita’s sword could have been one of these. In any case, he, like the other Shinsengumi members, is likely to have exchanged swords frequently during his stay in Kyoto.

Aside from the Norimune swords, there were several other thin types of swords with a “Kikuniichi” crest, and Okita’s sword could have been one of these. In any case, he, like the other Shinsengumi members, is likely to have exchanged swords frequently during his stay in Kyoto.

9. Okita S艒ji died of tuberculosis 

During the Boshin War, Okita was admitted to Matsumoto Ryjun’s hospital in Edo following the Battle of Toba鈥揊ushimi in the first month of Kei-4.  He then moved in with Okita Rintarou, Okita Mitsu, and their children to a guesthouse. Okita remained in Edo alone after the shogunate forces (including the Shinsengumi and the Shinchgumi) retreated to the Thoku region.

He died of tuberculosis on July 19, 1868. Later that night, he was buried under his birth name at Sensh-ji Temple in Azabu, Edo (with Okita Sji listed in the death records). Okita’s death at the age of 25 is based on the theory that he was born in 1844 and thus was 25 by East Asian age reckoning when he died in 1868.

10.Okita’s grave is open to the public once a year

Okita Soji grave. Photo by koichiwb.

The Sensh-ji Temple cemetery had been open to the public for many years prior to the 2004 release of NHK’s Taiga drama, Shinsengumi! Because of the drama’s renewed interest in Shinsengumi and Okita, many visitors flocked to the temple to see his grave, causing the temple’s cemetery to be closed to the public except for one day each year in June.