Shinsengumi "Investigation Journal" Found
1865 Document
by Romulus Hillsborough
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A so-called Shinsengumi "Investigation Journal" has recently been found. The document, written between May and October 1865, is more aptly called a memorandum than a journal. It is believed to have been recorded by Shinsengumi officer Yamazaki Susumu, whose name appears on the front and back covers. Although it cannot be confirmed that the document was actually written by Yamazaki, the Hino City Furusato Museum, in Hino City, Tokyo, has issued a statement that "it was definitely written by someone who knew much about the inner-affairs of the Shinsengumi." The document measures 7.6 cm x 16.5 cm and consists of 42 pages, some of which have been torn out. The contents include a copy of infantry training records and a list of 148 Shinsengumi corpsmen, beginning with the slightly elevated names of Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo. (Okita Soji, Nagakura Shinpachi, Inoue Genzaburo and Todo Heisuke follow in that order. Harada Sanosuke and Saito Hajime appear as numbers 7 and 8. Yamazaki Susumu's name is 12th on the list.) Above each name is a number between 1 and 8, indicating the number of the squad that the man belonged to. Near some of the names are written the words "seppuku" and "deserted" and even the date (June 21) that two of the men disemboweled themselves, adding to the value of the document as an on-the-scene report. Although there exist several valuable written and oral memoirs of former Shinsengumi corpsmen, including Nagakura Shinpachi, Shimada Kai and Shinohara Yasunoshin, the "Yamazaki Journal" is one of few remaining documents written during the actual time period. It is also important as an indication of the rank of the corpsmen and the Shinsengumi organization in mid-1865, although it differs slightly from another list of the same period recorded by Shimada. Yamazaki Susumu, believed to have been an expert with a wooden staff, served as a spy for the Shinsengumi. He was involved in the arrest of anti-Tokugawa activist Furudaka Shuntaro in June 1864, leading to the notorious Ikeda'ya Incident, a turning point in the revolution. The current owner of the document claims to be a descendent of an Osaka merchant family with ties to Kondo Isami. The document was exhibited at the Hino City Furusato Museum (Hinoshi Furusato Hakubutuskan) in November and December of 2004. Source
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