Okita Soji

Okita Sōji was a skilled swordsman and a member of the Shinsengumi, a special police force in Kyoto during the late shogunate period. He was born in a samurai family in the Shirakawa Domain's Edo mansion. He started training at the Shieikan, a dojo of the Tennen Rishin-ryū, at the age of nine. He became a head coach at the Shieikan and a master of the ryū at the age of eighteen. He changed his name to Okita Sōji Fujiwara no Kaneyoshi before joining the Rōshigumi, a group of rōnin who went to Kyoto in 1863. He remained in Kyoto with the other founding members of the Shinsengumi, who served as loyalists to the Tokugawa bakufu. He became the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi and the assistant to the vice commander. He was involved in several battles and incidents, such as the Ikedaya incident, the Kinmon incident, and the Akebonotei incident. He was known for his creation of the Mumyō-ken, a sword technique that involved hitting three parts of the torso simultaneously in a single strike. He suffered from tuberculosis, which affected his performance and health. He died in 1868 at the age of 24 or 26, shortly after the Battle of Toba–Fushimi. He was buried at Senshō-ji temple in Tokyo. He is regarded as one of the best swordsmen of the Shinsengumi and a legendary figure in Japanese history.