Nagakura Shinpachi — The Shinsengumi Swordsman Who Survived

Who was the best swordsman in the Shinsengumi? Alongside Okita Soji, the name that comes up is Nagakura Shinpachi. And Nagakura lived.

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Who Was Nagakura Shinpachi?

Nagakura was captain of the second unit and one of the unit's sword instructors.

Born in 1839 to a retainer of Matsumae domain posted in Edo, he was properly samurai by birth — unlike Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, who came from farming families.

He trained in Shinto Munen-ryu at one of the strongest schools in Edo and earned his certificate there. He then began frequenting Kondo's Shieikan and threw in his lot with that circle.

Men of different schools and different birth gathered around Kondo. Nagakura is the clearest example.

Why "The Strongest"?

The case for Nagakura rests on surviving evidence of actual fighting.

Four men went through the door first at the Ikedaya: Kondo, Okita, Nagakura, and Todo Heisuke. In a close melee indoors, Nagakura fought on after injuring his hand.

Okita collapsed partway through and Todo was wounded. Nagakura was one of the few still standing at the end.

He then fought in the Boshin War, campaigning north before returning to Edo by way of Yonezawa, and lived into the twentieth century. Documented in combat, and alive afterward — the reputation rests on both.

The Man Who Formally Complained About His Own Commander

The most remarkable thing about Nagakura is that he went over Kondo's head.

A group of members, holding that Kondo had become high-handed, submitted a formal complaint to Aizu domain, the unit's sponsor. Nagakura was among those behind it.

The unit enforced severe discipline, at times through forced seppuku and outright purges. Against that, naming your commander in a document sent outside the unit was a life-risking act. He was not punished, and he stayed.

The episode shows that he understood himself as a comrade rather than a retainer.

His Sword and His Character

The blade associated with Nagakura is a Tegarayama Ujishige. He recorded that it was notched and damaged at the Ikedaya.

Where most Shinsengumi "famous swords" hardened into legend through later fiction, Nagakura's rests on his own late testimony, which makes it better grounded than most.

His character is described as blunt and forthright. The complaint against Kondo is not unrelated to that.

Parting, and Hokkaido

After the defeat at Toba-Fushimi in 1868, the Shinsengumi withdrew to Edo.

Nagakura parted from Kondo there, choosing to fight on with a separate force rather than remain under his command. Kondo was executed at Itabashi; Hijikata was killed at Hakodate.

Nagakura survived. In the Meiji era he married the daughter of a Matsumae physician and took the name Sugimura Yoshie.

He did not put the sword down. He moved to Hokkaido and served as fencing instructor at the Kabato prison, and later ran a dojo in Tokyo. His life after the Shinsengumi was far longer than his life inside it.

The Man Who Talked

Nagakura's greatest contribution may not be his swordsmanship at all. It is the record.

In old age he recounted his experiences, and they were written down. Much of the detail we now have about the Shinsengumi rests on the testimony of this survivor.

In an era when the winners write the history, a participant from the losing side left an account in his own words. That is not a small thing.

He died in 1915, aged seventy-five (seventy-seven by the traditional count), forty-seven years after Kondo.

Timeline

For the unit see the Shinsengumi and its captains.