Nomura Risaburo — Killed Boarding an Ironclad at Miyako Bay
One member spent the life Kondo Isami had saved on the deck of a warship a year later. Nomura Risaburō. They threw his body into the sea.
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Who Was Nomura Risaburo?
Nomura was a member of the Shinsengumi.
Born in 1844. He is said to have come from the Ōgaki domain in Mino province, though this is not certain. He is reported to have quarrelled with a fellow retainer, fought a duel, and left the domain.
He was killed in the naval action at Miyako Bay on 6 May 1869, aged twenty-six by the old inclusive count.
Kondo Isami Saved Nomura Risaburo's Life
When he joined is unknown, but his name appears among the Shinsengumi quartered at Gohei-shinden in March 1868.
That April, when Kondo Isami went to surrender to the imperial army at Nagareyama in Shimōsa, Nomura accompanied him and was arrested with him.
Kondo was executed on 25 April by the old calendar.
Nomura was to have died with him.
At Kondo Isami's plea, however, he was released along with Soma Kazue, who had also been taken.
On the day he was beheaded, Kondo saved two of his men. No account of his end is complete without it.
Nomura Risaburo Goes North
After his release he moved with Soma and served under Kasuga Saemon, commander of a shogunal army unit.
He fought the imperial army at the Jōban approaches alongside the northern alliance. When the alliance collapsed he made for Sendai, where he joined Enomoto Takeaki's fleet and Hijikata Toshizo, and crossed to Ezo.
Nomura did not rejoin the Shinsengumi; he was given a unit of the army corps instead.
He was, however, unhappy with Kasuga's manner of command, and caused trouble including outright disobedience.
Once the Hakodate regime was established he became an adjutant to the army commissioner — Hijikata Toshizo's own office.
Nomura Risaburo's Death at Miyako Bay
6 May 1869. The action at Miyako Bay.
The former shogunate's forces attempted to seize the imperial navy's ironclad. The Kaiten and others ran into the bay, came alongside the Kōtetsu, and sent boarders across.
Nomura was aboard the Kaiten, and is said to have been the first man onto the ironclad.
He did not make it back before the withdrawal.
He was killed on the ironclad's deck, and the imperial force is said to have thrown his body into the sea.
He was twenty-six.
Boarding a warship with swords is itself a measure of what the former shogunate's forces had left. There was no other way to take an ironclad than to come alongside and make it a hand-to-hand fight.
His name is inscribed on the Shinsengumi memorial at Shōmyō-ji in Hakodate.
Why Nomura Risaburo Is Worth Reading About
His service lasted about a year.
His name appears in March 1868 and he is dead by May 1869. He never saw Kyoto. He was at neither the Ikedaya nor Aburanokōji.
And yet he is central to the last act of the Shinsengumi's story — Kondo Isami at Itabashi, Hijikata Toshizo at Hakodate, and Miyako Bay.
He and Soma Kazue were spared together at Itabashi and went north together. Sōma lived to sign the surrender; Nomura died on the ironclad's deck. Two men reprieved on the same day, and there their paths divide.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Nomura Risaburo?
A member of the Shinsengumi. He accompanied Kondo Isami at Nagareyama, was spared by Kondo's plea, fought north to Hakodate, and was killed at Miyako Bay.
Why was Nomura Risaburo not executed?
Because Kondo Isami pleaded for him. He had been scheduled to die with Kondo and was released along with Soma Kazue.
How did Nomura Risaburo die?
At the action in Miyako Bay on 6 May 1869, boarding the ironclad Kōtetsu from the Kaiten. He was left behind at the withdrawal and killed on deck; his body was reportedly thrown into the sea.
Where is Nomura Risaburo's grave?
There is none, as his body was thrown into the sea. His name appears on the Shinsengumi memorial at Shōmyō-ji in Hakodate.
Nomura Risaburo Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1844 | Born; said to be of the Ōgaki domain in Mino, though unconfirmed |
| Mar 1868 | His name appears among the Shinsengumi at Gohei-shinden |
| Apr 1868 | Accompanies Kondo Isami at Nagareyama and is arrested with him |
| 17 May 1868 | Spared at Kondo's plea, along with Soma Kazue |
| 1868 | Fights at the Jōban approaches; joins Hijikata Toshizo at Sendai |
| Late 1868 | Crosses to Ezo; later adjutant to the army commissioner |
| 6 May 1869 | Killed boarding the ironclad at Miyako Bay, aged twenty-six |
For the man spared with him see Soma Kazue; for the commander he followed north, Hijikata Toshizo; for the roster, the Shinsengumi members; for the corps, the Shinsengumi.
Related reading
Abe Juro — The Former Member Who Talked
He deserted the Shinsengumi and rejoined under another name, shot at Kondo Isami as one of the Goryō Eji, and then grew apples in Sapporo. His late-Meiji testimony is where the ranking of the corps' best swordsmen comes from.
Ando Hayataro — The Shinsengumi's Record-Breaking Archer
He set the standing national record in the long-range shooting at the Tōdai-ji Great Buddha Hall, sending 8,685 arrows the length of the corridor. Nearly fifty, he joined the Shinsengumi and died of wounds taken in the back garden of the Ikedaya.
Hattori Takeo — Two Swords at Aburanokoji
A two-sword master and fencing instructor of the Shinsengumi who defected with the Goryō Eji. At Aburanokōji he alone wore mail, held a wall against the whole corps, and fell with more than twenty wounds.