How did it start?

[Umeko]

How did the Shinsengumi come about? Were they from Mibu or Tama before they went to Kyoto? Whats with the Miburou nickname? (Wolf of Mibu)

Was Okita actually a page at Kondo senior's dojo? And Hijikata an older student there? Where do the other guys come in? Saitou etc.

And were Toudou and Yamanami actually from the same school as Choushu leader Sakamoto? In PMK manga, one of the reasons Toudou looked the other way and let Ryoma go was b'cos he 'didn't want to see someone from the same school die again'. This was after Yamanami's 'seppuku'.

Onegai-shimasu. ;D

[Gentatsu]

Ansewr to question # 1: The Shinsengumi first sarted out as the Roshigumi to defend the Tokugawa in Edo. It consisted of the Sheikan members (Okita, Hijikata, Nagakura...). It also had people like Serizawa Kamo and Nimi Nishiki and other commanders. The Roshigumi split when one of the other commanders left to form an Imperialist Shoichigumi. The lord of Aizu later had Nimi and Serizawa mudered for thei corruptness. The death of Serizawa marks the begining of the actual Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi was first stationed in the Mibu prefecture where they got their name Miburo. Mibu today, is a prefecture of Kyoto.

Answer to Question # 2: In the original Sheikan before the Roshigumi, Kondo, Hijikata Okita, Yamanami and the Three Stooges were all living happily together as friends (not everybody there atended Kondo's dojo I think). When they actually became a troop they could recruit people like Saiou who was said to be from Edo. Another story said Saito could have been a son of one of the SHOGUNS !!!

Answer to Question # 3: Both Todou and Yamanami were from the Hokushin Itto Ryu which Sakamoto also was from. Hokushin Itto Ryu is a very popular style and probably had many different dojo's.

[Umeko]

Thanks for the info!

Saitou's origin were a bit of a mystery ne?

Methinks the lord of Aizu had the right idea about dealing with corruption. Of course, it is a messy way to go about it. Very messy.