Who was the Strongest Swordsman in Shinsengumi?

If you are a fan of samurai and swordsmanship, I’m very sure you know about the famous Mibu Wolves: 新撰組 Shinsengumi. Shinsengumi is super famous and popular in Japan and there are still fan clubs and new movies and dramas about them coming out. They are a group of swordsmen that fought through a turbulent time of Japanese history.

But haven’t you ever wondered before…

Who was actually the strongest swordsman?

So today, I will first briefly explain about the history of Shinsengumi, then introduce the three strongest members of the squad.

I will be counting down the three swordsmen by how skillful they were, so I hope you can enjoy this video till the end. The strongest man might actually not be the person you had in mind....

However before I start, I need to make it very clear that no one actually knows who was really the strongest, it’s all just speculation for fun. If you know about any other theories or studies, please let me know in the comments.

[Time codes]
0:00 Let's START!
1:47 The History of Shinsengumi
5:17 No.3 斎藤一 Saito Hajime
10:03 No.2 沖田総司 Okita Soji
13:16 No.1 永倉新八 Nagakura Shinpachi
16:29 Today's Conclusion

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-How to Fully Enjoy "Mibu Temple;" Where the Souls of Shinsengumi Samurai Rest in Peace

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#shinsengumi #shinsengumihistory #okitasoji #saitohajime #nagakurashinpachi

[DMAN]

As a big fan of both Gintama and Golden Kamuy, it's really fun to learn about the real life people that their counterparts are based on! It's also cool to see how adaptations or homages to them present their characteristics and relationships, such as Gintama's Sougo also seeing Kondo as an older brother as well as being presented as one of the strongest swordsmen in the series.

[thecactuscat]

I am surprised. I was introduced to the Shinsengumi by Hakuouki, which obviously isn’t totally historically accurate, but they got a lot of the details right on. Souji Okita and Sanoske Harada were my favourites. Thanks for this video it was really cool and informative!

[mi-pwgu]

One of your earlier Shinsengumi videos is the reason I found your channel at all, and I'm delighted every time I see a new video about them from you! They have such a rich and storied history in the incredibly short lifespan of their organization, even setting aside all of the varied fictional depictions of them in Japanese media, and it always made me sad that there's hardly any information about them available to English speakers who may have an interest in learning more. Thanks for bringing more Shinsengumi content to English-speaking audiences!

[daniel-zhnjyny]

When Saito Hajime left his parents' home, he told his dad: ''You're the man of the house now.''

[gantzisballs]

Japanese history: "The Boshin war was primarily fought with guns and artillery. Japanese pop culture: "Saito Hajime was so unbelievably badass he once killed 5 imperialists using a cigarette.

[AGS]

A video about "The Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu (幕末四大人斬り)" would be a great companion piece!

[mrblazeapound]

I love watching these. It's nice to know some history of the people that Fate/Grand Order characters are based from(like Saito Hajime and Okita Souji).

[madmanthepope]

The 3 stab would be like a spear but with sword just don't extend all the way until the final thrust, theoretically this spear technique would throw your enemy off if they are using a sword. Kind of like a feint and attack all in one. The spear was the king of the battlefield for a reason.

[gimmiebanana]

Thank you for uploading this Shogo, I always enjoy the historical videos.

I wonder how history could of been different if the U.S. had approached Japan with diplomacy instead of ultimatums during this era.

[thecancerfest]

Thank you for your hard work. You are not afraid of telling the truth of Japan as it is. And your history materials are really easy to swallow but detailed enough to spark that interest to study more.

PS: Surprisingly, while listening to you I kind of realized that Gintama anime is really well researched and detailed when it comes to chemistry between characters of Shinsengumi.

[skykid]

tbh i like how larger than life historical figures in Japanese history are depicted in media, always so colorful and fun, even tho i realize they aren't realistic

[nesbits]

that gintama reference at the end caught me off guard 😂 I like to think that since gintama takes so much inspiration from history, sorachi might be implying that pachi boy’s gonna become freakishly strong in the future

fantastic video as always!!

[daswordofgork]

Fun fact, their Kenjutsu, Tennenrishin-ryu is still taught today and is one of the few styles that train in old school kendo.

[areajoe]

Love the Shinpachi pick. One of the only explanation’s in which elevation of caste was a reason to protect the shogunate. Wonder video as per usual.

[secangkir-kopiplaymate]

Saito Hajime is like an assassin's creed character, He work in the dark to serve the light

[davidcs]

Yours is one of the bests YouTube chanels I follow. Really cool to learn all this history details. One thing, I believe Okita Soji is also present in Samurai X (Rurouni Kenshin) in the era he was known as Batossai.
Ps: I also loved your the last samurai review, it is one of my favorite films. I loved the art, soundtrack, actors. Thanks for the video 🙏🏻

[artie]

As a fan of Hakuouki, I really felt into the Souji fanbase

[rejoicingfakepriest]

It turns out I didn't know that much. This is new knowledge to me, thank you so much for sharing this.

[drkushajagadeesh]

Surprising how many actual facts were included in the Rurouni Kenshin anime (and the Kyoto storyline)! Including the fact that Okita Soji died of TB. Having kids watch those shows is kinda like giving them a history lesson! 😁

Edit: I wanna know more about the Ikedaya incident. Is that the one where Shinsengumi took out the rebels in an inn who were planning on burning the city? If so, according to the anime version, Saito was a part of it. 🤔

[TheLiamis]

I love the shinsengumi character portrayal in gintama. Amd how the amanto are just westerners... also how some amanto are portrayed is brilliant amd funny.