HNK searches for the Shinsengumi both in history and the way they are viewed today in fandom. Explore history of the Shinsengumi, but not just hard "facts" but folklore and legends. This is not a historical guide but it cover history from the point of view of a fan.

Shinsengumi Sagashite an Introduction

What is Shinsengumi Sagashite? Basically Shinsengumi Sagashite is the section of HNK which deals with my search for the Shinsengumi. For those who do not know Sagashite means to search and that's exactly what this section is all about. I want to make it clear that this section although dealing with history is in no way will serve as a dogmatic guide to the Shinsengumi, rather it's more of what I've come across personally as a fan. Although I am interested in the truth, there are other things which drive me, facts and stories about the Shinsengumi is what keeps me interested as a fan and I hope whatever you find here can be useful to stimulate further interest. Feel free to use them in your fanfiction, original stories or your site. Of course I'd be very happy if you do link to us too. That said what is written here isn't a product of my imagination, they were derived from transcribing and translating published sources I've come across. Of course that presents it's own difficulty as I am not fluent in Japanese and English is not my mother tongue. There are opinions and speculations here, mostly because the source themselves engage in such but as a fan, I too have opinions and speculations which will be separately indicated.  

I am always interested in new information and if you have anything to contribute in terms of info or a correction don't hesitate to contact me. However keep in mind that I will ask for sources and will most probably not strike-out info, making it an addendum instead. Since this is a section whose main objective is to drive interest, I tend to keep everything even anecdotes and commonly published hearsay as I think those too have value especially in the world of fiction and how we look at the Shinsengumi today. Whether this diminishes the perceived value of this section or even make it gibberish, I think is mostly dependent on how one prefers to look at the Shinsengumi.

How to use this section

There are navigational drop down list in the main menu but below are also the categories that list the articles I've written and transcribed. I am going to attempt to give you some info about both the popular and not-so popular members of the Shinsengumi, from the officials to the rank and file. In the future, I hope to present to you a more in depth look at the Shinsengumi including the stories that were handed down from interviews and research, the environment they moved in during the time and a gallery of course. I just chose to launch this now as I have a bad habit to procrastinate. For the most part everything published here is a work in progress and is subject to change without notice.