, real name ,Watsuki, Nobuhiro. "The Secret Life of Characters (5) Sagara Sōzō," ''Rurouni Kenshin'' Volume 2.

VIZ Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

. 28. was the leader of the 1st Unit of the

Sekihōtai The was a group of Japanese political extremists formed in 1868 during the Boshin War. History Formation During the Boshin War, the Sekihōtai was formed on February 1, 1868 at Kongōrin-ji temple in Matsuoji, Ōmi Province with the suppor ...

, a group of Japanese political extremists formed in 1868 during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

History

He was born Kojima Shirō in Akasaka,

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

in 1839 as the fourth son to the wealthy father Kojima Hyoma and his wife Yasu. He married Watanabe Teru, the daughter of the retainer of the Matsudaira clan in 1864 (Genji 1). Their son, Kawajirō, was born in 1865 (Genji 2) whom he was happy with and thought his newly born son was a gift of the divinity of Hikawa Shrine. After the

Battle of Toba–Fushimi The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 (or fourth year of Keiō, first month, 3rd day, according to the lunar calendar), when the forces of the shog ...

in 1868, the

, in which Sagara was the leader of the 1st Unit, constituted of a civilian squad made principally of farmers and merchants, was formed on February 1, 1868 at Kongōrin-ji temple in Matsuoji, Ōmi Province with the support of

Saigō Takamori was a Japanese samurai and nobleman. He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Living during the late Edo and early Meiji periods, he later led the Satsum ...

and

Iwakura Tomomi was a Japanese statesman during the Bakumatsu and Meiji period. He was one of the leading figures of the Meiji Restoration, which saw Japan's transition from feudalism to modernity. Born to a noble family, he was adopted by the influential Iwa ...

. The group promised a reduction in taxes to the people who supported it. When Sagara was asked to return to his headquarters by the Satchōdo command, Sagara decided not to because he believed it would be too soon. As a result, the Satchōdo forces turned on his unit, and Sagara, along with seven more officers, were arrested on March 24, 1868 by a force under the staff officer Shindō Tatewaki. Sagara had to watch his officers being executed by

decapitation Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

one by one before he himself was decapitated at Shimosuwa Station,

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

on March 26, 1868. Their heads were put for display the next morning. His wife Teru, upon hearing the news, entrusted her son Kawajirō to Sagara's three sisters, and committed suicide soon afterwards.『ビジュアル幕末維新「日本の夜明け」を目指した激動の時代を追う！！』

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales is reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces other ...

p.76～77 Sagara and his wife were buried on a temple ground in Akasaka. While on display, Sagara's head was later stolen by his close friend and a

kokugaku ''Kokugaku'' ( ja, 國學, label=Kyūjitai, ja, 国学, label=Shinjitai; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refo ...

scholar Iida Takesato and was secretly buried. After their original burial ground at the temple was no longer being kept up, their graves were reburied at

Aoyama Cemetery is a cemetery in Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The cemetery is also famous for its cherry blossoms, and at the season of hanami, which many people would visit. History The cemetery was origin ...

, Akasaka,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

by the Kimura family.

Legacy

Monument

The ''Monument to the Memory of Sagara Sōzō'' or the Sagara-zuka monument was unveiled by Ochiai Naoaki in 1870.

Sagara Festival

In 1918, Sagara's grandson received cooperation from volunteers in Shimosuwa and revived the memorial festival for Sagara and his unit.

Enshrinement

In 1928, Kimura had since restored his honor and Sagara was enshrined in

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...

by 1929.

In popular culture

Sagara is portrayed in the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series '' Rurouni Kenshin'', where he is the mentor of

Sagara Sanosuke is a Character (arts), fictional character from the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga and anime series created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. In the English anime adaptations he is known as Sanosuke Sagara and nicknamed Sano. Watsuki, being a fan of the Shinsengu ...

, a fictional character. The character DJ Sagara of '' Kamen Rider Gaim'' is named for Sagara Sōzō.

References

1839 births 1868 deaths Samurai {{Japan-mil-bio-stub