Ito Kashitaro
- Born: 1835
- Died: 1867
- Titles:Shinsengumi Staff Officer, Goryo Eji Leader.
- Other names: Suzuki Okura
- Japanese: 伊東甲子太郎武明(Ito Kashitaro Takeaki)
Mito
Suzuki Okura was born in Hitachi as a son of Shizuku han Samurai. His family was expeled from the han when he was little. Okura left from family same time and moved to Mito to study which strongly effected him to be Sonno. Later he moved to Edo, became pupil of Ito Seiichiro dojo of Hokushin Itto Ryu. He married to dojo master's daughter and inherited the dojo. (His name changed to Ito Okura)
Shinsengumi
In 1864, he joined Shinsengumi with Shinohara Tainoshin,Kano Washio, Hattori Takeo.Utsumi Jiro,Nakajima Noboru,Sano Shimenosuke , and his brother Suzuki Mikisaburo. Okura changed his name to Ito Kashitaro
Kondo Isami adored his intelligence and treated him as executive officer in the begining. But they had opposite political philosophies. Kondo was Sabaku, Ito was Tobaku.
Goryo Eji
In 1867 shortly after Emperor Komei died, Ito Kashitaro group separated from Shinsengumi and formed Goryo Eji. Goryo Eji means "Guards of Emperor's tomb". They moved to Zenryu-ji, later moved to Kodai-ji. They became under the protection of Satsuma han secretly. On November 18 (12/13/1867), Kondo invited Ito to his resident in Samegai. Ito was assassinated by Shinsengumi members on the way to Kodai-ji at the night. The Goryo Eji members who came to pick up his body were also attacked. (Incident at Aburano Koji)
References
- Shinsengumi Taishi Den (新選組隊士伝) Gakken
- Shinsengumi (新選組) Sekai Bunkasha
- Shinsengumi Zentaishi Tettei Guide (新選組全隊士徹底ガイド) Maeda Masaki
