Kirino Toshiaki

Kirino, also known as Nakamura Hanjirō (中村 半次郎), was renowned as one of the Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu. His sword style was Ko-jigen-ryū, a branch of the high-speed Jigen-ryū . Kirino's activities during the early to mid-1860s largely centered on Kyoto. During the Boshin War, as a senior commander of Satsuma forces, he was a high-ranking officer of the new Imperial Army. It was Kirino who was the representative of the imperial army at the surrender of Wakamatsu Castle, where he received the petition for surrender from Matsudaira Katamori, the lord of Aizu.

Kirino Toshiaki and his lover Murata Sato (村田さと) at Shijō Street, Kyoto, she was the daughter of Murata Kiseru store owner

Woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi depicting Kirino (in Western-style uniform) in action during the Satsuma Rebellion

Kirino became a brigadier general in the early years of the Imperial Japanese Army. However, he joined the forces of Saigō Takamori during the Satsuma Rebellion, taking part in the march northward to Kumamoto. A lover of French Eau de Cologne, Kirino wore it even during his last battle at Shiroyama. Kirino remained with Saigō until the end, and was killed at the end of the rebellion. He was buried alongside Saigō Takamori, Beppu Shinsuke, Katsura Hisatake, Murata Shinpachi, Shinohara Kunimoto, and Oyama Tsunayoshi among others at the Nanshu Cemetery, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.

Kirino's wife, Hisa (ヒサ), the second daughter of Chōsa Koemon (帖佐 小右衛門), was a skilled martial artist. As seen in several contemporary ukiyo-e woodblock prints depicting the uprising, she also joined in its march to lead the women auxiliary troops. Unlike her husband, she survived, and lived until 1920.

Grave of Toshiaki Kirino

Kirino appears as a character in the history-themed Getsumei Seiki, by Kenji Morita. Kirino also appears as the Army Commander in the manga RED: Livin' on The Edge, by Kenichi Muraeda.He is also referenced in a off shoot of Eiichiro Oda's One piece called Great Detective Loomes where he is referenced as a character called Nakamura Hanzoro.

• Mossman, Samuel (1880). Japan. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. p. 96.
• "Information on the Satsuma Rebellion" (in Japanese). 3 October 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kirino Toshiaki.

• (in Japanese) Photos of the graves of the Satsuma Rebellion leaders, including Kirino (3 October 2007)

• Nagano Ōgaku 長野桜岳 (1972). Kirino Toshiaki 桐野利秋. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha.