Harada Sanosuke

Harada Sanosuke (原田 左之助, 1840 – July 6, 1868) was a Japanese warrior (samurai) who lived in the late Edo period. He was the 10th unit captain of the Shinsengumi, and died during the Boshin War.

Background

Harada was born to a family of chūgen, or low-ranking quasi-samurai, who served the retainers of the Iyo-Matsuyama Domain (now the city of Matsuyama). He trained in the spear technique of the Hozoin-ryu style, and usually used that weapon in battle instead of a sword. During his time in Matsuyama, he was once ridiculed by a Matsuyama retainer as being a peon who was unfamiliar with how to properly commit seppuku. Harada, wishing to prove the man wrong, immediately drew his sword and attempted to commit seppuku; however, the wound was shallow, and he survived. Harada later boasted of his scar to his fellow Shinsengumi men, and the incident of his near-disembowelment is said to be the origin of the family crest he chose, which depicted a horizontal line within a circle (maru ni ichimonji (丸に一文字)). Later leaving the Matsuyama domain's service, he went to Edo, and trained at Kondō Isami's Shieikan dōjō.